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The first full week of the upcoming college football season will feature a Saturday tripleheader on ABC, with Texas A&M hosting Notre Dame in prime time.
ESPN announced its key matchups for Week 0 and Week 1 as part of its presentation to advertisers in New York on Tuesday.
The August 31 matchup also marks Mike Elko’s first game as Texas A&M’s head coach. Elko was the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Texas A&M from 2018 to 2021 before being hired by Duke, where he went 16-9 in two seasons.
Prior to his first stint with the Aggies, Elko was the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2017.
“College GameDay” will also begin in College Station, Texas that day for the first time since 2018.
ABC’s other Saturday Week 1 games are Clemson facing Georgia at noon ET in Atlanta and Florida hosting Miami at 3:30 pm in the network’s first SEC broadcast. ABC takes over the late afternoon SEC game from CBS.
The Sunday, September 1, game between USC and LSU will also be on ABC, with a 7:30 pm kickoff.
ESPN announced last December that “College GameDay” will make its first international trip on Aug. 24, when Florida State faces Georgia Tech in Dublin. The game kicks off at noon ET and is one of the marquee matchups of Week 0. ABC will carry the MEAC/SWAC Challenge kick-off between Florida A&M and Norfolk State at 7:30 p.m.
ESPN’s Aug. 31 games include Alabama hosting Western Kentucky in Callen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide debut at 7:30 p.m.
Texas and Oklahoma, who will join the SEC this coming season, will have their openers on ESPN. The Sooners will host Temple on Friday, August 30, at 7 p.m., and the Longhorns will face Colorado State on August 31 at 3:30 p.m.
ESPN will also carry North Dakota State at Colorado on Aug. 29, TCU at Stanford on Aug. 30 and Boston College at Florida State on Monday, Sept. 2.
ESPN’s unveiling Monday follows NBC and Fox announcing some of their matchups.
NBC’s first two “Big Ten Saturday Night” games are with defending national champion Michigan hosting Colorado at Fresno State on Aug. 31 and Nebraska on Friday, Sept. 6.
Fox has also finalized its first two “Big Noon Saturday” matchups. It announced the Sept. 6 game between Texas and Michigan three weeks ago during the Wolverines’ spring game, then added the Monday, Sept. 13 matchup between Alabama and Wisconsin.
The Pac-12 Conference also announced Tuesday that Oregon State and Washington State’s home games will be on the CW Network or Fox. Most will be on the CW, including the Beavers hosting the Cougars on Nov. 23 at 6:30 pm ET.
Fox or FS1 will carry Texas Tech at Washington State on Sept. 7 and Oregon at Oregon State on Sept. 14.
Oregon State and Washington State have committed to rebuilding the Pac-12, but it will remain a two-team league through 2024 and possibly 2025.
The CW Network also has a package of ACC games.
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