Tips to Help You Be Prepared for NCAA Football Opening Day
For fans who are craving football in one form or another, NCAA football opening day comes even before Week 1 of the NFL season. There are also way more college games than NFL games, creating endless possibilities for fans to find NCAA football tickets. Of course, that also means that there is a lot more to follow and a lot more to know about the start of the 2023 college football season. With so much going on in the world of college football, we wanted to share some tips that can help you be fully prepared for NCAA football opening day and the start of another exciting college football season.
Save the Date
The first step to prepare for NCAA football opening day is to mark your calendars. After all, it seems like the college football season opens earlier and earlier every year. In 2023, the season is set to open on Saturday, August 26. The season opens with a game between Navy and Notre Dame, which will be played at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. There are several other games taking place later that day, including Ohio facing San Diego State, Hawaii visiting Vanderbilt, and the no. 6 USC Trojans opening their season at home against San Jose State.
Know the Best Opening Weekend Games
While opening day of the college football season is August 26, the first full weekend of action will take place between Thursday, August 31, and Monday, September 4. With the NFL season not yet underway, that gives college football five consecutive days of action, including Sunday and Monday. As is usually the case, there are tons of intriguing games during the opening weekend, making it a dream scenario for college football fans.
On Thursday, August 31, there is a marquee game between Florida and Utah, two teams that also played a classic early last season as well. There is also a primetime game in the Big Ten between Nebraska and Minnesota. On Friday, Louisville travels to Georgia Tech to open the ACC season while Stanford pays a visit to Hawaii.
Of course, many of the best games of opening weekend are on Saturday. At noon, Virginia will travel west to face Tennessee. Also, TCU, fresh off its trip to the College Football Playoff, will host Colorado in Deion Sanders’ debut as coach of the Buffaloes. In the evening, there is a border war between North Carolina and South Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Classic. There is also a primetime game between West Virginia and Penn State.
On Sunday, there are three games on the schedule, starting with Northwestern and Rutgers at noon. The nightcap of the day features a top-10 matchup between LSU and Florida State at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Finally, the weekend ends Monday night when the Duke Blue Devils host Clemson in primetime.
Check Conference Realignment
In addition to learning the opening weekend schedule, fans will want to be aware of the schools that have switched conferences since the end of last season. Granted, the biggest changes are coming in another year or two, but 14 teams are beginning the 2023 season in a different conference. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF are now all members of the Big 12. Meanwhile, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA have moved from Conference-USA to the American Athletic Conference. Finally, Conference USA has replaced those teams by welcoming Jacksonville State, Liberty, New Mexico State, and Sam Houston.
Learn the Rule Changes
On top of the conference shake-ups, there are some rule changes that fans should know about before the season starts. The biggest change is that the clock will no longer stop on every first down except for inside the final two minutes of each half. Also, teams are no longer able to call consecutive timeouts during a single dead ball. Officials have also been told to emphasize targeting, taunting, illegal hits on the quarterback, and the feigning of injuries. There will also be more emphasis on pre-snap movement that’s designed to get the defense to jump.
Catch Up with the Coaching Carousel
Since the end of last season, there have been several notable coaching changes made. Fans will want to make sure they’re up to speed on these. As mentioned, Deion Sanders is now coaching at Colorado. The other notable coaching changes include Matt Rhule taking over at Nebraska, Luke Fickell moving from Cincinnati to Wisconsin, and Hugh Freeze going from Liberty to Ole Miss. Meanwhile, former Louisville quarterback Jeff Brohm is now coaching his alma mater, while former Louisville coach Scott Satterfield made the short trip to Cincinnati to coach the Bearcats.
Study the Transfer Portal
In addition to coaches changing schools, countless players have as well. Naturally, it’s important for fans to be aware of the quarterbacks who have changed schools since last season ended. Sam Hartman has moved from Wake Forest to Notre Dame. Former Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong is now at NC State, which lost Devin Leary, who is now at Kentucky. Former Michigan quarterback Cade McNamara has moved to Iowa, while former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei now calls Oregon State home. Also, Emory Jones is now at Cincinnati, Phil Jurovec moved from Boston College to Pitt, Graham Mertz is now at Florida, Kedon Slovis is with BYU, and former Oklahoma State quarterback Spencer Sanders finds himself at Ole Miss.
Get Some Rest
Perhaps the best advice we can give college football fans before the start of a new season is to get some rest. It’s a long season, and every weekend brings dozens of games. You’ll want to be well-rested before things get started on August 26. As excited as you might be for the start of a new college football season, remember to pace yourself.