Football TV schedule: October 1-5, plus seven free challenges

Alabama-Mississippi State opens Saturday's featured slate, Ohio State-Iowa anchors the afternoon, and Miami-Clemson takes the evening ABC slot. Sunday brings a London opener, two afternoon NFL windows and Lions-Panthers at night; Falcons-Saints closes the schedule Monday.

All kickoff times below are Eastern. Listings were checked October 1 against ESPN schedules, ESPN's programming announcement and the NFL schedule. Sunday afternoon NFL coverage varies by market.

Beat Chuck is a free-to-play prediction challenge where you compete against our host, or your friends in private challenges. This weekend's seven cards pair game-winner calls with star-player performance questions. College windows have 10 questions each; the NFL early card has 10, and the late, Sunday Night and Monday Night cards have 12 each.

Thursday, October 1

• 8 PM ET: Western KY at New Mexico St (CBS Sports Network).
• 8:15 PM ET: Steelers at Browns (Prime Video).
• 9 PM ET: North Texas at Tulsa (ESPN).

Friday, October 2

• 7 PM ET: Pitt at Virginia Tech (ESPN).
• 7 PM ET: Liberty at Delaware (CBS Sports Network).
• 8 PM ET: Penn State at Northwestern (FOX).
• 10:30 PM ET: Montana State at Idaho (ESPN).

Saturday, October 3: college challenge windows

The listings below feature the 15 games in the three college challenges. Each window combines five winner questions and five player-performance questions.

Early window

• 12 PM ET: Notre Dame at North Carolina (ESPN / Disney+).
• 12 PM ET: Alabama at Mississippi St (ABC).
• 12 PM ET: UCF at Houston (ESPN2).
• 12 PM ET: Michigan at Minnesota (FOX).
• 12:45 PM ET: Vanderbilt at Georgia (SEC Network).

Play the college early challenge.

Afternoon window

• 3:30 PM ET: Ohio State at Iowa (CBS).
• 3:30 PM ET: Florida at Missouri (ABC).
• 3:30 PM ET: Auburn at Tennessee (ESPN).
• 4 PM ET: Maryland at Nebraska (FS1).
• 4:15 PM ET: Kentucky at South Carolina (SEC Network).

Play the college afternoon challenge.

Night window

• 7 PM ET: BYU at TCU (ESPN / Disney+).
• 7 PM ET: Arkansas at Texas A&M (ESPN2).
• 7:30 PM ET: Miami at Clemson (ABC).
• 7:30 PM ET: Texas Tech at Colorado (FOX).
• 7:30 PM ET: Washington at USC (NBC).

Play the college night challenge.

More late-night college football

• 9:30 PM ET: Fresno St at Washington St (USA Network).
• 10:30 PM ET: Baylor at Arizona St (ESPN).
• 10:30 PM ET: Texas St at San Diego St (The CW).
• 11 PM ET: Cincinnati at Arizona (FOX).

Sunday, October 4: pro football

London

• 9:30 AM ET: Colts at Commanders (NFL Network).

Early window

• 1 PM ET: Patriots at Bills (CBS).
• 1 PM ET: Jets at Bears (FOX).
• 1 PM ET: Jaguars at Bengals (CBS).
• 1 PM ET: Cardinals at Giants (CBS).
• 1 PM ET: Rams at Eagles (FOX).
• 1 PM ET: Packers at Buccaneers (FOX).
• 1 PM ET: Titans at Ravens (CBS).
• 1 PM ET: Cowboys at Texans (FOX).

The NFL early challenge covers Patriots-Bills, Cowboys-Texans, Jaguars-Bengals, Rams-Eagles and Packers-Buccaneers, with one winner call and one player question for each matchup.

Late window

• 4:05 PM ET: Dolphins at Vikings (FOX).
• 4:25 PM ET: Chiefs at Raiders (CBS).
• 4:25 PM ET: Broncos at 49ers (CBS).
• 4:25 PM ET: Chargers at Seahawks (CBS).

The NFL late challenge covers all four games with a winner call and two player questions per matchup.

Sunday Night

• 8:20 PM ET: Lions at Panthers (NBC).

The Sunday Night special has 12 questions on Lions-Panthers: the winner, team scoring, the margin and individual performances.

Monday, October 5

• 8:15 PM ET: Falcons at Saints (ESPN).

The Monday Night special has 12 questions on Falcons-Saints, including Tyler Shough, Chris Olave, Bijan Robinson and Drake London.

Want your own competition? Choose a challenge and select Play privately, then text your friends the invite link. Your group gets its own leaderboard.

Browse college challenges or pro football challenges.

Schedules can change. Check your provider for local availability.