• 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:

Bowl Season Schedule:

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