Notre Dame among ESPN’s college football opening weekend games

ESPN’s opening weekend of college football features defending national champion Alabama facing Miami in Atlanta and Clemson vs. Georgia in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Alabama-Miami will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Chicago time and air on ABC, followed by Clemson-Georgia at 6:30 p.m.

Notre Dame will play at Florida State on Sunday, Sept. 5, kicking off at 6:30 p.m.

The network also announced a six-year agreement with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Southwestern Athletic Conference to continue broadcasting the MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff and the Celebration Bowl matching both league’s champions. Both games take place in Atlanta.

In anticipation of a return to normal this season, ESPN announced Tuesday its featured matchups for Labor Day weekend and the first three Saturday night games on ABC.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused most nonconference games to be canceled last season, along with a delayed start to the season in the Power Five conferences.

This season is expected to start on time with the schedule intact and Sept. 4 as the first full Saturday of major college football games.

The Labor Day night game will be Louisville against Mississippi in Atlanta at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The ABC Saturday night matchups for the next two weeks of the season will be Washington at Michigan on Sept. 11 and Auburn at Penn State on Sept. 18.

ESPN will also air Texas at Arkansas on Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

The Red River Showdown between Texas and Oklahoma will air on one of the ESPN networks on Oct. 9 along with Notre Dame at Virginia Tech. Kickoff times are still to be determined.