Conferences reveal their complete kickoff time and network placement schedules for the first three weeks of the college football season Thursday. At The Athletic, it has become an annual, if semi-futile, exercise to project at what time and on which network those games appear. Like an NFL mock draft, if we pick one incorrect time or network, it implodes much of the entire lineup. But nobody will (or should) remember this mini-mock draft once the full slate is unveiled.
Before reading the rundown, here’s a refresher on each league’s television contract. This is the second season the ESPN family of networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and SEC Network) has exclusive rights to the SEC’s home games and in-conference matchups. The ACC has a similar rundown (subbing out SEC Network for ACC Network) with a weekly game on The CW. The Big 12 continues its partnerships with ESPN and Fox and has added TNT, which will show 13 games featuring conference members this fall.
This is the Big Ten’s second full year split among Fox, NBC and CBS, which conducted a draft earlier this spring. Fox largely broadcasts Big Ten football at noon ET, while CBS commands the 3:30 p.m. ET time slot and NBC airs games in primetime. FS1 and BTN also broadcast Big Ten games, and Peacock streams around nine contests each year. Notre Dame has an exclusive contract with NBC for its home games, and the network previously announced those start times. For the Irish’s three primetime kickoffs, NBC will shuffle its Big Ten time slot.
Among the other conferences, the Mountain West has deals with Fox, TNT and CBS, while the American appears on ESPN’s family of networks. In their second and final year as the Pac-2, Oregon State and Washington State have agreements with The CW, ESPN and CBS. The Sun Belt airs exclusively on ESPN, while the MAC and Conference USA compete on ESPN and CBS Sports Network.
We chose to focus on Weeks 1-3 rather than incorporating Week 0 (Aug. 23), which contains just one power-conference matchup: Iowa State versus Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland (noon ET, ESPN). For this exercise, we included games that appear on Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1, or games already set on The CW or other networks. TNT has kickoff windows all over the place, so the three Big 12 games here are more network-based projections. All times Eastern.
Week 1
The season’s first full weekend includes several games with times and networks already released. The SEC traditionally opens the season with powerhouse nonconference matchups, and this year is no different. On the season’s first Saturday, the SEC scheduled three games against the ACC, and all three have been unveiled in primary viewing windows: Tennessee versus Syracuse in Atlanta (noon, ABC), Alabama at Florida State (3:30 p.m., ABC) and LSU at Clemson (7:30 p.m., ABC). ESPN also announced California at Oregon State (9:30 p.m.) in a meeting of former Pac-12 North Division foes.
ABC/ESPN also announced a Thursday doubleheader (Boise State at USF, 5:30 p.m., ESPN; Nebraska versus Cincinnati in Kansas City, 9 p.m., ESPN) and standalone games on Friday (Georgia Tech at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPN) and Sunday (South Carolina versus Virginia Tech in Atlanta, 3 p.m., ESPN; Notre Dame at Miami, 7:30 p.m., ABC) plus Bill Belichick’s North Carolina debut Monday against TCU (7:30 p.m., ESPN). With the remaining SEC and ACC games a hodgepodge of matchups against non-power programs, there’s little room for projection. Plus, U.S. Open tennis coverage could impact ESPN’s time selections Saturday.
The Big Ten has one power-packed matchup (which Fox already has claimed) with Ohio State opening against Texas in a College Football Playoff semifinal rematch. It seems likely the Big Ten will announce this kickoff time in conjunction with a future night game or two to pacify an agitated Buckeyes fan base that has grown weary of noon kickoffs. But Fox, which airs primetime baseball on the first two college football Saturdays, has too much equity invested in the noon window, which is where we project this matchup. As for the remaining games, the Big Ten’s media partners are left to just one power-conference clash, and that features former Pac-12 foes Utah and UCLA. We’ll project NBC will air the Bruins’ debut of quarterback Nico Iamaleava at the Rose Bowl in primetime, and CBS will pick up Penn State’s season opener against Nevada.
Of the Big 12’s unannounced kickoff times and networks, Auburn at Baylor on the opening Friday is the best game available by far. This is a perfect spot for Fox to go head-to-head with Georgia Tech at Colorado. The Big Ten also has discussed moving a game to Labor Day Sunday, but we’ll avoid placing it in this projection.
Week 1 predicted programming
MatchupTimeNetwork
Thursday, Aug. 28
Boise State at USF
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
Ohio at Rutgers
7 p.m.
FS1
Miami (Ohio) at Wisconsin
8 p.m.
Fox
Nebraska vs. Cincinnati (Kansas City)
9 p.m.
ESPN
Friday, Aug. 29
Georgia Tech at Colorado
8 p.m.
ESPN
Auburn at Baylor
8 p.m.
Fox
Western Michigan at Michigan State
8 p.m.
FS1
Saturday, Aug. 30
Tennessee vs. Syracuse (Atlanta)
Noon
ABC
Texas at Ohio State
Noon
Fox
Georgia State at Ole Miss
Noon
ESPN
Northwestern at Tulane
Noon
ESPN2
Old Dominion at Indiana
Noon
FS1
Alabama at Florida State
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Nevada at Penn State
3:30 p.m.
CBS
Marshall at Georgia
3:30 p.m.
ESPN2
New Mexico at Michigan
4 p.m.
FS1
LSU at Clemson
7:30 p.m.
ABC
Utah at UCLA
7:30 p.m.
NBC
UTSA at Texas A&M
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
Mississippi State at Southern Miss
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Colorado State at Washington
7:30 p.m.
FS1
Idaho at Washington State
10 p.m.
CW
California at Oregon State
10:30 p.m.
