Dive into all the action of College Football Week 1
Dive into all the action of College Football Week 1
See how to stream the best games of the week, and which streamer we recommend for watching them all.
The 2025 NCAA college football season has arrived at last — with apologies to Week 0 teams. Once again in 2025, college football games will air on ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, The CW, ESPN, Fox, FS1, NBC, SEC Network, and other platforms. Games start on Thursday, Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m., and continue through Sunday, since the NCAA doesn’t have to share the weekend with the NFL. There are tons of games, and tons of ways to watch, but our favorite way to stream the best contests is with a subscription to Sling TV starting at $5 per day.
How to watch College Football Week 1 2025
- When: Starting Thursday, Aug. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
- TV: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, The CW, ESPN, Fox, FS1, NBC, SEC Network
- Stream: Watch with a subscription to Sling TV.
- From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.
Everything you need to know about College Football Week 1
What is the schedule of College Football Week 1 2025 games?
The total list of college football games this weekend is too big to lay out here, so we decided to pare it down to the premier games of the weekend that will demand your attention. See our top picks in the table below:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Aug. 28 | 5:30 p.m. | Boise State Broncos vs. South Florida Bulls | ESPN |
| Friday, Aug. 29 | 8 p.m. | Auburn Tigers vs. Baylor Bears | Fox |
| Saturday, Aug. 30 | 12 noon | Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State Buckeyes | Fox |
| 12 noon | Syracuse Orange vs. Tennessee Volunteers | ABC | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Georgia Bulldogs | ESPN | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida State Seminoles | ABC | |
| 7 p.m. | Texas A&M Aggies vs. UTSA Roadrunners | ABC | |
| 7:30 p.m. | LSU Tigers vs. Clemson Tigers | ABC | |
| Sunday, Aug. 31 | 7:30 p.m. | Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Miami Hurricanes | ABC |
| Monday, Sept. 1 | 7:30 p.m. | TCU Horned Frogs vs. North Carolina Tar Heels | ESPN |
Why do we recommend watching 2025 College Football Week 1 2025 on Sling TV?
The flexibility and intuitive product offerings on Sling TV make it our favorite choice to watch College Football Week 1. Let’s start with Sling Orange, which carries ESPN, as well as ESPN3, which simulcasts games shown on ABC. Sling Orange costs just $46 per month for a package of 30+ channels, but if you don’t want to sign up for the whole month, you definitely have choices.
To be specific, Sling Orange offers Day, Weekend, and Week Passes that allow customers to watch for as little as $5 per day. If you want to watch Sling’s college football coverage this weekend, the Weekend Pass will cost you just $10 — and for $2 extra, you get the Sports Extra add-on with ACC Network, SEC Network, and ESPNU.
If you’d rather use Sling to watch games on Fox channels, you can do so with its Select package. This has Fox and FS1 — check the table below for markets where Fox is available on Sling TV — and costs just $20 per month. Either way you want to go, you can unlock big savings and watch the biggest games with Sling TV.
Finally, if you have to have everything with Sling TV all at once, you can watch the Sling Orange and Blue package to get Fox channels in applicable markets, as well as ESPN for a total price of just $61 per month. Sling TV lets you take control of your College Football Week 1, watching the games you want without having to pay for games you have no interest in.
Fox markets
| Fox market | Channel call sign |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | WAGA |
| Austin | KTBC |
| Chicago | WFLD |
| Dallas/Fort Worth | KDFW |
| Detroit | WJBK |
| Gainesville | WOGX |
| Houston | KRIV |
| Los Angeles | KTTV |
| Milwaukee | WITI |
| Minneapolis/St. Paul | KMSP |
| New York | WNYW |
| Orlando/Daytona/Melbourne | WOFL |
| Philadelphia | WTXF |
| Phoenix | KSAZ |
| San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose | KTVU |
| Seattle | KCPQ |
| Tampa/St. Petersburg | WTVT |
| Washington, DC | WTTG |
Sling TV
Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord-cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.
You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.
Can you watch College Football Week 1 2025 for free?
There are several services that will let you watch at least some games from College Football Week 1 for free, though their base prices are all higher than Sling TV’s.
DIRECTV offers a wide range of channels offering College Football Week 1 games in its MySports Genre Pack, which also includes ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC in most markets. It has a five-day free trial, after which the subscription costs $70 per month.
Hulu + Live TV also comes with the same free trial for all new subscribers, at three days in length. After the trial ends, Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month for plans that include the Disney Bundle at no extra cost.
Fubo offers its trial a little differently, coming with a free viewing period of between one day and seven, depending on factors like what time of month you sign up. Once the trial ends, Fubo plans start at $85 per month, not including regional sports networks.
Lastly, YouTube TV’s trial lasts between two and 14 days, and can change like Fubo’s does, depending on several factors. After the trial ends, YouTube TV costs $83 per month.
What are all the streaming services you can use to watch College Football Week 1 2025
Amongst live TV streaming services that carry a wide variety of cable channels you can use to watch College Football Week 1, Sling TV is our top choice for the reasons we talked about above. But, you can also watch the games on DIRECTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV.
Any games on ESPN channels, including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ACC Network, and SEC Network, will be shown on the ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service. This starts at $30 per month.
Starting at $20 per month, Fox One will stream all games appearing on the Fox broadcast network in local markets, as well as games on FS1.
Paramount+ will carry any games appearing on CBS in your home market on its Premium plan, which costs $13 per month after a seven-day free trial.
Peacock simulcasts Big Ten games shown on NBC with its Premium plan, costing $11 per month.
| DIRECTV | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube TV | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free 3-Day Trial | Free Trial | Save with Sling | Free Trial | |||||
| $20.99 | $9.99 | $28.99 | $25 | $19.99 | $29.99 | $45.99 | $45.99 | $64.99 | ||
| ABC | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| ACC Network | + $24 | + $11 | + $61 | - | - | - | + $11 | - | ✓ | |
| Big Ten Network | + $15 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | - | - | + $11 | ✓ | |
| CBS | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| CBS Sports Network | + $15 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | - | - | - | ✓ | |
| ESPN | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| ESPN2 | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | |
| ESPN3 | + $24 | + $59 | - | - | - | - | ✓ | - | + $18 | |
| Fox | + $19 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| FS1 | + $24 | + $59 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| NBC | + $19 | + $11 | + $61 | - | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | |
| SEC Network | + $24 | + $11 | + $61 | - | - | - | + $11 | - | ✓ | |
| The CW | + $39 | + $59 | + $60 | - | - | - | - | - | ✓ | |
Preview Texas vs. Ohio State game
How to watch College Football Week 1 from anywhere
If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the games as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action, no matter where you are in the world, with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming like Sling TV in order to stream the game with a VPN.
NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!
While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.
- Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
- Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
- Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available