The college football season might have served up a couple of appetizers last week, but it really kicks into gear tonight with Ohio State taking on Indiana. And then it hits full blast Saturday at 3:30 when Florida faces Michigan, reaches fever pitch that night when Alabama and Florida State collide, and continues right on through the Vols meet the Yellow Jackets.
Here are two sets of schedules, the first curated just for Vols fans who don’t have 40 hours to watch football this weekend, and one with the complete schedule in case you’re looking for something in particular.
Enjoy!
College football schedule curated for Vols fans
Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets | How to Watch | Root For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (2) Ohio State at Indiana | 8:00 pm | ESPN | Live | Indiana |
The reason to watch this? It’s football. Actual, real football. Yeah, Indiana’s not beating Ohio State, but . . . it’s football!
Friday, Sept. 1, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets | How to Watch | Root For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (8) Washington at Rutgers | 8:00 pm | FS1 | Channel Hop | Rutgers |
| Utah State at (9) Wisconsin | 9:00 pm | ESPN | Channel Hop | Wisconsin |
See Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. It’s football. Just hop back and forth between these two until you fall asleep.
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets | How to Watch | Root For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akron at (6) Penn State | Noon | ABC | Channel Hop | Akron |
| Kent State at (5) Clemson | Noon | ESPN | Channel Hop | Kent State |
| (11) Michigan vs. (17) Florida (at Arlington, TX) | 3:30 pm | ABC | Live | Debatable |
| Appalachian State at (15) Georgia | 6:15 pm | ESPN | Live, until 8:00 | Debatable |
| (3) Florida State vs. (1) Alabama (at Atlanta, GA) | 8:00 pm | ABC | Live | Debatable |
| BYU vs. (13) LSU (at New Orleans, LA) | 9:30 pm | ESPN | DVR, until after AL/FSU | Debatable |
The noon slot is just an opportunity to see a couple of Top 10 teams. Things really pick up at 3:30, when Florida and Michigan kick off. In the window between that game and the day’s main event at 8:00 (Alabama vs. Florida State), you get a chance to see future opponent Georgia. And if you still haven’t had enough by the end of AL-FSU, you can fall asleep to LSU/BYU late.
There’s a lot of room for debate on who to root for when an SEC rival plays an out-of-conference foe. Will and I had this very debate just after recording the Gameday on Rocky Top Podcast last night. He’s generally of the mind that he wants his rivals to be at full strength and to have their best-possible resume when Tennessee faces them. That has a certain appeal. If you win, you’re bragging rights are greater. I embrace that philosophy much of the time, but sometimes it’s in conflict with what might actually improve Tennessee’s chances to win, which is the most important thing. If Florida losing to Michigan somehow improves Tennessee’s chances to beat them in a couple of weeks, perhaps by eating away at their confidence or something, then I’m for that. Also, the recruiting contest never sleeps, and anything that might make it more difficult for a rival to recruit, well, I’m for that, too. So right now, I’m sort of rooting against all SEC teams except Tennessee.
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets | How to Watch | Root For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (22) West Virginia vs. (21) Virginia Tech (at Landover, MD) | 7:30 pm | ABC | Live | Irrelevant |
This is a Top 25 matchup, so could be worth watching if you haven’t used up all of your football credit with the family.
Monday, Sept. 4, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets | How to Watch | Root For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (25) Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech (at M-B Stadium) | 8:00 pm | ESPN | Live | Vols! |
The entire schedule
And here’s the entire schedule for the weekend for reference.
Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets |
|---|---|---|
| FIU at UCF | 6:00 pm | CBSSN |
| Presbyterian at Wake Forest | 6:30 pm | ACCNExtra |
| Austin Peay at Cincinnati | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Buffalo at Minnesota | 7:00 pm | BTN |
| Elon at Toledo | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Rhode Island at Central Michigan | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Tennessee State at Georgia State | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Holy Cross at UConn | 7:30 pm | SNY/ESPN3 |
| North Dakota at Utah | 7:30 pm | Pac-12N |
| Tulsa at (10) Oklahoma State | 7:30 pm | FS1 |
| FAMU at Arkansas (at Little Rock, AR) | 8:00 pm | SECN |
| (2) Ohio State at Indiana | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
| Sacramento State at Idaho | 9:00 pm | ESPN3/ALT |
| ULM at Memphis | 9:00 pm | CBSSN |
| New Mexico State at Arizona State | 10:30 pm | Pac-12N |
Friday, Sept. 1, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets |
|---|---|---|
| Fordham at Army | 6:00 pm | CBSSN |
| Charlotte at Eastern Michigan | 6:30 pm | ESPN3 |
| CCSU at Syracuse | 7:00 pm | ACCNExtra |
| Colorado vs. Colorado State (at Denver, CO) | 8:00 pm | Pac-12N |
| Navy at Florida Atlantic | 8:00 pm | ESPNU |
| (8) Washington at Rutgers | 8:00 pm | FS1 |
| Utah State at (9) Wisconsin | 9:00 pm | ESPN |
| Boston College at NIU | 9:30 pm | CBSSN |
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets |
|---|---|---|
| Akron at (6) Penn State | Noon | ABC |
| Ball State at Illinois | Noon | BTN |
| Bowling Green at Michigan State | Noon | ESPNU |
| Kent State at (5) Clemson | Noon | ESPN |
| Maryland at (23) Texas | Noon | FS1 |
| Missouri State at Missouri | Noon | SECN |
| Wyoming at Iowa | Noon | BTN |
| California at North Carolina | 12:20 pm | ACCN |
| Bethune-Cookman at (18) Miami, FL | 12:30 pm | RSN |
| Youngstown State at Pittsburgh | 1:00 pm | ACCNExtra |
| Portland State at Oregon State | 2:00pm | Pac-12N |
| VMI at Air Force | 2:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| NC State vs. South Carolina (at Charlotte, NC) | 3:00 pm | ESPN |
| Alabama A&M at UAB | 3:30 pm | Stadium |
| (11) Michigan vs. (17) Florida (at Arlington, TX) | 3:30 pm | ABC |
| Nevada at Northwestern | 3:30 pm | BTN |
| Temple at Notre Dame | 3:30 pm | NBC |
| UTEP at (7) Oklahoma | 3:30 pm | FOX |
| William & Mary at Virginia | 3:30 pm | ACCNExtra |
| Troy at Boise State | 3:45 pm | ESPNU |
| Charleston Southern at Mississippi State | 4:00 pm | SECN |
| Eastern Washington at Texas Tech | 4:00 pm | FSN |
| Kentucky at Southern Miss | 4:00 pm | CBSSN |
| Stony Brook at (19) USF | 4:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Western Michigan at (4) USC | 5:15 pm | Pac-12N |
| Albany at Old Dominion | 6:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| James Madison at East Carolina | 6:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| NC Central at Duke | 6:00 pm | ACCNExtra |
| Appalachian State at (15) Georgia | 6:15 pm | ESPN |
| Miami, OH at Marshall | 6:30 pm | Stadium / |
| Central Arkansas at (20) Kansas State | 7:00 pm | K-StateHD.TV |
| Eastern Kentucky at WKU | 7:00 pm | FloSports.TV / |
| Hampton at Ohio | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Houston at UTSA | — | Postponed |
| Houston Baptist at Texas State | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Lamar at North Texas | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Liberty at Baylor | 7:00 pm | FS2 |
| Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| SE Louisiana at UL Lafayette | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| SE Missouri at Kansas | 7:00 pm | JTV |
| Stephen F. Austin at SMU | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| UMass at Coastal Carolina | 7:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Cal Poly at San Jose State | 7:30 pm | No TV |
