College Football Week 0 schedule breakdown
College football is nearly back, and NBC and Peacock are right in the thick of the early action.
“Week 0” has arrived, and the first slate of Saturday games is headlined by Navy taking on No. 13 Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland. The kickoff will mark the beginning of a crucial campaign for the Fighting Irish as well as NBC Sports’ 33rd season broadcasting Notre Dame football.
Read on for everything you need to know about the matchup.
Navy vs. Notre Dame
There’s plenty of buzz around the Fighting Irish as head coach Marcus Freeman enters his second season at the helm. Notre Dame looks to build off a 9-4 campaign that concluded with a 45-38 victory over South Carolina in the Gator Bowl.
There’s optimism that new starting quarterback Sam Hartman will raise the Irish’s ceiling on offense. The matchup with Navy is the first chance viewers will get to see him compete in blue and gold.
The game will be the 96th between Notre Dame and Navy, a series that stretches back to 1927. The Irish hold an 81-13-1 all-time edge and have won five straight in the rivalry, with the Midshipmen’s most recent victory coming in 2016.
Notre Dame and Navy have played in Dublin once before -- in 1996, when the No. 19 Irish handled the Midshipmen 54-27. The teams’ 2022 matchup ended up a nailbiter, as Navy scored all 19 of the game’s second-half points only to fall short 35-32 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett will call the game from the announcer’s booth while Zora Stephenson covers the action from the sidelines. NBC and Peacock will simulstream coverage, with kickoff coming at 2:30 p.m. EST.
Date: Saturday, Aug. 26
Time: 2:30 p.m. EST
Location: Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland
Watch: NBC and Peacock
RELATED: Notre Dame announces 2023 NBC kickoff times, led by Ohio State and USC in primetime
Other matchups
The only other Week 0 game featuring a ranked team comes in the evening, when No. 6 USC hosts San Jose State. The Trojans will try to start strong in their final season in the Pac-12 – one they hope ends with the playoff berth that eluded them in 2022.
When does Big Ten Saturday Night start?
NBC and Peacock’s Big Ten coverage begins with Week 1 on Sept. 2. The No. 2-ranked Michigan Wolverines host the East Carolina Pirates at noon EST exclusively on Peacock. Then, the Penn State Nittany Lions welcome the West Virginia Mountaineers to Beaver Stadium at 7:30 p.m. EST on NBC and Peacock for the first edition of Big Ten Saturday Night.
