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College Football Schedule: When Does College Football Start?

Getty Michigan takes on Florida to kick off the college football season.

The 2017 college football season starts on Saturday, August 26. This is the technical start date, but there are only five games on the final Saturday in August. Think of it as what a restaurant calls a soft opening where there are only a few menu items available.

Things really get started on Thursday, August 31 with 15 games on the slate. The first full-blown college football Saturday takes place on September 1.

College football has made it a tradition to own the Labor Day sports weekend, and 2017 will be no different. The college football schedule will stretch from August 31-September 4 leading to five straight days of college football to start the season.

Heavy recently unveiled our first preseason power rankings. Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State and USC top the list. Click here to check out the full set of rankings.

The season starts with a bang with several marquee matchups. Michigan takes on Florida in a neutral site matchup at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium. Alabama squares off with Florida State in a game that could feature the top two teams in the preseason rankings.

Sunday, September 3 features two great simultaneous games. Texas A&M takes on UCLA while West Virginia battles Virginia Tech in the return of an old-school rivalry. Tennessee and Georgia Tech is the Labor Day game that closes out a jammed pack holiday weekend to start the college football season.

Here’s a look at the college football schedule for the first two weekends of the season courtesy of FB Schedules. All times listed are in Eastern time.


Saturday, August 26 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
Oregon State vs. Colorado State 2:30 p.m. CBS Sports
Portland State vs. BYU 3:00 p.m. ESPN
USF vs. San Jose State 7:30 p.m. CBS Sports
Stanford vs. Rice (Australia) 10:00 p.m. ESPN
Hawaii vs. UMass TBD

Thursday, August 31 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
FIU vs. UCF 6:00 p.m./CBS Sports
Presbyterian vs. Wake Forest 6:30 p.m./ACCNExtra
Austin Peay at Cincinnati 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Buffalo at Minnesota 7:00 p.m./Big Ten Network
Elon at Toledo 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Rhode Island at Central Michigan 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Tennessee State at Georgia State 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Holy Cross at UConn 7:30 p.m./ESPN3
North Dakota at Utah 7:30 p.m./Pac-12 Network
Tulsa at Oklahoma State 7:30 p.m./FS1
FAMU at Arkansas (in Little Rock, AR) 8:00 p.m./SEC Network
Ohio State at Indiana 8:00 p.m./ESPN
Sacramento State vs. Idaho 9:00 p.m./ESPN3
ULM at Memphis 9:00 p.m./CBS Sports
New Mexico State at Arizona State 10:30 p.m./Pac-12 Network

Friday, September 1 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
Fordham at Army 6:00 p.m./CBS Sports
Charlotte at Eastern Michigan 6:30 p.m./ESPN3
CCSU at Syracuse 7:00 p.m./ACCN Extra
Colorado vs. Colorado State (Denver, CO) 8:00 p.m./Pac-12 Network
Navy at Florida Atlantic 8:00 p.m./ESPNU
Washington at Rutgers 8:00 p.m./FS1
Utah State at Wisconsin 9:00 p.m./ESPN
Boston College at NIU 9:30 p.m./CBS Sports

Saturday, September 2 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
Akron at Penn State 12 p.m./ABC
Ball State at Illinois 12 p.m./Big Ten Network
Bowling Green at Michigan State 12 p.m./ESPNU
Kent State at Clemson 12 p.m./ESPN
Maryland at Texas 12 p.m./ESPN
Wyoming at Iowa 12 p.m./Big Ten Network
Cal at North Carolina 12:20 p.m./ACC Network
BCC at Miami 12:30 p.m./RSN
Youngstown State at Pitt 1:00 p.m. ACC Network
Portland State at Oregon State 2:00 p.m./Pac-12 Network
NC State vs. South Carolina (Charlotte, NC) 3:00 p.m./ESPN
Alabama A&M at UAB 3:30 p.m./TBA
Michigan vs. Florida (Arlington, TX) 3:30 p.m./ABC
Nevada at Northwestern 3:30 p.m./Big Ten Network
Temple at Notre Dame 3:30 p.m./NBC
UTEP at Oklahoma 3:30 p.m./FOX
William & Mary at Virginia 3:30 p.m./ACC Network
Troy at Boise State 3:45 p.m./ESPNU
Eastern Washington at Texas Tech 4:00 p.m./FSN
Kentucky at Southern Miss 4:00 p.m./CBS Sports
Stony Brook at USF 4:00 p.m./ESPN3
Western Michigan at USC 5:15 p.m./Pac-12 Network
Albany at Old Dominion 6:00 p.m./TBD
James Madison vs. Eastern Carolina 6:00 p.m./ESPN3
NC Central at Duke 6:00 p.m./ACC Network
Appalachian State at Georgia 6:15 p.m./ESPN
Miami (Ohio) at Marshall 6:30 p.m./TBD
Central Arkansas at Kansas State 7:00 p.m./KState TV
Eastern Kentucky at WKU 7:00 p.m./TBD
Hampton at Ohio 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Houston at UTSA 7:00 p.m./Stadium
Houston Baptist at Texas State 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
SE Louisiana at UL Lafayette 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
SE Missouri at Kansas 7:00 p.m./JTV
Stephen F. Austin at SMU 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
UMass at Coastal Carolina 7:00 p.m./ESPN3
Louisville vs. Purdue (Indianapolis, IN) 7:30 p.m./FOX
South Alabama at Ole Miss 7:30 p.m./ESPNU
Arkansas State at Nebraska 8 p.m./BTN
Florida State vs. Alabama (Atlanta, GA) 8 p.m./ABC
Grambling State at Tulane 8 p.m./ESPN3
Jackson State at TCU 8 p.m./FSN
Northern Iowa at Iowa State 8 p.m./Cyclones.TV
Vanderbilt at Middle Tennessee 8 p.m./CBS Sports
Southern Utah at Oregon 8:15 p.m./Pac-12 Network
U.C. Davis at San Diego State 8:30 p.m./TBD
BYU vs. LSU (Houston, TX) 9:30 p.m./ESPN
Montana State at Washington State 10:30 p.m./FS1
NAU at Arizona 11:00 p.m./Pac-12 Network
Abilene Christian at New Mexico TBD
Cal Poly at San Jose State TBD
Charleston Southern at Mississippi State TBD
Georgia Southern at Auburn TBD
Howard at UNLV TBD
Incarnate Word at Fresno State TBD
Lamar at North Texas TBD/ESPN3
Liberty at Baylor TBD
Missouri State at Missouri TBD
Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech TBD
VMI at Air Force TBD
Western Carolina at Hawaii TBD

Sunday, September 3 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
Texas A&M at UCLA 7:30 p.m./FOX
West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech (Landover, MD) 7:30 p.m./ABC

Monday, September 4 College Football Schedule

GAME TIME/TV
Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech (M-B Stadium) 8 p.m./ESPN

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