| Georgia Southern at (12) Auburn | 7:30 pm | SECN |
| (16) Louisville vs. Purdue (at Indianapolis, IN) | 7:30 pm | FOX |
| South Alabama at Ole Miss | 7:30 pm | ESPNU |
| Abilene Christian at New Mexico | 8:00 pm | No TV |
| Arkansas State at Nebraska | 8:00 pm | BTN |
| (3) Florida State vs. (1) Alabama (at Atlanta, GA) | 8:00 pm | ABC |
| Grambling State at Tulane | 8:00 pm | ESPN3 |
| Jackson State at TCU | 8:00 pm | FSN |
| Northern Iowa at Iowa State | 8:00 pm | Cyclones.tv |
| Vanderbilt at Middle Tennessee | 8:00 pm | CBSSN |
| Southern Utah at Oregon | 8:15 pm | Pac-12N |
| UC Davis at San Diego State | 8:30 pm | Stadium / |
| Howard at UNLV | 9:00 pm | MWN |
| BYU vs. (13) LSU (at New Orleans, LA) | 9:30 pm | ESPN |
| Incarnate Word at Fresno State | 10:00 pm | No TV |
| Montana State at (24) Washington State | 10:30 pm | FS1 |
| NAU at Arizona | 11:00 pm | Pac-12N |
| Western Carolina at Hawaii | 11:59 pm | Spectrum PPV |
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets |
|---|---|---|
| Texas A&M at UCLA | 7:30 pm | FOX |
| (22) West Virginia vs. (21) Virginia Tech (at Landover, MD) | 7:30 pm | ABC |
Monday, Sept. 4, 2017
| Matchup | Time (ET) | TVTickets |
|---|---|---|
| (25) Tennessee vs. Georgia Tech (at M-B Stadium) | 8:00 pm | ESPN |
To me there is no debate when it comes to rooting for/against SEC teams. They are our rivals, many of them hated. I only want two things for all of them, and those are losses and (metaphorical) pain. The only time I root for an SEC other than Tennessee is when they are playing a conference game and one team winning/losing is more beneficial for the Vols.
They are OUR rivals. They are still ours. They are part of the group of us. That makes Alabama vs Ohio State an US vs THEM thing. Florida vs Florida State is an US vs THEM thing. I’m always going to go for us. Besides, from a more pragmatic viewpoint, a strong SEC is better for Tennessee. We have to play these guys all the time. The more they win the better we look. If we beat them we look like rockstars. If we lose at least we don’t look like goobers who lost to bad teams. The better the… Read more »
The “strong SEC is better for Tennessee” argument is a tired one and empirically false. What has Alabama’s dominance in the national conversation done for Tennessee in the past 10 years? Or Auburn’s natty? Or LSU’s natty (10 years ago)? Or Florida’s (06, 08)? A strong SEC means teams we actively recruit against in a zero sum game. The better UGA and UF are, the worse Tennessee is by comparison. When Tennessee has been strongest, our rivals were down from where they were now. I want a strong Tennessee, not a strong SEC. I’m for “little England.” Oops, I meant… Read more »
My thoughts on it assume the Vols can be good enough to handle their own business, which wasn’t true until the last couple of years. If we’re good enough to beat Florida/Georgia anyway, might as well beat higher-ranked versions of them. It only lasts as long as UT can control its own destiny in the East, but I’ll absolutely pull for Florida against Michigan. It just means more, as they say.
I’ve been on both sides of this debate even just recently. Watching how difficult it is for a team to recover and climb back up the ladder (rebuilding while the hurricane is still raging is the way we put it a couple of years ago), I’ve recently shifted to a “what’s good for Tennessee” mindset and have realized that sometimes rooting for SEC teams is in conflict with that. So yeah, currently I’m leaning a little toward Dave below, rooting for Bama to lose to out of conference teams so that maybe they’ll have just a bit tougher time recruiting.… Read more »
I only care about 2 teams
1: My beloved VOLS
2: Whoever I might have placed a bet on ( Bama -6 1/2 is just plain stealing money this early in the season )
Indiana’s been eating their Wheaties.
Yeah, been loving the look of this. Hope they can hold on.
Yeah, wouldnt mind losing the points on that one.