Biggest Week 1 Games on 2023 College Football Schedule

Week 1 of the 2022 college football season was highlighted by Notre Dame-Ohio State, Oregon-Georgia, Utah-Florida, and several other intriguing games. 

What’s on tap for Week 1 of the 2023 college football season? Here are the biggest games scheduled for Labor Day weekend next year:

Florida State vs. LSU

Location: Orlando, Fla.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

This two-game neutral-site series opened with Florida State’s 14-point second-half comeback in New Orleans in Week 1 of the 2022 season. It will conclude in Orlando in Week 1 of the 2023 season.

It will be their second all-time meeting in Florida – and the first since 1990 – as the Seminoles look to extend their winning streak over LSU to six games.

This game will be a leading candidate for ESPN’s College GameDay.

Florida at Utah

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

This will be Florida’s first regular-season game outside the Eastern and Central time zones since tying USC in Los Angeles in 1983.

One year after opening the Billy Napier era with a win over Utah, the Gators will visit the state of Utah for the first time ever. Before last year’s game in Gainesville, their only other game against a team from Utah came in 1977, when they also beat the Utes in Gainesville.

Colorado at TCU

Location: Fort Worth
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

TCU’s Cinderella season ended with a thud and their 2023 two-deep will look a lot different. Still, they’ll be the defending national runner-up and a Big 12 title contender facing Deion Sanders and Colorado.

It’ll likely take Sanders a couple years of roster turnover before competing with a team of TCU’s caliber on the road, but this could be entertaining nonetheless.

TCU finished the 2022 regular season with nine ATS wins, tied for the second-most in college football.

North Carolina vs. South Carolina

Location: Charlotte
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

This is about as close to a true neutral-site game as you’ll see in college football. Charlotte is almost exactly in the middle of the two campuses.

But that doesn’t make it any less idiotic to steal what could be a top-25 matchup from college towns.

West Virginia at Penn State

Location: University Park, Pa.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

West Virginia and Penn State – separated by just 180 miles – met 59 times from 1904-92. They haven’t played since.

Ten years after this two-game home-and-home series was scheduled in 2013, the Mountaineers and Nittany Lions will play in Happy Valley for the first time since a 45-point Penn State win in 1991.

It’ll be an early test for hot seat coach Neal Brown, whose buyout is 100% of the remaining contract if fired before Dec. 31, 2024.

Boise State at Washington

Location: Seattle, Wash.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

The Chris Petersen Bowl hasn’t been played in the regular season since Boise State’s three-point win over its former coach in 2015. Petersen, however, did blow out his former team four years later in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Broncos and Huskies have met in Seattle only once, a 38-6 Washington win in Week 1 of the 2013 season.

Coastal Carolina at UCLA

Location: Pasadena, Calif.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 2

This will be Coastal Carolina’s FBS first game west of the Central time zone as they play UCLA for the first time ever.

This, unfortunately, isn’t a home-and-home series; the Chanticleers will receive $1.1 million to participate in the first game of UCLA’s post-Dorian Thompson-Robinson era.

Other notable Week 1 games: Virginia vs. Tennessee (Nashville), Oregon State at San Jose State, Fresno State at Purdue, South Alabama at Tulane, and UTSA at Houston.