10 finest non-conference school soccer video games this season: Week 1 is filled with must-watch matchups

Bowl season is at all times a reminder of how superior non-conference school soccer video games could be. The 12-team College Football Playoff made that reminder deafening.

While some energy convention groups are dodging marquee video games outdoors of league play, others are embracing them.

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This 12 months’s Week 1 slate is filled with these can’t-miss non-con joys. Yahoo Sports is beginning there, however we’re additionally flagging a handful of extra video games you need to circle in your calendar this season. (All listed occasions are ET.)

Texas at Ohio State: 12 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30

It’s SEC-Big Ten; it’s a College Football Playoff semifinal rematch; it’s Lee Corso’s closing “College GameDay” present; and it’s Arch Manning’s debut as Texas’ full-time beginning quarterback, in fact in opposition to the defending nationwide champion Buckeyes. Jack Sawyer’s cinematic strip sack and 83-yard scoop-and-score dashed Texas’ nationwide title hopes in final season’s Cotton Bowl. For the second 12 months in a row, the Longhorns reached the doorstep of the massive sport, solely to fall a play or two quick.

But head coach Steve Sarkisian’s workforce enters the 2025 marketing campaign with bigger expectations than the state it performs in. Manning has lastly taken over as QB1, and he’s a stylish Heisman decide. He’ll be beneath the microscope in Columbus versus a Buckeyes workforce that appears completely different than the one which sported 14 draft picks in 2024. That stated, Ohio State nonetheless has two of the most effective gamers in school soccer — broad receiver Jeremiah Smith and security Caleb Downs — and a employees hungry to show this 12 months’s squad can win all of it too.

Alabama at Florida State: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos gave Alabama loads of bulletin board materials final month throughout an interview with On3’s Pete Nakos. Castellanos, a switch from Boston College, stated Alabama now not has “Nick Saban to save them” and that he doesn’t “see them stopping me.” He additionally famous that he looks like he “tore the ACC up by my damn self for the last two years.”

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Castellanos could have been attempting to instill some much-needed confidence into an FSU program that crawled to a 2-10 end final season. But the dual-threat quarterback — who recorded 1,113 speeding yards and 28 whole touchdowns in 2023 earlier than posting the bottom QBR of all qualifying ACC quarterbacks in 2024 — may need woken up a napping large. In its first season beneath Kalen DeBoer, Alabama gained fewer than 10 video games for the primary time since 2007, Saban’s first 12 months on the helm. The Crimson Tide want to return to SEC dominance and the CFP in 2025.

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LSU at Clemson: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 30

LSU is leaving Death Valley to play within the different Death Valley in opposition to the opposite Tigers in a prime-time, Week 1 showdown. Clemson introduced again a wealth of expertise from final season. After profitable the ACC championship, Clemson put up a decent battle at Texas within the first spherical of the College Football Playoff. Cade Klubnik’s three landing passes weren’t sufficient that day, however the now-senior enters this season as a Heisman candidate headlining an offense with extra fireworks than Clemson’s Memorial Stadium.

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The Tigers’ offensive line returns 4 senior starters. Their broad receiver corps consists of Antonio Williams, Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore, a trio that mixed for two,263 yards and 21 touchdowns final season. On the opposite aspect of the ball, Clemson has a star-studded duo up entrance in defensive finish T.J. Parker and defensive deal with Peter Woods. LSU has myriad stars as properly — particularly quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and linebacker Whit Weeks — however this sport might be a chance for Clemson to show its preseason expectations are becoming, not nostalgic.

Notre Dame at Miami: 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 31

This is one in all two Sunday night time, Week 1 bangers (the opposite is Virginia Tech-South Carolina). Notre Dame is enjoying Miami for the primary time since 2017, and solely the second time since 2012. The 2017 assembly began as a extremely anticipated, top-10 matchup and ended as a 33-point, head-turning Miami victory. It was the proper storm for the turnover-chain-wearing Hurricanes, who created 4 takeaways for the fourth straight week and sniffed 250 speeding yards.

