The first full week of the upcoming college football season will feature a Saturday tripleheader on ABC, including Texas A&M hosting Notre Dame in prime time.
ESPN announced its major matchups for Week 0 and Week 1 on Tuesday as part of its presentation to advertisers in New York.
The Aug. 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 2018-21 before being hired by Duke, where he was 16-9 in two seasons.
Before his first stint with the Aggies, Elko was the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2017.
“College GameDay” also will originate from College Station, Texas, that day for the first time since 2018.
Notre Dame’s Week 3 game at Purdue on Sept. 14 will air on CBS at 2:30 p.m. CDT, with USC at Michigan — the Trojans’ first road game as a Big Ten member — in that slot the following week.
The Irish and Boilermakers will meet for only the second time since their annual rivalry ended after running from 1946 to 2014.
CBS also announced it will broadcast the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis at 7 p.m. CDT on Saturday, Dec. 7.
ABC’s other Saturday Week 1 games include Clemson facing Georgia in Atlanta at 11 a.m. CDT and Florida hosting Miami at 2:30 p.m. in the first SEC telecast on the network. ABC takes over the late afternoon SEC game from CBS, which now has the Big Ten.
The Sunday, Sept. 2, game between USC and LSU also will be on ABC with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
ESPN announced in December that “College GameDay” will make its first international trip on Aug. 24, when Florida State faces Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland. That game will kick off at 11 a.m. and is one of the Week 0 marquee matchups. ABC will carry the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off between Florida A&M and Norfolk State at 6:30 p.m.
ESPN’s Aug. 31 games include Alabama hosting Western Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. in Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide debut.
Texas and Oklahoma, which join the SEC this season, will have their openers on ESPN. The Sooners host Temple on Friday, Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. and the Longhorns face Colorado State on Aug. 31 at 2:30 p.m.
ESPN also will carry North Dakota State at Colorado on Aug. 29, TCU at Stanford on Aug. 30 and Boston College at Florida State on Sept. 2.
ESPN’s unveiling follows announcements Monday by NBC and Fox of some of their matchups.
NBC’s first two “Big Ten Saturday night” games are set with defending national champion Michigan hosting Fresno State on Aug. 31 and Colorado at Nebraska on Sept. 6.
Fox also has finalized its first two “Big Noon Saturday” matchups. It announced the Sept. 6 game between Texas and Michigan during the Wolverines’ spring game three weeks ago and on Monday added the Sept. 13 matchup between Alabama and Wisconsin.
The Pac-12 also announced Tuesday that Oregon State’s 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 5:30 p.m.
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 remain committed to rebuilding the Pac-12, but it will be a two-team league for 2024 and possibly 2025.
The CW Network also has a package of ACC games.
