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What is college football Week 0 and what teams are playing?

By John Fye

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey kicks off the 2023 SEC Football Kickoff Media Days at the Nashville Grand Hyatt on Broadway, Monday, July 17, 2023.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey kicks off the 2023 SEC Football Kickoff Media Days at the Nashville Grand Hyatt on Broadway, Monday, July 17, 2023. /
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We are still a week away from the LSU Tigers’ Week 1 game, but Week 0 is upon us. But what is college football Week 0, and how does it involve the SEC?

LSU Football will take on Florida State in a primetime Week 1 game on September 3rd. However, we don’t have to wait until then for the return of college football. Indeed, Week 0 is underway and features SEC Football this Saturday.

Why is college football Week 0 a thing?

The history of college football Week 0 dates back to a neutral site game between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 4 Penn State at the old Giants Stadium in 1983. I suspect the game (that the Huskers won 44-6) was scheduled to the left of Week 1 for the sake of national exposure. Indeed, the intent of college football’s Week 0 continues today.

Week 0 typically features smaller college football programs in contests between unranked teams. The ‘Hawaii Rule’ also applies to college football Week 0.

The ‘Hawaii Rule’ allows college football teams that travel to play the Rainbow Warriors a 13th game in the same season. Such enables an additional home game (and associated revenue) that offsets travel costs.

What teams play in college football Week 0?

Hawaii will play a Week 0 game in 2023. However, the Rainbow Warriors travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores. As a result of their trip, Hawaii will play 13 regular-season games, including seven home games.

The full Week 0 college football slate, including kickoff times (CST) and television networks, is below.

  • Navy vs. Notre Dame, 12:30 a.m., NBC
  • UTEP at Jacksonville State, 3:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network
  • UMass at New Mexico State, 5 p.m., ESPN
  • Ohio at San Diego State, 5 p.m., FS1
  • Hawaii at Vanderbilt, 5:30 p.m., SEC Network
  • San Jose State at USC, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Network
  • FIU at Louisiana Tech, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network

The Week 0 matchups aren’t the most interesting to hardcore fans, but it will be nice to kick back and watch a few quarters of action.

3 most overrated teams on LSU's schedule. dark. Next

I advise LSU Football fans to finish the weekend projects around the house. Come Week 1, our next three months’ worth of Saturdays will be consumed with the Tigers.

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