''College Football on NFL Network'' is the branding used for college football broadcasts of

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

games that are broadcast by

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...

. NFL Network first began airing college football in 2006, when it acquired the rights to three postseason games: the

Texas Bowl The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replaced ...

, the

Insight Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

, and the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

. Currently, NFL Network airs select college football games from the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

, and

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

as part of a sublicence from

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. NFL Network also carries special games including the Brick City HBCU Kickoff Classic, the

Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic The Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic is a college football kickoff game that has been played annually since 2019 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The game features a matchup of two historically black colleges and uni ...

, the

East–West Shrine Bowl The East–West Shrine Bowl is a postseason college football all-star game that has been played annually since 1925; through the January 2019 playing, it was known as the East–West Shrine Game. The game is sponsored by the fraternal group Shr ...

, the

, and the

HBCU Legacy Bowl The HBCU Legacy Bowl is an annual post-season American college football all-star game for NFL draft-eligible players from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). History The event was announced by the Black College Football Hall of ...

History

In 2006, NFL Network began a foray into televising

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

s, acquiring rights to the newly established

in Houston (whose management rights were held by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

at the time), the

, as well as two all-star events—the

(which features prospects that had completed their college eligibility) and the

Las Vegas All-American Classic The Las Vegas All-American Classic (formerly the Paradise Bowl) was an annual post-season college football all-star game that was played in January from 2002 to 2006. After taking two years off due to lack of sponsorship, there were plans for t ...

(which, however, was canceled at the last minute due to financial and sponsorship issues). These games were intended to help make NFL Network more attractive to television providers. The

2006 Insight Bowl The 2006 Insight Bowl, a college football bowl game held on December 29 at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, pitted the Texas Tech Red Raiders against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This game is tied fo ...

, played between

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, would also achieve notoriety for featuring the largest comeback victory in

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

bowl game history, with Texas Tech coming back from a 38–7 third-quarter deficit to win 44–41 in overtime. Due to concerns that many cable carriers did not carry NFL Network, its bowl games were also simulcast on local over-the-air networks and cable providers. On April 14, 2007, the network televised the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

' spring football game. The network again aired the Insight, Texas and Senior bowls in late 2007 and early 2008. Prior to the start of the season, NFL Network debuted ''

College Football Now ''College Football Now'' is a television program that aired on NFL Network. The program contained news and information about college football. Brief show history *The show debuted on August 21, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with host Paul Bur ...

.'' A daily studio show covering college football. In addition, it carried two games between

historically black colleges and universities Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. ...

during the 2007 season, including the

Circle City Classic The Circle City Classic is an annual American football game featuring two historically black colleges/universities (HBCUs) and played in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was established in 1984 and has been played every year except 2020, when i ...

at the

RCA Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984– 2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention Ce ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, the first regular season game to air on the network. The Circle City Classic also aired on NFL Network in 2008. In 2009, the Texas Bowl moved to ESPN. In 2010, the Insight Bowl did the same. In 2011, NFL Network began airing the

. Since 2019, NFL Network has annually carried the

, a college football kickoff game that features a matchup of two

(HBCUs) on the Sunday before

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

. The

, a postseason all-star game involving draft-eligible HBCU players, also has broadcast rights held by NFL Network. In May 2019, NFL Network announced a four-year deal with

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

to air a weekly regular-season game on Saturday afternoons beginning in the 2019 season. NFL Network opted out of the agreement after one season. In the 2022 season, NFL Network returned to carrying regular college football games through a weekly sub-license agreement with

. Games feature host teams from the

, and

. In

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, NFL Network began airing the Brick City HBCU Kickoff Classic, and began simulcasting all games on

NFL+ NFL+ (formerly NFL Game Pass) is an over-the-top subscription service operated by the National Football League (NFL) in the United States. The service offers live streaming of the radio broadcasts of all NFL games, streaming of the television broa ...

Rights

Current Rights

(2007–present) *

(2011–present) *

(2019–present) *

(2022–present) *Ten MAC,

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

, and

AAC AAC may refer to: Aviation * Advanced Aircraft, a company from Carlsbad, California * Alaskan Air Command, a radar network * American Aeronautical Corporation, a company from Port Washington, New York * American Aviation, a company from Cleveland, ...

games via

sub-license (2022–present) *Brick City HBCU Kickoff Classic (2023–present)

Past Rights

(2006–2008) *

(2006–2009) * Nebraska Cornhuskers' spring football game (2007) *

(2007–2008) *

(2019)

References

{{College football on television 2000s American television series 2010s American television series 2020s American television series

American English-language television shows Sports telecast series