College football: Florida State, Georgia Tech kick off four-game opening weekend

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The Florida State Seminoles and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will take the field first, kicking off opening weekend of the 2024 college football season Saturday in Dublin, Ireland.

Florida State and Georgia Tech will kick off at noon EDT Saturday at Aviva Stadium. The season-opening matchup will air on ESPN.

"I think they will do a really good job," Seminoles quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei told reporters Wednesday, when asked about the Yellow Jackets.

"It will be a good game for us and a good test."

Seven games are scheduled Saturday. The majority of other college football programs will launch their seasons next week. A full schedule, with broadcast information, is available on the NCAA website.

The Seminoles, who posted a 13-0 regular-season record in 2023, are 10.5-point favorites to beat the Yellow Jackets, who haven't won more than nine games in a season since 2014.

"Game week is here," Yellow Jackets coach Brent Key said. "Super excited. The team is excited. We put a lot of hard work in since January. ... It's a great opportunity for us."

McNeese will take on Tarletan State in the second game of the season at 3:30 p.m. in Stephenville, Texas. Coverage will air on ESPNU.

New Mexico will host Montana State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Albuquerque. That matchup will air on FS1.

North Alabama will meet Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. in Montgomery, Ala. That game will be featured on ESPN. Norfolk State will then play Florida A&M at 7:30 p.m. in Atlanta, with coverage airing on ABC.

Nevada will host SMU in the next game at 8 p.m. in Reno, with coverage available on CBS Sports Network. Hawaii will host Delaware State in the final game of the day, which will held in Honolulu and air at midnight on Spectrum Sports.

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are the biggest favorites (40.5) in Saturday's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) slate. SMU (25) and Montana State (12.5) also are expected to start the season 1-0.

The 134 FBS teams will battle for placement in the new 12-team College Football Playoff throughout the regular season. The first round of the new format will start Dec. 20. The quarterfinals will start Jan. 1 and the semifinals will be held Jan. 9 and 10. The College Football Playoff finale will be held Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

In total, 17 of the Top 25 teams will launch their seasons Aug. 31, including No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Notre Dame, No, 8 Penn State and No. 9 Michigan, the defending champions.

The top-ranked Bulldogs, who won two of the last three national titles, will face No. 14 Clemson Tigers in the first matchup between two ranked teams. That game, featuring Georgia quarterback -- and Heisman contender -- Carson Beck, will kick off at noon Aug. 31 in Atlanta.

Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Ohio State quarterback Will Howard are among the other preseason Heisman favorites.

Georgia and Ohio State are favorites to win the national title. Oregon, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU, Penn State, Florida State and Michigan are among the other expected title contenders.

Beck, Ewers, Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams, Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr., Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter, LSU edge rusher Harold Perkins and offensive tackle Will Campbell, Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III and Michigan cornerback Will Johnson are among the players projected to be first-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Sanders has the top name, image and likeness valuation -- $4.7 million -- in college sports, according to On3.com. Texas backup quarterback Arch Manning ($3.1M), Hunter ($2.7M), Milroe ($1.7M), Ewers ($1.7M), Beck ($1.4M) and Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart ($1.3M) also rank inside the Top 10 in NIL valuation.

The first set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released Nov. 5. Those rankings will come out weekly through Dec. 8 selection day.

Notable season openers

Saturday

No. 10 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech at noon on ESPN

McNeese at Tarleton State at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU

Montana State at New Mexico at 4 p.m. on FS1

North Alabama vs. Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Florida A&M vs. Norfolk State at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

SMU at Nevada at 8 p.m. on CBSSN

Sunday

Delaware State at Hawaii at midnight on Spectrum Sports PPV

Thursday

Western Carolina at No. 24 NC State at 7 p.m. on ACC Network

Murray State at No. 11 Missouri at 8 p.m. on SEC Network

North Carolina at Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Fox

North Dakota State at Colorado at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Lindenwood at No. 22 Kansas at 8 p.m. on Big 12 Network/ESPN+

Southern Utah at No. 12 Utah at 9 p.m. on Big 12 Network/ESPN+

Aug. 30

Temple at No. 16 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on ESPN

TCU at Stanford at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Aug. 31

No. 14 Clemson vs. No. 1 Georgia at noon on ABC

Illinois State at No. 25 Iowa at noon on Big Ten Network

No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia at noon on Fox

Virginia Tech vs. Vanderbilt at noon on ESPN

UConn at Maryland at noon on FS1

Chattanooga at No. 15 Tennessee at 12:45 p.m. on SEC Network

South Dakota State at No. 17 Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. on Big 12 Network/ESPN+

No. 19 Miami at Florida at 3:30 p.m. on ABC

Colorado State at No. 4 Texas at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

Akron at No. 2 Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. on CBS

North Dakota at Iowa State at 3:30 p.m. on FS1

UTEP at Nebraska at 3:30 p.m. on Fox

Western Kentucky at No. 5 Alabama at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Furman at No. 6 Ole Miss at 7 p.m. on ESPN+/SEC Network

UT Martin at No. 18 Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Big 12 Network/ESPN+

UNLV at Houston at 7 p.m. on FS1

No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Fresno State at No. 9 Michigan at 7:30 p.m. on NBC

Idaho at No. 3 Oregon at 7:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network

UCLA at Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. on CBS

New Mexico at No. 21 Arizona at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Wyoming at Arizona State at 10:30 p.m. on FS1

Sept. 1

North Carolina Central vs. Alabama State at 3 p.m. on ESPN

No. 23 USC vs. No. 13 LSU at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Sept. 2

Boston College at No. 10 Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN