Our long national nightmare is almost over. It’s been what feels like an eternity since the Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies battled it out in the 2024 College Football National Championship Game. While the presence of EA Sports College Football 25 quenched our thirst for football, it simultaneously made us crave the sights, sounds, and smells of fall Saturdays.
How much longer will fans have to wait until the start of the season? All the dates, times, and important information for the start of another epic campaign of college football await you.
Epic ACC Clash in Dublin Headlines the Start of the 2024 College Football Season
Love it or loathe it, the college football season will once again start with the now-annual spectacle that is Week 0. For the 2024 campaign, college football’s appetizer course takes place on Saturday, August 24, with a four-game slate of games to whet your whistle ahead of the return to action of most of the 134 FBS programs the following weekend in the official kickoff weekend.
The official opening game of the 2024 college football season will be an all-ACC clash in Dublin, Ireland, as the Florida State Seminoles and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets face off in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. The 27th meeting of the two programs will kick off at noon ET (5 p.m. local time).
Mike Norvell leads his Seminoles team to the Emerald Isle for the opening game of what stands to be a revenge tour. Florida State was denied a place in the College Football Playoff at the conclusion of an undefeated regular season. They will be looking to assert themselves as a college football force from the get-go of the 2024 campaign despite some significant NFL departures.
However, they will meet a blossoming Georgia Tech team at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, August 24. Head coach Brent Key delivered the best record the program has seen since 2018 in his inaugural full season in charge, and the Yellow Jackets have a strong roster as they look to put together successive winning seasons for the first time since the 2013 and 2014 campaigns.
When Does the College Football Season Start? Full Schedule for Saturday, August 24
- Georgia Tech vs. Florida State (Noon ET)
- New Mexico vs. Montana State (4 p.m. ET)
- Nevada vs. SMU (8 p.m. ET)
- Hawaii vs. Delaware State (TBA)
The 2024 college football season starts with a four-game Week 0 slate on Saturday, August 24. In addition to the Georgia Tech vs. Florida State clash that kicks off the season at noon ET, another ACC outfit will take the field as the SMU Mustangs travel to Reno to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack. The ACC newcomer is a 24.5-point favorite in the early Week 0 betting lines.
The other FBS outfits in action in Week 0 include the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who will face Delaware State, and the New Mexico Lobos facing off against Montana State. Hawaii has become a regular fixture of the Week 0 calendar, missing just 2017 and 2020 since the week before Week 1 became an annual fixture on the college football schedule.
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