ESPN
Hawaii at Arizona
10:30 p.m.
TNT
Georgia Southern at Fresno State
10:30 p.m.
FS1
Sunday, Aug. 31
South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (Atlanta)
3 p.m.
ESPN
Notre Dame at Miami
7:30 p.m.
ABC
Monday, Sept. 1
TCU at North Carolina
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
Week 2
The Big Ten needs to make some scheduling changes to avoid this situation every other year. The league controls just five nonconference games against power-conference opponents all season, and only two are set for this week. In Week 2, the Big Ten’s three best nonconference games are under the opposing conference’s control. With three major networks paying to show Big Ten games, that’s an issue. Perhaps one future solution is to start conference action earlier to ensure more early matchups of sufficient quality for Big Ten rightsholders.
Although Fox controls many of the top selections in the Big Ten’s annual draft, this seems like a week it wouldn’t mind selecting third. We’ll give CBS the top choice with top-10 Oregon hosting Oklahoma State (3:30 p.m.) and NBC picking Boston College at Michigan State for primetime. On Fox, highly ranked Penn State at home against Florida International for Big Noon. We predict Fox will make up for its soft opening in Week 2 with the heated Cy-Hawk rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State in the late afternoon.
The SEC has the rights to the week’s top game, Michigan at Oklahoma (7:30 p.m., ABC). We also project ABC to air the return of the Kansas-Missouri blood feud (3:30 p.m.) and Ole Miss at Kentucky, providing the perfect curtain raiser to conference play (noon, ABC). On ESPN, Illinois-Duke is a sneaky-good start to the day alongside the “nonconference” game between longtime ACC foes Virginia and NC State.
With ESPN airing the women’s U.S. Open final at 4 p.m., Texas quarterback Arch Manning’s 2025 home debut against San Jose State shifts to ESPN2. The ESPN/ESPN2 primetime slate opposite Michigan-Oklahoma involves multiple College Football Playoff teams, with SMU hosting Baylor and defending Big 12 champion Arizona State traveling to Mississippi State.
Week 2 predicted programming
MatchupTimeNetwork
Ole Miss at Kentucky
Noon
ABC
Florida International at Penn State
Noon
Fox
Illinois at Duke
Noon
ESPN
Virginia at NC State
Noon
ESPN2
Akron at Nebraska
Noon
FS1
Kansas at Missouri
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Oklahoma State at Oregon
3:30 p.m.
CBS
San Jose State at Texas
3:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Fresno State at Oregon State
3:30 p.m.
CW
Iowa at Iowa State
4 p.m.
Fox
Army at Kansas State
4 p.m.
TNT
Michigan at Oklahoma
7:30 p.m.
ABC
Boston College at Michigan State
7:30 p.m.
NBC
Baylor at SMU
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
Arizona State at Mississippi State
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2
UCLA at UNLV
7:30 p.m.
FS1
San Diego State at Washington State
10:15 p.m.
CW
Stanford at BYU
10:30 p.m.
ESPN
Georgia Southern at USC
10:30 p.m.
Fox
Sacramento State at Nevada
10:30 p.m.
FS1
Week 3
The SEC again takes center stage in Week 3 with defending league champion Georgia traveling to Tennessee in a battle of 2024 CFP participants. Florida at LSU is the SEC’s second-best matchup, but whenever Death Valley is involved, there’s a tug-of-war between time slot and network. For us, the night atmosphere on ESPN wins over ABC in the midday. ABC then opts for a Big Ten-SEC midday clash in Tuscaloosa featuring Wisconsin-Alabama. Arkansas-Ole Miss opens the day on ABC.
The Big Ten’s weak early slate continues, but at least it has two conference games. When the matchups appear uneven in the Big Ten, it’s a good rule to bet on the most marketable or highest-ranked team for national exposure. In this case, we have Fox with the first selection, and it picks up Oregon at Northwestern at noon while CBS takes USC at Purdue at 3:30. NBC has already announced Texas A&M at Notre Dame in prime time, so that shifts its Big Ten game to the afternoon. None of the Big Ten’s other games include a power-conference opponent, so when in doubt, go with Ohio State.
Should Fox land the Big 12’s top choice this week, look for the Backyard Brawl to air either mid-afternoon or in the evening. ESPN snags a spunky ACC pseudo-rivalry with Clemson at Georgia Tech, which has the potential to impact the CFP race. ESPN picks up Minnesota at California, and although it could become an after-dark kickoff, a power-conference matchup between two 2024 bowl teams has more value in the middle of the afternoon than late at night.
Week 3 predicted programming
MatchupTimeNetwork
Arkansas at Ole Miss
Noon
ABC
Oregon at Northwestern
Noon
Fox
Vanderbilt at South Carolina
Noon
ESPN
Duke at Tulane
Noon
ESPN2
Central Michigan at Michigan
Noon
FS1
Wisconsin at Alabama
3:30 p.m.
ABC
USC at Purdue
3:30 p.m.
CBS
Ohio at Ohio State
3:30 p.m.
NBC
Clemson at Georgia Tech
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Minnesota at California
3:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Pittsburgh at West Virginia
4 p.m.
Fox
Western Michigan at Illinois
4 p.m.
FS1
Georgia at Tennessee
7:30 p.m.
ABC
Texas A&M at Notre Dame
7:30 p.m.
NBC
Florida at LSU
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
USF at Miami
7:30 p.m.
ESPN2
Oregon State at Texas Tech
7:30 p.m.
FS1
Boston College at Stanford
10:30 p.m.
ESPN
Texas State at Arizona State
10:30 p.m.
Fox
Utah at Wyoming
10:30 p.m.
FS1
(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)