When does college football start: Q&A for 2023 season schedule

Here's what you need to know about the 2023 college football season schedule with kickoff set for this month

James Parks | Aug 1, 2023

When does college football start: Q&A for 2023 season schedule /

When does college football start? What you need to know for the 2023 schedule

"Week 0" kicks off the season on Saturday, Aug. 26 with seven games on the schedule. The rest of the country will begin the season in traditional Week 1 action the following weekend to kick off the month of September.

Week 0 College Football Schedule
Week 1 College Football Schedule
Thursday, Aug. 31
Saturday, Sept. 2
Sunday, Sept. 3
2023 College Football Playoff schedule

Week 0 College Football Schedule

Week 0 is typically when a lot of smaller schools start things out, but two major programs are in on the early action as both Notre Dame and USC play their openers on Sat., Aug. 26.

Navy vs. Notre Dame (Dublin). Our first look at Sam Hartman in a Fighting Irish uniform after the veteran quarterback, and the ACC's all-time record holder in touchdown passes, transferred to Notre Dame to play behind one of college football's best lines and alongside some of the game's better running backs, too. 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock

San Jose State at USC. Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Caleb Williams returns with a real shot at winning another, and potentially joining Archie Griffin in that elite company, at the helm of one of what should be one of college football's most explosive offenses. But how will the Trojans' defense regroup? The unit nearly cost it in some games last season and then did in the Pac-12 title bout and the Cotton Bowl. 8 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Network

North Alabama vs. Mercer
UTEP at Jacksonville State
Fordham at Albany
UMass at New Mexico State
Ohio at San Diego State
Hawaii at Vanderbilt
Jackson State vs. SC State
FIU at Louisiana Tech

Week 1 College Football Schedule

Florida Gators in action during a college football game in the SEC. — Your look at the best early games on the 2023 college football schedule

Thursday, Aug. 31

Florida at Utah. The first matchup went to the Gators to open last season, but the teams went in opposite directions after that: Florida finished 6-7 and lost its quarterback to the NFL, while Utah went on to win the Pac-12 and returns some vital pieces, including star quarterback Cameron Rising. Utah looks to be in position to avenge that loss and take a big early step towards what would be its third-straight Pac-12 title. 8 p.m. ET on ESPN

Nebraska at Minnesota. Our first look at what Matt Rhule has been able to put together at Nebraska after a whirlwind debut offseason that has Cornhusker fans optimistic and looking forward to the program's comeback, against a Gophers team that lost key playmakers in an early Big Ten West showcase. 8 p.m. on Fox

Saturday, Sept. 2

North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye drops back for a pass in a college football game in the ACC. — A battle of the Carolinas to open the 2023 college football season / USA Today Images

Colorado at TCU. Our first look at the Buffaloes under the leadership of Deion Sanders, who made the biggest splash of the offseason by leaving Jackson State to rebuild the Colorado program, which he overhauled with a tidal wave of outgoing and incoming transfer portal players. And a worthy opponent in the national title runner-up Horned Frogs who, while they gained some prominent transfers, also lost a ton of talent, including their top quarterback, receiver, running back, and offensive coordinator. 12 p.m. ET on Fox

Virginia vs. Tennessee. An ACC vs. SEC matchup from Nashville pits a Virginia team looking at a rebuild against a Volunteers squad that, while it just lost the core of what was college football's No. 1 total offense, still brings back plenty of talent to make another run at the SEC East title. 12 p.m. ET on ABC

Ohio State at Indiana. Hoosiers coach Tom Allen might be on the hot seat coming in against a heavily-favored Buckeyes squad that has some questions of its own on the roster, namely at quarterback as Ryan Day looks to replace Heisman finalist CJ Stroud and on the offensive line, all while fielding what might be the best collection of skill talent in the nation. 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS

More: Big Ten football power rankings for 2023

West Virginia at Penn State. This was a fun rivalry dating back to 1904, but the schools haven't played since 1992. Penn State won a 45-point game against the Mountaineers back in '91 and in 2023, the Nittany Lions look like the better, more well-rounded team, coming off an impressive Rose Bowl victory, against a WVU squad whose coach, Neal Brown, is decidedly on the hot seat. 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC/Peacock

North Carolina vs. South Carolina. Drake Maye is back for the Tar Heels as a consensus top 10 quarterback in college football, if not top five, and Spencer Rattler returns for the Gamecocks. But UNC has questions defensively and after losing OC Phil Longo, while USC saw some prominent transfers depart, including tight end Jaheim Bell and edge rusher Jordan Burch. 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC

Coastal Carolina at UCLA. Grayson McCall entered the transfer portal but then came back to the Chanticleers for another run to build on his 8,000-yard passing career against a Bruins team trending up but that lost its top two playmakers, but gained notable transfers in quarterback Collin Schlee, running back Carson Steele, and receiver J. Michael Sturdivant. 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Keep up: College football transfer portal tracker for 2023's top players

Sunday, Sept. 3

LSU vs. Florida State. These teams played a crazy back-and-forth game that FSU won by a single point and both sides went on to have excellent seasons, the Seminoles winning 10 games for the first time since 2016 and LSU winning the SEC West and taking down Alabama.

Both quarterbacks return to this game — FSU's Jordan Travis and LSU's Jayden Daniels — in addition to defensive stars — the Noles' Jared Verse and the Tigers' Maason Smith and Harold Perkins. Moreover, each school signed an elite transfer portal class of contributors on both sides of the ball. 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC

2023 College Football Playoff schedule

The official trophy of the College Football Playoff National Championship. — Looking ahead to the College Football Playoff / USA Today Images

Jan. 1, 2024 Rose Bowl

Jan. 1, 2024 Sugar Bowl

Jan. 8, 2024 National Championship

This is the 10th year that college football has a playoff system, which replaced the former Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ahead of the 2014 season, and the last year before the playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024.

Ohio State won the first championship under the current system.

Alabama (2015, ’17, ’20), Clemson (2016 and ’18), and Georgia (2021, '22) are the only programs to win multiple titles in the playoff era.

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | All Teams

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Published Aug 1, 2023

JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.