There will be significant changes in college football this season, but some things will stay the same. Like Week 0, the first week of the CFB season, but it’s not called Week 1. This is the week when fans build their excitement for the upcoming season, and there are usually a handful of pretty silly games played during this week, including an international showcase.

But the whole idea of ​​Week 0 is understandably a little confusing for those who don’t eat, breathe and sleep college football. So what’s the fuss? Here’s what you need to know.

For most college football teams, the first game is in Week 1. That makes sense. And Week 1 is always on Labor Day weekend. However, a few schools are allowed to play a game on the weekend. before Labor Day. This counts as an extra game on their schedule, but since it occurs before Week 1, it is referred to as Week 0.

This year, the schools’ Week 0 games will focus on the Florida State-Georgia Tech game in Dublin, Ireland. Also, SMU will face Nevada, Montana State will play at New Mexico and Hawai’i will host Delaware State (after some minor travel issues).

Although Week 0 games have been around since 1983, the modern Week 0 concept exists for a reason. Teams playing Hawaii were allowed to either play Hawaii in Week 0 or play an extra home game in Week 0 to offset travel costs. Given the amount of money in college football these days, this may feel like a relic of the past, but the extra revenue is actually very important for teams that may not have a lot of money from their alumni.

Otherwise, however, the NCAA has approved Week 0 games to maximize viewership, which explains why the international showcase game is being played in Week 0 rather than midseason when it might be more meaningful. The most obvious recent example was in 2019, when Florida faced Miami in a true rivalry game between two Power 5 schools.

With that in mind, the first game of Week 0 was a matchup between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 4 Penn State in 1983. The Cornhuskers dominated, 44-6, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

Now that we have all the background information covered, here is the full schedule for Week 0 of the 2024 college football season.