College football week 0 has never really been embraced by fans. And it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. We are now entering the fourth decade of teams scheduling these games with no real tradition to show for it. Basically, some schools play, some people watch and everyone moves on with their lives.
In the early days of week 0, it was a showcase event featuring two ranked teams. Playing in one of these contests provided schools with the ability to schedule 12 games that year. The luster of this wore off by the late 1990s and the unofficial start of college football vanished for 11 years.
Thanks to a little help from the Aussies, it’s back in 2021. Now we won’t be saying college football week 0 is better than ever. Not unless you missed the Battle of I-10 (that’s the rivalry between UTEP and New Mexico State). However, even if you love this year’s matchups, there still may be a few things you don’t remember about the opening weekend.
More College Football: Who should you bet on in week 0?
Things you may not remember about college football week 0
Week 0 is nearly 40-years old
College football week 0 dates all the way back to August 29, 1983. A Monday night game at the Meadowlands saw defending national champions Penn State face off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers who were the top-ranked team in the country. Believe it or not, Lee Corso was doing color commentary.
The game itself was a total blow out with the Cornhuskers winning 44-6. This was one of only two week 0 matchups in history that featured a pair of top-five teams. The other, a showdown between No. 3 Penn State and No. 4 Arizona, was just as lopsided finishing 41-7 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
12th game ends week 0 in the 2000s
College football week 0 ceased to exist between 2005 and 2015 due to an NCAA rule change that allowed all teams to schedule 12 games. Prior to that, the only way to play a dozen times in one season was to be featured in week 0.
Simply put, this ruling meant was no longer a need for any school to start a week earlier. At least not until 2016…
Australia brings new life to week 0
The only reason college football week 0 made a comeback was due to the fact Australia wanted to host a game. Dubbed the Sydney Cup, the California Golden Bears ventured down under for a matchup against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. The teams requested to play a week earlier because of the time difference and jet lag involved.
The NCAA, an organization happy to oblige if they got paid, allowed it and week 0 was reborn. Given the state of Hawaii’s current stadium, playing in Australia this season would probably be a welcome change.
Related: 5 things you may not remember about Aloha Stadium
August 22nd
The earliest start to a college football season came in 2002 when Colorado State traveled to Virginia on August 22nd. What makes this unique is that the game was played on a Thursday night ensuring it kicked off before any other games…ever.
On an evening described by the Cavaliers official website as miserably muggy, Virginia lost with Matt Shaub throwing a costly interception. What a shock. Anyway, the author may have had a point about the weather, although they could have also been somewhat butthurt after falling to the Rams. Either way, starting the season this early seemed to be a bad idea and has never been done before or since.
Florida State is the week 0 king but there’s competition
Having won seven games, Florida State is the undisputed king of college football week 0. At least for now. Nebraska has a chance to earn their seventh week 0 victory this year when they travel to Illinois. Who knew the stakes were so high?
It’s safe to say neither Nebraska or Florida State are nearly as good today as they were back when each program was racking up wins on the unofficial start to the college football season.
