• More Than 100 Games From All 10 FBS Conferences in Season’s First Three Weeks; FCS Showcased in Week 0, throughout the Season
• ABC’s Saturday Night Football Opens with Season’s Best Non-Conference Matchups: Florida State vs. Alabama and  Oklahoma at Ohio State in Season’s First Two Weeks; Miami at Florida State Renews Rivalry in Week 3
• Week 2 and Week 3 Showdowns: Auburn at Clemson, Pitt at Penn State, Clemson at Louisville, Oklahoma State at Pitt, Boise State at Washington State, and Ole Miss at Cal

ESPN’s leading position in college football is unrivaled with the unveiling of the sport’s early season network schedule.  More than 100 games from all 10 FBS Conferences plus BYU will be televised or streamed in the first three weeks of the season on ESPN’s networks, representing more games across more conferences than any other network. The FCS will once again be a part of ESPN’s complete college football offering, starting in week 0. ESPN’s early season schedule sets the table for the industry-leading complete season slate which concludes with the Division I Football Championship (FCS) the New Year’s Six games and College Football Playoff National Championship (FBS).

Week 1: ESPN Opens the College Football Season with the Sport’s Best Schedule 
ESPN/ABC’s industry-best five-day opening week slate (Aug. 31 – Sept. 4) was announced last week, headlined by the first 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: Florida State vs. Alabama (Sept. 2 at 8 p.m. ET), the season-opener for ABC’s Saturday Night Football – 2016’s most-watched college football franchise on any network.  Additional games in last week’s announcement include Ohio State at Indiana (Thursday, Aug. 31), Clemson hosting Kent State, Michigan vs. Florida, Penn State hosting Akron, BYU vs. LSU and the two special prime-time games on Sunday, Sept. 3, and Labor Day Night (Sept. 4), respectively: West Virginia vs. Virginia Tech and Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech.  The game times and network schedules can be seen here or below.

The ESPN’s networks complete week 1 slate includes more than 30 games over Labor Day weekend. The additional games added to the schedule include:

• Lane Kiffin’s Debut: Head coach Lane Kiffin will make his Florida Atlantic debut when the Owls host Navy (Fri, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m.) on ESPNU
• Return of Sparty: Michigan State will play their opener on ESPNU, adding to the marquee Big Ten games on ESPN’s networks in the season’s first week. The Spartans host Bowling Green on the season’s first full Saturday (noon).

SEC Network Begins Its Fourth Football Season
SEC Network begins its fourth football season with Arkansas hosting Florida A&M from Little Rock, Ark.,  at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31, the first of four games on the network in the season’s first week. Over the course of the first three weeks of the season, SEC Network will air 15 games, with a complete schedule, including game times, announced soon.

ACC Network Extra Streams Numerous ACC Home Openers
ACC Network Extra streams the home openers for Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia and Wake Forest in week 1. Throughout the season, the digital network will carry a number of games from ACC stadiums.

ESPN3 Begins Season Slate
ESPN3 will stream more than a dozen games to begin the season, beginning a slate that will see the network carry numerous games each week of the season.

Week 2: Top 10 Matchup between Oklahoma and Ohio State Headline A Number of Non-Conference Showdowns
A number of key non-conference showdowns across ESPN’s networks highlight the season’s second week with none bigger than ABC’s Saturday Night Football presentation of Oklahoma at Ohio State (Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m.). The Sooners-Buckeyes Big 12-Big Ten battle will be played on the same day as:

• The Battle of Pennsylvania: Penn State plays Pittsburgh (3:30 p.m., ABC) for the 98th time in the schools’ histories; however, the Panthers travel to State College, Pa., for the first-time since 1999. The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series with 50 wins, 43 losses and four ties, but the Panthers have won the last two meetings, including delivering the Nittany Lions one of their two losses last season.
• SEC vs. ACC: The College Football Playoff National Champion Clemson Tigers play their first game of the season under the lights in Death Valley when they host Auburn (7 p.m., ESPN). The two teams have a storied history, first playing in 1902 and meeting 50 times overall. Auburn holds the upper hand with 34 wins in the series and two ties; however, they haven’t won in Memorial Stadium since 1970.
• Battle in the Beehive: One of the sport’s best rivalries is renewed when Utah travels to face BYU (10:15 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU). The Utes have won the last six meetings between the two schools separated by approximately 50 miles and 56 of their 91 overall meetings.

