ESPN reveals college football schedule for Week 1 and other prime time games

Games featuring Clemson, Florida State, Alabama and the best of the Big Ten Conference highlight ESPN’s televised college football schedule for Week 1 of the upcoming season, providing an early look at those teams expected to make a charge at the College Football Playoff and national championship.

The prime time game on Saturday, Sept. 2, will feature the Crimson Tide and the Seminoles in Atlanta for the 2017 Chick-fil-A Kickoff game. Two nights earlier, on Thursday, Aug. 31, ESPN will air Ohio State at Indiana at 8 p.m. ET.

The televised Week 1 schedule begins on Aug. 31 and continues through Labor Day weekend. West Virginia and Virginia Tech will meet in Landover, Md., on Sunday, Sept. 3, and Tennessee and Georgia Tech will face off in Atlanta on Sept. 4.

The Big Ten in particular is strongly represented in the Week 1 slate. In addition to the Buckeyes meeting the Hoosiers, ESPN will air games involving Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan, with the Wolverines’ non-conference pairing with Florida set for broadcast at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. All four Big Ten teams are expected to be in contention for a New Year’s Six bowl and Playoff berth.

Ohio State will also be televised in prime time in Week 2. The program’s rematch with Oklahoma – a game the Buckeyes won convincingly at OU a year ago – will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC on Saturday, Sept. 9. The game marks the Sooners’ first trip to Columbus in 40 years.

The prime time game on Sept. 16 will feature the annual rivalry between Miami (Fla.) and Florida State. This will be an ABC broadcast with an 8 p.m. ET kickoff.

The full televised schedule for Week 1 of the upcoming season and the prime time games set for Week 2 and Week 3 (all times Eastern):

WEEK 1

Thursday, Aug. 31

Ohio State at Indiana, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, Sept. 1

Utah State at Wisconsin, 9 p.m. (ESPN)

Saturday, Sept. 2

Akron at Penn State, noon (ABC)

Kent State at Clemson, noon (ESPN)

N.C. State vs. South Carolina (in Charlotte), 3 p.m. (ESPN)

Florida vs. Michigan (in Arlington, Texas), 3:30 p.m. (ABC)

Appalachian State at Georgia, 6:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Alabama vs. Florida State (in Atlanta), 8 p.m. (ABC)

Brigham Young vs. LSU (in Houston), 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Sunday, Sept. 3

South Carolina State at Southern, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia (in Landover, Md.), 7:30 p.m. (ABC)

Monday, Sept. 4

Georgia Tech vs. Tennessee (in Atlanta), 8 p.m. (ESPN)

WEEK 2

Saturday, Sept. 9

Oklahoma at Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)

WEEK 3

Saturday, Sept. 16

Miami (Fla.) at Florida State, 8 p.m. (ABC)

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