With less than 100 days until the start of the college football season, the bulk of the September schedule has been finalized, as ESPN on Wednesday announced the dates and times for the first three weeks of the season along with the network’s bowl season schedule.
Week 1 begins Thursday, Aug. 31, with Florida at Utah (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) as the headliner and kicks off five straight days of games. The opening week runs through Labor Day and includes LSU facing Florida State in the Camping World Kickoff in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, Sept. 3 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), and Clemson at Duke on Monday, Sept. 4 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Saturday, Sept. 2, will feature an emotional return for the Virginia football team, which will be playing its first game since the deaths of three teammates Nov. 13, 2022, in a campus shooting. Virginia, which canceled its final two games of the 2022 season as it mourned D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., will face Tennessee at Nissan Stadium in Nashville (noon ET, ABC).
As previously announced, Texas at Alabama (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) on Sept. 9 will highlight Week 2. It will be their final game as nonconference opponents before the Longhorns and fellow Big 12 co-founder Oklahoma join the SEC in 2024. Last season, Alabama escaped Texas with a 20-19 win after a 33-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
Week 2 also includes Notre Dame at NC State (noon ET, ABC), followed by Texas A&M at Miami (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). In Week 3, the Backyard Brawl between border rivals Pitt and West Virginia in Morgantown will be featured on Sept. 16 on ABC (7:30 p.m. ET).
ESPN wasn’t the only network this week revealing dates and times for marquee games, as CBS Sports on Tuesday announced its “SEC on CBS” broadcast windows. CBS will again broadcast the annual Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 28. The final season of the SEC on CBS will debut Sept. 16 with South Carolina at defending national champion Georgia. The SEC TV package will move to ESPN in 2024.
The four-team CFP returns for Year 10, with the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game set for 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 1 (ESPN), followed by the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. ET (ESPN). The College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T is also set for ESPN on Jan. 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The New Year’s Six bowls kick off Dec. 29 with the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. On Dec. 30, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is at noon ET, followed by the Capital One Orange Bowl at 4 p.m. ET, both on ESPN. New Year’s Day games on ESPN begin with the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at 1 p.m. ET.
ESPN will present the ACC, American, Big 12, MAC, Pac-12, Sun Belt and SWAC championship games the first weekend of December. The Pac-12 championship game will have the ABC spotlight on Dec. 1, at 8 p.m. ET. The Big 12 championship game kicks off Championship Saturday action from Arlington, Texas, at noon ET, with the ACC championship game closing out the day at 8 p.m. ET from Charlotte, North Carolina.
ESPN platforms will also showcase Saturday’s championship play from the MAC (noon ET, ESPN), American (4 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN), Sun Belt (4 p.m. ET, ABC or ESPN) and SWAC (4 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.