After months of wondering whether or not there would even be college football this year, the 2020-21 NCAA college football season made it back on to the gridiron for a fixture list of school rivalries and future NFL stars. We have all the details on how you can watch the conferences and teams that will be playing this season – keep reading to find out how to get a college football live stream from wherever you are in the world.
College Football Dates
The 2020-21 NCAA college football season started back in August and will conclude with the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship Game on Monday, January 11. There will be a total of 15 weeks of regular season play and each conference will have a 10-12-game schedule depending on their plans. The 2020-21 college football schedule will also be subject to change as a result of Covid-19.
All of the college football teams participating this year will play 15 weeks of games and the majority of these matches will be held on Saturday though there will be a few Friday games as well this season.
Beginning on December 19, the postseason will commence with a number of different bowl games which will be played in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, California, Texas and other states throughout the country. Finally the AFCA National Championship Trophy also known as the Coaches’ Trophy will be awarded to the winner of this season’s CFP National Championship which will be held at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Monday, January 11.
Whether you’re rooting for a team in the Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, ACC, Big 12 or Big East, TechRadar will show you how to live stream every college football game this season so you don’t miss a single touchdown.
If you live in the US and have a cable subscription, you’ll need access to the following networks in order to watch all of the college football action this season: ABC, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN 3, ESPN College Extra, NBC, Fox, FS1, FS2, Fox College Sports Atlantic, Fox College Sports Central, Fox College Sports Pacific, NFL Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, Longhorn Network, SEC Network, BTN (Big Ten Network) and Pac-12 Network.
However, if you aren’t a cable subscriber, you can still watch quite a few games over-the-air. With an indoor TV antenna you can watch college football games shown on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. For the most part, prime time games with air on either ABC or Fox and CBS will show games from the SEC conference. Notre Dame fans will be happy to hear that all of the college’s games will still be shown on NBC this season as this year marks the 30th season of the Notre Dame on NBC partnership.
Unfortunately there is no NCAA equivalent of NFL’s Game Pass in the US, so watching college football online is a bit more challenging (and diverse) but don’t worry, as we’re here to help.
If you want to watch every college football game this season online you’ll need a streaming service that gives you access to all of the channels listed above. However, at this time, no single streaming service does but for your convenience we’ve compiled a list of our favorite streaming services and the networks they give you access to below.
- $59.99 per month – With fuboTV’s standard plan you’ll get access to ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports Network, FS1, FS2, BEINSports, ESPN, BTN and the Pac-12 Network.
- $45 per month – Sling TV splits up its live college football options across its $30 a month Blue plan and $30 a month Orange plan. By combining the two, you’ll get a $15 dollar discount and access to ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ACC Network, FOX, NBC, FS1, FS2 and NBC Sports Network. The service also has a Sports Extra add-on for $10 a month that will give you access to SEC Network, SEC Network+, Pac-12, ESPNU and ESPNews.
- Hulu with Live TV $54.99 per month – Hulu with Live TV gives you access to ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX in most areas as well as to ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPNU, ESPN Goal LIne, ESPN College Extra, FS1, FS2, SEC Network, NBCSN and BTN.
- YouTube TV $65 per month – YouTube TV only has one plan that gives you access to ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, NBCSN, CBSSN, BTN, SEC Network, Fox Sports, FS1 and FS2.
- ESPN+ $5.99 per month – This season ESPN+ will stream exclusive live college football games from conferences across the country including Big 12, Conference USA, American and Sun Belt.
If you’re currently traveling abroad or there is no official broadcast option in your country, then you’ll need to use a VPN to dial in to a location in the US that does have coverage.
A VPN is perfect for this as it allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in a completely different location. They’re surprisingly easy to use, too! We’ve tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend ExpressVPN as the best VPN currently available:
ExpressVPN – get 3 months FREE with this deal
We’ve put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our pick of what’s out there, thanks to its ease of use and strong security features. It’s also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles. So to get that home broadcast and stay safer online, ExpressVPN is our recommended option.
This is the #1 rated best VPN in the world right now, with those previously mentioned levels of security, speed and compatibility putting it to the top of the list. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get 3 months absolutely FREE.
Once you’ve chosen and installed your VPN of choice, simply open the service’s corresponding app, hit ‘choose location’, select the appropriate country and you’ll be able to watch the broadcast as if you were back at home.
View Deal
In some countries, you may be baffled by the fact that college football is just as popular as the NFL among some fans. But if you want to know what all the fuss is about or you’re a US expat wanting to catch the college football, then ESPN Player has you covered.
It’s available in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia and comes at a cost of £9.99/€11.99 for the next month (or £69.99/€79.99 for a whole year).
That gets you live and on-demand coverage of most college football games in the 2020-21 season as well as access to other live sports events, ESPN originals and ESPN Films on-demand. The service also supports both desktop and mobile, so you’ll never miss a game.
For American college football fans in Canada, you’ll be able to watch some of this season’s games online but you will need a cable package or a subscription to the streaming service DAZN to do so.
(which comes with a free trial) will show all of the Pac-12 Networks games this season while TSN will show most of the games that air originally on ESPN in the US. You can also watch ESPN provided games in French on RDS.
As a result of Covid-19, four of the top 10 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences including the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American Conference (MAC) and Mountain West decided to cancel their seasons during the summer of 2020.
However, by late September the four conferences reversed their decisions and announced that they would play shortened seasons as opposed to cancelling all together.
The Big Ten will play eight games over eight weeks beginning on October 24, Pac-12 will play a seven-game schedule starting on November 6, MAC will play a six-game schedule from November 4 and Mountain West will play an eight-game schedule from October 24.