With NFL action underway, fans will soon be treated to more football games when the new college football season begins.
But NCAA college football’s first slate of games does not fall under a Week 1 similar to the NFL. Instead, the season actually begins with a “Week 0.”
As the new college football season approaches, here’s everything you need to know about Week 0:
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SIGN UP HERE What is Week 0 in college football?
Week 0 in NCAA college football refers to the opening weekend of games for the start of the new season.
Though the regular season begins with most of the games happening on the weekend before Labor Day, a small number of games are played the weekend before that. These games fall under Week 0 and technically count as the first week in the college football regular season.
When was the first Week 0 in college football?
NCAAF
The first Week 0 in college football dates back a few decades. In the 1980s, No. 1 Nebraska faced off against No. 4 Penn State in the 1983 Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.
Nebraska cruised to a 44-6 victory in the contest, which made broadcast networks realize that having a select few games played in front of a national audience before the meat of the action in Week 1 would help boost ratings.
What is the Week 0 college football schedule in 2022?
Eleven games are on the menu for Saturday, with the first kick-off time slated for 12 p.m. ET and the last for 10:30 p.m. ET. Here are those contests:
- Austin Peay at Western Kentucky: 12 p.m. ET
- Nebraska at Northwestern: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Idaho State at UNLV: 3:30 p.m. ET
- UConn at Utah State: 4 p.m. ET
- Wyoming at Illinois: 4 p.m. ET
- Duquesne at Florida State: 5 p.m. ET
- Charlotte at Florida Atlantic: 7 p.m. ET
- Florida A&M at North Carolina: 8:15 p.m. ET
- North Texas at UTEP: 9 p.m. ET
- Nevada at New Mexico State: 10:00 p.m. ET
- Vanderbilt at Hawai’i: 10:30 p.m. ET
What were the Week 0 college football games in 2021?
After not having any Week 0 games in 2020 due to COVID-19, there were five in 2021 on Saturday, Aug. 28, before Labor Day weekend. Here’s how those games turned out:
- Illinois 30, Nebraska 22
- Fresno State 45, UConn 0
- UCLA 44, Hawai’i 10
- San Jose State 45, Southern Utah 14
- UTEP 30, New Mexico State 3
When does Week 1 start in college football?
Week 1 of the 2022-23 college football season starts on Thursday, Sept. 1, with St. Francis (PA) at Akron at 6 p.m. ET. It ends on Monday, Sept. 5, with Clemson at Georgia Tech.