HOW TO WATCH WEEK ONE OF NCAA FOOTBALL

Officially, the 2021 college football season began with five games being played on August 28, though none of those games involved teams ranked in the AP preseason Top 25 rankings. Unofficially, the rubber really hits the road this coming weekend, with games featuring all of the favorites to reach BCS Championship Final Four in January, and every single team in the Top Ten in action.

There aren’t many traditional ‘rivalry’ games this week but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t games worth watching. Two must-see games are ACC/SEC neutral site matchups – one between #3 Clemson and #5 Georgia at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. and another featuring perennial National Champion favorites #1 Alabama and #13 Miami in Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.  Another inter-conference game that will likely draw a lot of eyeballs is a Saturday afternoon matchup between #21 Texas, a traditional Big 12 stalwart trying to build on last year’s Alamo Bowl win, taking on an upstart non-Power 5 Conference foe in the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns of the Sun Belt Conference, who begin 2021 ranked 23rd in the country.

Preseason rankings are notoriously fallible and often crumble early in the season.  After a COVID-19 abbreviated season where teams were unable to play their full schedules, prognostications for 2021 have proven very difficult, so some lines and over/unders are bound to be even more flawed than usual. If you have been paying particular attention to certain teams or feel strongly about a game or two on this week’s docket, it could present some opportunities for you to pounce with a savvy bet (or three).

There are big games that will be broadcast nationally on major networks. Many that are not on nationally televised broadcasts can be seen on their conference’s network.  Check your cable or internet package to see which games are available where you live. Here’s where you can watch all the games featuring teams currently ranked in the preseason Top 25 (all times EST):

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5