NCAA kickoff 2014: Opening weekend college football schedule

Opening weekend college football schedule and highlights

Highlights

Thursday, Aug. 28
Boise State vs. Ole Miss
ESPN, 8pm ET Live

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta hosts the season-opening Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between the Boise State Broncos and the Ole Miss Rebels.

Friday, Aug. 29
Colorado State vs. Colorado
FOX Sports 1, 9pm ET

It’s the Rocky Mountain Showdown rivalry game tonight at Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High as the Colorado State Rams take on the Colorado Buffaloes.

Saturday, Aug. 30
West Virginia vs. Alabama
ABC & ESPN2, 3:30pm ET

College football’s opening weekend continues today with this big Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game matchup between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. The game airs on both ABC and ESPN2.

Florida State vs. Oklahoma State
ABC, 8pm ET

A big night of college football features the national champion Florida State Seminoles vs. the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the 2014 AdvoCare Cowboys Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on ABC.

Wisconsin vs. LSU
ESPN, 9pm ET

ESPN airs the Wisconsin Badgers vs. the LSU Tigers in the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Sunday, Aug. 31
SMU at Baylor
FOX Sports 1, 7:30pm ET

The Baylor Bears play their first game in new McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, as they host the SMU Mustangs in this primetime matchup.

Monday, Sept. 1
Miami at Louisville
ESPN, 8pm ET
The Louisville Cardinals welcome the Miami Hurricanes to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium for Louisville’s first football game as a member of the ACC. This game also marks the return of head coach Bobby Petrino, who coached at Louisville from 2003-06.

College Football Opening Weekend Schedules by TV Network

FOX/FOX Sports Networks
Thursday, Aug. 28
Rutgers at Washington State (10pm ET, FOX Sports 1)
Saturday, Aug. 30
Troy at UAB (12pm ET, FOX College Sports)
North Dakota State at Iowa State (12pm ET, FOX Sports 1)
Central Arkansas at Texas Tech (7pm ET, FSN)
Samford at TCU (7pm ET, FSN)
Fresno State at USC (7:30pm ET, FOX/FOX Deportes)

NBC
Saturday, Aug. 30
Rice at Notre Dame, 3:30pm ET

SEC Network
Thursday, Aug. 28

Texas A&M at South Carolina, 6pm ET
Temple at Vanderbilt, 9:15pm ET
Saturday, Aug. 30
Tennessee-Martin at Kentucky, 12pm ET
Arkansas at Auburn, 4pm ET
Southern Mississippi at Mississippi State, 7:30pm ET
Sunday, Aug. 31
Utah State at Tennessee, 7pm ET

CBS Sports Network
Thursday, Aug. 28
Tulane at Tulsa, 8pm ET
Friday, Aug. 29
Bowling Green at Western Kentucky, 7:30pm ET
Saturday, Aug. 30
Ohio State vs. Navy (M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore), 12pm ET
Northern Arizona at San Diego State, 7pm ET
Washington at Hawaii, 10:30pm ET

BTN
Thursday, Aug. 28
Eastern Illinois at Minnesota, 7pm ET
Friday, Aug. 29
Jacksonville State at Michigan State, 10:30pm ET
Saturday, Aug. 30
Northern Iowa at Iowa, 12pm ET
Youngstown State at Illinois, 12pm ET
Florida Atlantic at Nebraska, 3:30pm ET
James Madison at Maryland, 3:30pm ET

Pac-12 Network
Thursday, Aug. 28
Idaho State at Utah, 7:30pm ET
Weber State at Arizona State, 10:30pm ET
Saturday, Aug. 30
UC Davis at Stanford, 4pm ET
South Dakota at Oregon, 10:30pm ET

