Week 0

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Week 0 (or Week Zero) refers to the opening weekend of college football games in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), in which a small number of games are played to begin the regular season, a week before the vast majority of teams begin their season in "Week 1". [1] [2] [3] Although the FBS football season has traditionally begun on the first Saturday before Labor Day, the NCAA has sporadically awarded waivers for games to be played a week earlier in order to bring a game to a national television audience, or as part of the "Hawaii Rule" that grants teams that play a game in Hawaii, usually away games against the Rainbow Warriors, an extra regular season home game to offset travel costs. Games in Alaska, Puerto Rico and other outlying territories would nominally count towards the Hawaii Rule, but those locales do not field FBS programs, or have venues that met NCAA minimum attendance guidelines before those were abolished in 2023.

Contents

The first Week 0 game was the 1983 Kickoff Classic, in which No. 1 Nebraska defeated No. 4 Penn State, 44–6, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. [4]

For the 2020 season, the NCAA issued a blanket waiver for Week 0 games by any team, in order to allow for scheduling flexibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] However, no Division I FBS members wound up playing in a Week 0 game in 2020.

Results

Week 0 games since 2002:

DateWinnerScoreLoserScoreLocation
August 22, 2002 Colorado 35 Virginia 29 Scott Stadium
Charlottesville, Virginia
(Jim Thorpe Classic)
August 23, 2002No. 25 Wisconsin 23 Fresno State 21 Camp Randall Stadium
Madison, Wisconsin
(John Thompson Foundation Classic)
August 24, 2002No. 3 Florida State 38 Iowa State 31 Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri
(Eddie Robinson Classic)
August 24, 2002 NC State 34 New Mexico 14 Carter–Finley Stadium
Raleigh, North Carolina
(BCA Classic)
August 24, 2002No. 13 Ohio State 45 Texas Tech 21 Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
(Pigskin Classic)
August 25, 2002No. 16 Virginia Tech 63 Arkansas State 7 Lane Stadium
Blacksburg, Virginia
(Hispanic College Fund Football Classic)
August 23, 2003No. 7 Kansas State 42 California 28 KSU Stadium
Manhattan, Kansas
(BCA Classic)
August 23, 2003 San Jose State 29 Grambling State [lower-alpha 1] 0 Spartan Stadium
San Jose, California
(Literacy Classic)
August 28, 2004 Miami (OH) 49 Indiana State [lower-alpha 1] 0 Yager Stadium
Oxford, Ohio
August 28, 2004No. 1 USC 24 Virginia Tech 13 FedEx Field
Landover, Maryland
(BCA Classic)
August 26, 2016 California 51 Hawaii 31 Stadium Australia
Sydney, Australia
(Sydney Cup)
August 26, 2017 BYU 20 Portland State [lower-alpha 1] 6 LaVell Edwards Stadium
Provo, Utah
August 26, 2017 Colorado State 58 Oregon State 27 Canvas Stadium
Fort Collins, Colorado [lower-alpha 2]
August 26, 2017No. 19 South Florida 42 San Jose State 22 CEFCU Stadium
San Jose, California
August 26, 2017No. 14 Stanford 62 Rice 7 Sydney Football Stadium
Sydney, Australia
(Sydney Cup)
August 25, 2018 Hawaii 43 Colorado State 34 Canvas Stadium
Fort Collins, Colorado
August 25, 2018 UMass 63 Duquesne [lower-alpha 1] 15 Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium
Amherst, Massachusetts
August 25, 2018 Rice 31 Prairie View A&M [lower-alpha 1] 28 Rice Stadium
Houston, Texas
August 25, 2018 Wyoming 29 New Mexico State 7 Aggie Memorial Stadium
Las Cruces, New Mexico
August 24, 2019No. 8 Florida 24 Miami (FL) 20 Camping World Stadium
Orlando, Florida
(Camping World Kickoff)
August 24, 2019 Hawaii 45 Arizona 38 Aloha Stadium
Honolulu, Hawaii
August 28, 2021 Illinois 30 Nebraska 22 Memorial Stadium
Champaign, Illinois
August 28, 2021 Fresno State 45 UConn 0 Bulldog Stadium
Fresno, California
August 28, 2021 UCLA 44 Hawaii 10

Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California

August 28, 2021 San Jose State 45 Southern Utah [lower-alpha 1] 14 CEFCU Stadium
San Jose, California
August 28, 2021 UTEP 30 New Mexico State 3 Aggie Memorial Stadium
Las Cruces, New Mexico
(Battle of I-10)
August 27, 2022 Northwestern 31 Nebraska 28 Aviva Stadium
Dublin, Ireland
(Aer Lingus College Football Classic)
August 27, 2022 Western Kentucky 38 Austin Peay [lower-alpha 1] 27 Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium
Bowling Green, Kentucky
August 27, 2022 UNLV 52 Idaho State [lower-alpha 1] 21 Allegiant Stadium
Paradise, Nevada
August 27, 2022 Utah State 31 UConn 20 Maverik Stadium
Logan, Utah
August 27, 2022 Illinois 38 Wyoming 6 Memorial Stadium
Champaign, Illinois
August 27, 2022 Florida State 47 Duquesne [lower-alpha 1] 7 Doak Campbell Stadium
Tallahassee, Florida
August 27, 2022 Florida Atlantic 43 Charlotte 13 FAU Stadium
Boca Raton, Florida
August 27, 2022 North Carolina 56 Florida A&M [lower-alpha 1] 24 Kenan Memorial Stadium
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 27, 2022 North Texas 31 UTEP 13 Sun Bowl
El Paso, Texas
August 27, 2022 Nevada 23 New Mexico State 12 Aggie Memorial Stadium
Las Cruces, New Mexico
August 27, 2022 Vanderbilt 63 Hawaii 10 Ching Athletics Complex
Honolulu, Hawaii
August 26, 2023No. 13 Notre Dame 42 Navy 3 Aviva Stadium
Dublin, Ireland
(Aer Lingus College Football Classic)
August 26, 2023 Jacksonville State 17 UTEP 14 JSU Stadium
Jacksonville, Alabama
August 26, 2023 San Diego State 20 Ohio 13 Snapdragon Stadium
San Diego, California
August 26, 2023 UMass 41 New Mexico State 30 Aggie Memorial Stadium
Las Cruces, New Mexico
August 26, 2023 Vanderbilt 35 Hawaiʻi 28 FirstBank Stadium
Nashville, Tennessee
August 26, 2023No. 6 USC 56 San Jose State 28 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California
August 26, 2023 Louisiana Tech 22 FIU 17 Joe Aillet Stadium
Ruston, Louisiana
August 24, 2024 Georgia Tech 24No. 10 Florida State 21 Aviva Stadium
Dublin, Ireland
(Aer Lingus College Football Classic)
August 24, 2024 SMU 29 Nevada 24 Mackay Stadium
Reno, Nevada
August 24, 2024 Montana State [lower-alpha 1] 35 New Mexico 31 University Stadium
Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 24, 2024 Hawaii 35 Delaware State [lower-alpha 1] 14 Ching Athletics Complex
Honolulu, Hawaii

Rankings reflect preseason AP Poll.

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 FCS/Div I-AA team.
  2. First game at Canvas Stadium.

See also

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References

  1. Sherman, Rodger (August 27, 2019). "Why the "Week 0" College Football Game Is Here to Stay". The Ringer.
  2. Northam, Mitchell (September 1, 2019). "When does the 2019 college football season start?". NCAA.com.
  3. Godfrey, Steven (February 3, 2020). "Let's do the WEEK ZERO BIG GAME thing every year". Banner Society.
  4. "College Football Week 0: Money, Ratings, and the NCAA Football Schedule". Off Tackle Empire. August 23, 2019.
  5. "Reports: NCAA permits teams to schedule 'Week 0' games". AL.com. 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-31.