Michigan’s home opener vs. Cincinnati (noon), Iowa at Iowa State (noon), Boise State at Washington State (10:30 p.m.) and Houston at Arizona (10:30 p.m.) are ESPN’s additional non-conference matchups in week 2. In conference play, Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals will travel to North Carolina (noon) as the two teams open their ACC schedule. More details on the network designations can be found below.

Longhorn Network Airs Texas Football Games for Seventh Consecutive Year
Longhorn Network will exclusively televise select Texas football games for the seventh straight year, beginning when the Longhorns host San Jose State (Sept. 9 at 3:30 p.m.).  The 24-hour network devoted to the University of Texas will also televise the Longhorns’ conference matchup vs. Kansas later in the season (Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.). More details on LHN’s production can be found here.

Week 3: Miami-Florida State Continue Their Rivalry; Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals Seek Revenge vs. Clemson
Both traditional and budding ACC rivalries headline week 3, when Miami travels to Florida State and Clemson plays at Louisville. The Hurricanes-Seminoles’ 62nd meeting all-time will air on ABC’s Saturday Night Football (8 p.m.) following the Tigers trip to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium to take on Heisman-winning QB Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals (3:30 p.m., ABC or ESPN).

Both matchups last season were decided on the final plays of the fourth quarter and among the top games of the year. In Miami, the Seminoles blocked Miami’s extra point with under two minutes to go that would have tied the game, leading to their 20-19 victory. In Clemson, the Tigers held on for a 42-36 victory, in a game that featured the Tigers up 28-10 at halftime and then trailing 36-28 in the fourth quarter.

The SEC West will also play an intra-division matchup in primetime when LSU visits Mississippi State (7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2).

Non-conference games of importance will also be scattered throughout the day, including:

• The Battle in Provo: Wisconsin travels to BYU (3:30 p.m., ABC or ESPN) for a rare matchup between the Badgers and Cougars. This is just the third all-time meeting between the two schools and the first ever in Provo, Utah.
• Rosen Goes to Memphis: UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, a Heisman Trophy candidate, and the Bruins travel to Memphis to take on the Memphis Tigers (noon, ABC/ESPN2).
• Big 12 at ACC: Oklahoma State makes its first ever trip to the Steel City, as it plays Pittsburgh (noon, ABC/ ESPN2). The schools met for the first-time ever last season, with the Cowboys winning 45-38.
• Sweet Home Alabama: The Crimson Tide play their second consecutive home game, hosting Colorado State for the second-time ever (7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2).

ESPN will begin the day with Notre Dame at Boston College (noon) and conclude with Ole Miss at Cal (10:30 p.m.)

Week 0: Stanford vs. Rice from Australia Caps Tripleheader on ESPN
ESPN gets the season started in the ever-growing Week 0. For the second straight year, the late August weekend has an international feel as Stanford plays Rice from Sydney, Australia (10 p.m.) on ESPN. The network’s tripleheader begins with Portland State at BYU (3 p.m.) followed by the 2017 Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff between Chattanooga and Jacksonville State (6:30 p.m.). ESPNU will also air two games during Week 0: Colgate at Cal Poly (7 p.m.) on the Saturday and Richmond at Sam Houston State (7 p.m.) on Sunday, Aug. 27.

ESPN’s 2017 College Football Schedule

Week 0 Schedule

Week 1 Schedule

Week 2 Schedule

Week 3 Schedule

Week 4 and Beyond

Note: Not all ESPN3 and ACC Network Extra games are exclusive

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Media contact: Derek Volner at 860-384-9986; [email protected] and @DerekVolner