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 the key matchups for Weeks 0 and 1 on Tuesday as part of its advertiser presentation in New York.
The Aug. 31 matchup will also be 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 to 2021 before being hired by Duke, where he went 16-9 in two seasons.
Prior to his first stint with the Aggies, Elko was the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2017.
College Game Day will also be held in College Station, Texas, on this day for the first time since 2018.
Other games for Saturday Week 1 on ABC include Clemson vs. Georgia in Atlanta at noon ET, and Florida takes on Miami in the network's first SEC telecast at 3:30 p.m. ABC took over late afternoon SEC games from CBS.
The USC vs. LSU game on Sunday, Sept. 1, will also be broadcast on ABC, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
ESPN announced last December that “College GameDay” would make its first overseas trip on Aug. 24, when Florida State takes on Georgia Tech in Dublin. This game kicks off at noon ET and he is one of Week 0's featured matchups. ABC will carry the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff between Florida A&M and Norfolk State at 7:30 p.m.
ESPN's Aug. 31 games include Alabama vs. Western Kentucky in Karen DeBoer's Crimson Tide debut at 7:30 p.m.
The opening game between Texas and Oklahoma, which will join the SEC next season, will be broadcast on ESPN. The Sooners will play Temple on Friday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m., and the Longhorns will play Colorado State on Aug. 31 at 3:30 p.m.
ESPN will also broadcast North Dakota State at Colorado on Aug. 29, TCU at Stanford on Aug. 30 and Florida State-Boston College on Monday, Sept. 2.
ESPN's announcement follows NBC and FOX's announcements of select matchups on Monday.
The first two games on NBC's “Big Ten Saturday Night” are scheduled for Aug. 31, when defending national champion Michigan hosts Fresno State, and Friday, Sept. 6, when Colorado takes on Nebraska. It becomes.
Fox has also decided on the first two “Big Noon Saturday” matchups. The Sept. 6 Texas-Michigan game was announced during the Wolverines' spring game three weeks ago, and the Sept. 13 Alabama-Wisconsin game was added on Monday.
