ESPN Events Announces 20-Game Schedule for 2022 College Football Season
- Three kickoff events and 17 bowl games planned for 2022
- Season kicks off Saturday, Aug. 27 with FCS Kickoff and Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off games
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, has unveiled a 20-game schedule of events for the 2022 college football season. The slate of owned and operated events will feature three early-season kickoff games and 17 postseason bowl games, all airing across ESPN networks.
Kickoff Games
The Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kick-Off will once again usher in the start of the college football season as Alabama State faces Howard on Saturday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The game will be played at Atlanta’s Center Parc Stadium and will provide a primetime showcase for both Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
ESPN Events will also host a pair of kickoff games in Montgomery, Alabama. Jacksonville State will meet Stephen F. Austin in the ninth FCS Kickoff on Saturday, Aug. 27 (3:30 p.m., ESPN). A week later, Tuskegee plays Fort Valley State in the second annual Boeing Red Tails Classic – a matchup of HBCU programs that honors the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen – on Sunday, Sept. 4 (7 p.m., ESPNU). Both games will be played at Montgomery’s historic Cramton Bowl, which celebrates its 100th year this college football season.
Bowl Games
ESPN Events’ 17-game postseason bowl schedule kicks off Friday, Dec. 16 with the HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl (11:30 a.m., ESPN). College football’s longest-running international bowl game will again be played at Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas.
Saturday, Dec. 17 will be ESPN Events’ busiest day of Bowl Season with five games on the calendar. The inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl (11 a.m., ESPN) will be the first college football bowl game played at historic Fenway Park in Boston. At noon, the Cricket Celebration Bowl takes center stage on ABC. A year ago, the champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) played in front of a Celebration Bowl record crowd of nearly 50,000 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
In addition, the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl moves into a new ABC primetime window (7:30 p.m.) on Dec. 17 with a marquee SEC vs. Pac-12 matchup at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. An SEC team will be playing in the Las Vegas Bowl for the first time since 2000, and this will be the first pre-determined bowl meeting of SEC and Pac-12 programs since 1989.
The Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Ft. Worth, Texas will celebrate its 20th anniversary event on Thursday, Dec. 22 (7:30 p.m., ESPN). The “Bowl for the Brave” has featured an armed forces theme since 2006 and recognizes all six branches of service.
The Easypost Hawai’i Bowl returns to its traditional Christmas Eve date (Saturday, Dec. 24) when the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex on the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa campus (8 p.m., ESPN) hosts the Aloha State game from one of Bowl Season’s most picturesque locations.
ESPN Events’ bowl schedule concludes Wednesday, Dec. 28 with one of the most highly attended bowls the past decade, the TaxAct Texas Bowl (9 p.m., ESPN) at NRG Stadium in Houston.
* See below for the complete ESPN Events bowl schedule
ESPN Events
ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, owns and operates a portfolio of collegiate sporting events nationwide. In 2022, the 32-event schedule includes three early-season college football kickoff games, 17 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events, and a college softball event, which account for approximately 400 hours of live programming, while reaching nearly 64 million viewers and attracting over 800,000 annual attendees. With satellite offices in more than 10 cities across the country, ESPN Events builds relationships with conferences, schools and local communities, as well as providing unique experiences for teams and fans.
For more information, visit the official website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube pages.
ESPN Events’ 2022 College Football Schedule:
Kickoff Games:
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup | Network |
| Sat, Aug 27 | 3:30 p.m. | FCS Kickoff (Montgomery, Ala.)
Stephen F. Austin vs. Jacksonville State |
|
| 7 p.m. | Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff (Atlanta) Howard vs. Alabama State |
ESPN | |
| Sun, Sept 4 | 7 p.m. | Boeing Red Tails Classic (Montgomery, Ala.) Fort Valley State vs. Tuskegee |
ESPNU |
Bowl Season Schedule:
| Date | Time (ET) | Bowl | Network |
| Fri, Dec 16 | 11:30 a.m. | HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl
Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (Nassau, Bahamas) |
ESPN |
| 3 p.m. | Cure Bowl
Exploria Stadium (Orlando, Fla.) |
ESPN | |
| Sat, Dec 17 | 11 a.m. | Wasabi Fenway Bowl
Fenway Park (Boston, Mass.) |
ESPN |
| Noon | Cricket Celebration Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Ga.) |
ABC | |
| 2:15 p.m. | New Mexico Bowl
University Stadium (Albuquerque, N.M.) |
ESPN | |
| 7:30 p.m. | SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl
Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas, Nevada) |
ABC | |
| 9:15 p.m. | Frisco Bowl
Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas) |
ESPN | |
| Mon, Dec 19 | 2:30 p.m. | Myrtle Beach Bowl
Brooks Stadium (Conway, S.C.) |
ESPN |
| Tue, Dec 20 | 3:30 p.m. | Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Albertsons Stadium (Boise, Idaho) |
ESPN |
| 7:30 p.m. | RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl
FAU Stadium (Boca Raton, Fla.) |
ESPN | |
| Thu, Dec. 22 | 7:30 p.m. | Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Amon G. Carter Stadium (Ft. Worth, Texas) |
ESPN |
| Fri, Dec 23 | TBD | Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.) |
ESPN |
| Sat, Dec 24 | 8 p.m. | Easypost Hawai’i Bowl
Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex (Honolulu, Hawaii) |
ESPN |
| Tue, Dec 27 | Noon | Camellia Bowl
Cramton Bowl (Montgomery, Ala.) |
ESPN |
| 3:15 or 6:45 p.m. | SERVPRO First Responder Bowl
Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas, Texas) |
ESPN | |
| 3:15 or 6:45 p.m. | TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl
Protective Stadium (Birmingham, Ala.) |
ESPN | |
| Wed, Dec 28 | 9 p.m. | TaxAct Texas Bowl
NRG Stadium (Houston, Texas) |
ESPN |
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Media contacts:
Bill Hofheimer at 860-766-9589; [email protected] and @bhofheimer_espn
Amanda Brooks at 704-973-5042; [email protected] and @BrooksAD