Welcome, my friends, to the annual World's Earliest Week 1 College Football Schedule. As always, this is possible due only to the indespensible MattsarzSports.com.
Most years that I have done this, there have not been too many big games Week 1, presumably because teams wanted to wet their whistle against a weak opponent before taking on the best. Then, three years ago, there were quite a few marquee matchups in Week 1, before things returned to the status quo last year.
This year, I'm pleased to report, Week 1 probably has more big matchups than ever before.
Another interesting divergence from year's past is that none of the P4 are playing conference games Week 1. The last few years, the Big 10 have sported a couple, with the ACC and the SEC also doing so in years past.
The biggest Week 1 game maybe ever will be Texas at Ohio State, which is likely to be #1 vs. #2. Another big one is LSU at Clemson. It's a shame either Brian Kelly or Dabo Swinney will have to lose that one, they are so both so darn likeable.
Utah will travel to UCLA in an ex-Pac 12 matchup, as both schools try to shake off forgettable years in their new conferences. If you are hankering for more Pac-12 nostalgia, Cal travels to Oregon State, which will be on ESPN at 10:30 EDT.
The annual neutral field matchup in Atlanta features orange vs. orange: Syracuse vs. Tennessee.
Each year, I'm on the lookout for elite FCS schools taking on FBC foes in Week 1. By "elite," I basically mean teams that made at least the semis in last year's FCS playoffs, plus any Dakota team.
This year, that gives us South Dakota at Iowa State and North Dakota at Kansas State. Interestingly, this will be the second game for the Cyclones and the Wildcats, who will square off in Dublin the weekend before.
All those games will be on Saturday (as of now), August 30th, and except for Cal at Oregon State, none of these games have a TV network or start time. On Thursday, August 28th, the headliner will be Nebraska taking on Cincinnati in Kansas City. That's the only P4 vs. P4 matchup, but other ones worth a watch will be Boise State at South Florida.
On Friday, August 29th, we have two pretty big ones: Georgia Tech travels to Colorado to kick off year three of Deion Sanders mania, and in another game features Auburn visiting Waco to take on Baylor and try to put last year behind them. But as far as Friday goes, don't sleep on the Battle of the Palouse, 10 PM on the CW. For the uninitiated, that would the rivalry between Idaho and Washington State, whose campuses are located less than 8 miles from one another.
While you won't be surprised to learn that the rivalry has been one-sided in favor of Washington State, you might be surprised how intense the rivalry is nonetheless, with at times in the past the loser being tasked with walking to the other campus. Idaho finished last year ranked 7th in FCS play, so don't be surprised if this is close.
What about the Sunday and Labor Day games? Good ones, my friend, good ones. Sunday gives us a runback of Catholics vs. Convicts (that would be Notre Dame vs. Miami) at 7:30 on ABC, as well as Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina in Atlanta.
The Big 12 makes its Labor Day debut, as TCU travels to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina in Jordon Hudson's and Bill Belichick's college head coaching debuts.
I can't wait!
Leave a Comment