The offseason is finally over. College football will be on television Saturday.
There are five games that feature FBS teams that will be played Saturday with three Big 12 teams getting in on the action. Here is a look at how to watch and a quick breakdown of each contest.
Big 12 Schedule
No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Fresno State at Kansas — 5:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Farmageddon goes international this weekend and the Cyclones and Wildcats kick the college football season off in Dublin, Ireland.
It’s a big game in that it’s the first game of the season, but come November, we could be looking back at this as it pertains to the Big 12 title picture. FanDuel lists K-State as the Big 12 favorite on the eve of the college football season at +500. The service lists Iowa State with the seventh-best odds at +1,300.
Both squads return their starting quarterbacks with Avery Johnson entering his junior year in Manhattan after throwing for 2,712 yards, running for 605 yards and accounting for 32 touchdowns last season. Rocco Becht is a redshirt junior who threw for 3,505 yards, ran for 318 yards and accounted for 33 total touchdowns last season.
Then Kansas opens the newly renovated David Booth Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening against Fresno State. The Jayhawks sold out the game, as fans are excited to get a closer look at the $450 million in stadium renovations the Booth went through over the past year.
Kansas is coming off a 5-7 season, but the Jayhawks seemed to figure a few things out late, closing the year having won four of six.
Quarterback Jalon Daniels enters his sixth season with the program. Throughout his career, he’s thrown for 6,751 yards and 45 touchdowns while running for 1,041 yards and 19 more scores.
Other Games to Watch
Idaho State at UNLV — 3 p.m. Saturday on Mountain West Network
Sam Houston at Western Kentucky — 6 p.m. Saturday on CBS Sports Network
Stanford at Hawaii — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS/Paramount+
Saturday will mark the start of the Dan Mullen era in Las Vegas, when the Mountain West’s Runnin’ Rebels host FCS Idaho State. Mullen had only ever been a head coach in the SEC before this season, spending nine years at Mississippi State and another four at Florida. He’s built a career record of 103-61.
Sam Houston and Western Kentucky will play a Conference-USA matchup Saturday evening. This is Sam Houston’s third season at the FBS level. The Bearkats went 3-9 in their first season but flipped that into a 10-3 2024 campaign. The Hilltoppers have won between eight and nine games the past four seasons.
Stanford opens its second season in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the middle of the Pacific. The Cardinal has gone 3-9 the past four seasons and start a new era under former NFL coach Frank Reich. The Rainbow Warriors haven’t made a bowl game since 2021 but have finished a win shy of doing so the past two seasons.