ESPN Networks

Date Time (ET) Game/Commentators Network
Wed, Aug 27 7 p.m. Abilene Christian at Georgia State
Ryan Ruocco & Charles Arbuckle
ESPNU
Thu, Aug 28 6 p.m. No. 21 Texas A&M at No. 9 South Carolina
Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer, Maria Taylor & Kaylee Hartung
SEC Network
  7 p.m. Wake Forest at Louisiana-Monroe
Dave Lamont & David Diaz-Infante
ESPNU
7 p.m. Howard at Akron
Michael Reghi & Jerod Cherry
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Presbyterian at Northern Illinois
Wayne Randazzo & Bob Chmeil
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Tennessee-Chattanooga at Central Michigan
Shawn Kenney & John Gregory
ESPN3
  8 p.m. 2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: Boise State vs. No. 18 Ole Miss (Atlanta)
ESPN: Rece Davis, David Pollack, Todd Blackledge & Samantha Ponder
Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad
ESPN & ESPN Radio
  8 p.m. Cal Poly at New Mexico State
Trey Bender & Jay Taylor
ESPN3
  9:15 p.m. Temple at Vanderbilt
Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Laura Rutledge
SEC Network
  10 p.m. North Dakota at San Jose State
Paul Loeffler & Pat Hill
ESPN3
Fri, Aug 29 7 p.m. BYU at Connecticut
Dave Flemming, Danny Kanell & Allison Williams
ESPN
  7:30 p.m. Villanova at Syracuse
Dave Popkin & Al Groh
ESPN3
  9 p.m. Texas-San Antonio at Houston
Mike Couzens & Charles Arbuckle
ESPNU
  10:30 p.m. UNLV at Arizona
Mark Neely, Mike Bellotti & Dawn Davenport
ESPN
Sat, Aug 30 8:30 a.m. 2014 Croke Park Classic: Penn State vs. Central Florida (Dublin, Ireland)
Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards & Kenny Mayne
ESPN2
  Noon No. 7 UCLA at Virginia
Bob Wischusen, Matt Millen & Quint Kessenich
ESPN
  Noon Appalachian State at Michigan
Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway & Paul Carcaterra
ESPN2
  Noon Western Michigan at Purdue
Adam Amin & John Congemi
ESPNU
  Noon Indiana State at Indiana
Mike Corey & Dan Hawkins
ESPNEWS
  Noon Tennessee-Martin at Kentucky
Tom Hart, Matt Stinchcomb & Heather Mitts
SEC Network
  Noon Delaware at Pittsburgh
Dave Weekley & Mickey Matthews
ESPN3
  12:30 p.m. Georgia Southern at NC State ESPN3 *
  12:30 p.m. Wofford at Georgia Tech ESPN3 *
  2 p.m. Colgate at Ball State
Jim Barbar & Mark Herrmann
ESPN3
  2 p.m. Nicholls State at Air Force
Peter Young & Pat Hill
ESPN3
  3 p.m. Boston College at Massachusetts (Foxborough, Mass.)
Bob Picozzi & Matt Chatham
ESPN3
  3:30 p.m. 2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: West Virginia vs. No. 2 Alabama (Atlanta)
ABC/ESPN2: Dave Pasch, Brian Griese & Tom Luginbill
Radio: Marc Kestecher, Trevor Matich & Ian Fitzsimmons
ABC & ESPN2 ** & ESPN Radio
  Cal at Northwestern
Mark Jones, Rod Gilmore & Jessica Mendoza
ABC & ESPN2 **
  3:30 p.m. South Dakota State at No. 24 Missouri
Clay Matvick, Anthony Becht & Cara Capuano
ESPNU
  3:30 p.m. Duquesne at Buffalo
Jonathan Yardley & Vonnie Holiday
ESPN3
  3:30 p.m. Marshall at Miami (Ohio)
Shawn Kenney & Rocky Boiman
ESPN3
  4 p.m. William & Mary at Virginia Tech
Craig Minervini & Ray Bentley
ESPNEWS
  4 p.m. Arkansas at No. 6 Auburn
Brent Musburger, Jesse Palmer & Maria Taylor
SEC Network
  5:30 p.m. No. 16 Clemson at No. 12 Georgia
Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge & Holly Rowe
ESPN
  6 p.m. Elon at Duke
Roy Phillpot & Stan Lewter
ESPN3
  6 p.m. Liberty at No. 23 North Carolina
Ryan Rose & Forest Conoly
ESPN3
  6 p.m. Morgan State at Eastern Michigan
Dan Gutowsky & Dustin Fox
ESPN3
  6 p.m. Ohio at Kent State
Michael Reghi & Jerod Cherry
ESPN3
  6 p.m. Holy Cross at Albany
Doug Sherman & Ken Dunek
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Idaho at Florida
Anish Shroff, Kelly Stouffer & Niki Noto
ESPNU
  7 p.m. New Hampshire at Toledo
Wayne Randazzo & John Gregory
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Montana State at Arkansas State
Brock Bowling & Wayne Gandy
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Southern at Louisiana-Lafayette
Matt Stewart & Cole Cubelic
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Arkansas Pine-Bluff at Texas State
Brett Dolan & Curtis Baham
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Austin Peay at Memphis
Joel Meyers & Chad Brown
ESPN3
  7 p.m. Western Carolina at South Florida
Drew Fellios & Doug Graber
ESPN3
  7:30 p.m. Southern Miss at Mississippi State
Dave Neal, Andre Ware & Laura Rutledge
SEC Network
  7:30 p.m. Fresno State at No. 15 USC
Rich Cellini, Tom Ramsay & David Shore
ESPN Radio
  8 p.m. 2014 Cowboys Classic: No. 1 Florida State vs. Oklahoma State (Arlington)
ABC: Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit & Heather Cox
Radio: Bill Rosinski, David Norrie & Joe Schad
ABC & ESPN Radio
  8 p.m. NC Central at East Carolina
Dave Lamont & David Diaz-Infante
ESPNEWS
  8 p.m. North Texas at Texas
Kevin Dunn & Ahmad Brooks
Longhorn Network
  9 p.m. 2014 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff: No. 14 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 LSU (Houston)
Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman & Todd McShay
ESPN
Sun, Aug 31 11:45 a.m. 2014 MEAC/SWAC Challenge Presented by Disney: Alabama A&M vs. North Carolina A&T (Orlando)
Mark Neely, Jay Walker & Tiffany Greene
ESPN
  7 p.m. Utah State at Tennessee
Joe Tessitore, Brock Huard & Shannon Spake
SEC Network
Mon, Sep 1 8 p.m. Miami (Fla.) at Louisville
Rece Davis, Jesse Palmer, David Pollack & Samantha Ponder
ESPN

* Local blackout may apply
** Reverse mirror in which ESPN2 will regionalize two games on ABC to markets not receiving the telecast

About Ryan Berenz 2166 Articles
Member of the Television Critics Association. Charter member of the Ancient and Mystic Society of No Homers. Squire of the Ancient & Benevolent Order of the Lynx, Lodge 49, Long Beach, Calif. Costco Wholesale Gold Star Member since 2011.