The college football season is finally upon us, with Week 0 bringing us seven games to warm us up for when the full slate begins in Week 1.
As is often the case, Week 0 is not exactly filled with tantalizing matchups and is a good test for just how starved you are of college football. There are two ranked squads in action and both are three touchdown favorites, while the most compelling games are those pitting teams likely to be on the outside looking in come bowl season. Still, it’s college football and we haven’t been graced with its presence for eight long months, so it’ll be nice to return to the warm, comforting embrace of the couch on Saturday.
Here, we’ll go through the admittedly thin Week 0 schedule and highlight the games we’ll be watching in each TV window.
Navy (+20.5) vs. Notre Dame (in Ireland), 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
Notre Dame will once again kickoff its season in Ireland as part of their Shamrock Series, this time facing Navy as the Midshipmen exit the Ken Niumatalolo era. Navy is still running the triple option, but with new offensive coordinator Grant Chesnut coming in from Kennesaw State, the expectation is for a bit more of a run-pass balance than Navy’s had in the past. Still, the Irish are heavy favorites for a reason, as they look to take a step forward offensively with Sam Hartman coming in at quarterback after starring at Wake Forest for the past few seasons. We’ll find out if Hartman has the weapons around him to bring the offense to life, as that is the big question for Notre Dame after star tight end Michael Mayer left for the NFL. For years, Navy has been a team capable of tripping up opponents and playing them closer than the experts think (to steal Lee Corso’s favorite line), but we still need to find out if this Navy team has that kind of juice in them after a dreadful 2022.
UTEP (-1) at Jacksonville State, 5:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
The Gamecocks are making their FBS debut after making the transition to Conference USA and will host UTEP in a near-coin flip game at the sportsbooks. Jacksonville State has long been an FCS powerhouse, going 9-2 last year (but weren’t eligible for the playoffs because they were transitioning to FBS this year), and their move up also means former West Virginia, Arizona, and Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez is now back in the top level of college football. UTEP will be a bit of measuring stick for the Gamecocks, as the Miners went 5-7 last year and are a middle of the pack C-USA squad. A win will establish Jacksonville State as an immediate threat for bowl eligibility, while a loss will show there’s some room to grow before finding similar success at the FBS level they had in the FCS.
Ohio (+2.5) at San Diego State, 7:00 p.m. ET (FS1)
The absolute sickos will also keep an eye on New Mexico State-UMass on ESPN in this window as well, but I can’t recommend that beyond “it could be funny.” I do think this will probably end up being the best game of the day, as it pits last year’s MAC runners up, Ohio, against a San Diego State squad looking to bounce back from a disappointing 7-6 campaign. The Aztecs are, typically, a physical team that leans on its defense to win, but last year they were prone to getting leaky on that end and didn’t have the offense to pick up the slack. The Bobcats will be a good early test of whether the SDSU defense has taken some strides back to being one of the best Group of Five units, or if there’s still issues on that end, because Kurtis Rourke is back under center for the Bobcats and can sling it. This will be a fun game of contrasting styles for two good non-power programs.
San Jose State (+30.5) at USC, 8:00 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)
The other Power Five program in action at this time is Vanderbilt, as they host Hawaii after blowing the doors off the Rainbow Warriors last year on the road, but of the two, this is the game with the most national intrigue. It’s not college football season until you’re trying to figure out how to watch a game being broadcast on the Pac-12 Network (which, let me offer a preemptive RIP for next year). The reigning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams, will begin his season at home against the Spartans with dozens able to watch on TV. The selling point for this game is seeing exactly how dominant the USC offense looks out of the gates without Jordan Addison. There are still questions for USC on the defensive side of the ball, but Williams is such a dynamic talent that he’ll give them a chance against most anyone. San Jose State doesn’t figure to have the athletes to hang with USC so we won’t learn all that much on either side of the ball, but it will be a chance to see what playmakers are the early top targets of Williams and just how easily USC carves up the Spartans will be an indicator of how they’re operating early in the season.
FIU (+11) at Louisiana Tech, 9:00 p.m. ET (CBSSN)
My main pitch for this game is that games tend to get weird in Ruston. Last year these two teams played a 42-34 OT thriller in Fort Lauderdale and the Bulldogs will be looking for revenge here to open the season. I don’t foresee a ton of defense being played by either side, and that should make for a pretty entertaining nightcap, even if it’s not especially good football.