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It took Miami seven years to writer one other 10-win marketing campaign. The Hurricanes reached that win whole final season, however their late-season sputter value them a visit to the CFP, the place Notre Dame marched its approach to the nationwide title sport. Cam Ward and Riley Leonard are actually within the NFL. Miami’s latest switch quarterback is former Georgia signal-caller Carson Beck. This time round, the Fighting Irish are staying in-house with redshirt freshman CJ Carr. Beck and Carr will duel in Hard Rock Stadium through the newest iteration of a collection that after featured “Catholics vs. Convicts.”

TCU at North Carolina: 8 p.m., Monday, Sept. 1

Bill Belichick might be teaching school soccer for the primary time, besides he’ll be doing so on a Monday night time, giving his UNC debut some NFL taste. The 73-year-old, six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach transitioned to media after his awkward parting with the New England Patriots in 2023 after which shocked everybody along with his now-well-documented relationship, plus his resolution this offseason to move up the Tar Heels.

It’s a little bit of a thriller what UNC will seem like beneath Belichick. He’s identified for his defenses, however of the 16 Tar Heel defenders who logged at the least 200 snaps final 12 months, solely three returned — all of them defensive backs. TCU is the guinea pig, litmus check, no matter you need to name it. The Horned Frogs will get the primary stab at Belichick. TCU quietly gained six of its final seven video games this previous season. Quarterback Josh Hoover is a reputation to know. He’s joined by a seasoned offensive line and a few key items from a protection that coordinator Andy Avalos appeared to determine down the stretch of 2024.

Michigan at Oklahoma: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6

These colleges final met through the Orange Bowl that finally determined the 1975’s consensus nationwide champion. Oklahoma earned that title after profitable a 14-6 rock battle in opposition to Michigan, and after then-No. 1 Ohio State was upset within the Rose Bowl by Dick Vermeil’s UCLA workforce. At the time, Oklahoma was within the Big Eight, which ultimately folded into the Big 12. Now, in fact, the Sooners are of their second season within the SEC, the place they struggled final 12 months. The harm bug bit Oklahoma badly, the offensive line underperformed and Jackson Arnold didn’t pan out at quarterback.

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Brent Venables has an opportunity to wipe away his second 6-7 document in three years with a bounce-back 2025. Oklahoma’s portal reinforcements might do the trick, led by former Washington State quarterback John Mateer. In Week 2, he’ll seemingly go head-to-head with Michigan true freshman Bryce Underwood, a former five-star prospect who was Rivals’ No. 3 general recruit within the 2025 class. The Wolverines want to return to nationwide prominence, too, following a formidable finish to an in any other case turbulent 2024 marketing campaign.

Florida at Miami: TBD, Saturday, Sept. 20

Billy Napier by some means survived a chaotic begin to his third season as Florida head coach. Napier began the 12 months on the recent seat, then had nearly everybody calling for his head in September. That early-season stretch started with an embarrassing 41-17 defeat to Miami. Ward, the No. 1 general decide on this 12 months’s NFL Draft, threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in his Hurricanes debut. Droves of Florida followers have been on their means out of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium within the third quarter. Napier was criticized for calling run performs on a pair of third-and-5s, and for his workforce’s lack of self-discipline after his protection dedicated two roughing-the-passer penalties, every extending Miami landing drives within the first half.

Eventually, Florida discovered itself final season. The protection thrived through the Gators’ closing 4 video games. The legs and arm of then-true freshman DJ Lagway, Rivals’ prime dual-threat quarterback within the 2024 class, have been as marketed. Florida ended the 12 months with 4 straight wins, together with victories over then-No. 21 LSU and then-No. 9 Ole Miss, the latter of which knocked the Rebels out of CFP rivalry. As a sophomore, Lagway will benefit from some All-SEC-caliber linemen, his main rusher returning and a pair of noteworthy receivers in Eugene Wilson III and Aidan Mizell. The Gators will get one other crack at Miami in Week 4 when the colleges meet for simply the fifth time within the final 20 years.

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Boise State at Notre Dame: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4

Because Notre Dame stays an impartial — sorry, James Franklin — its schedule is overflowing with non-conference leisure. The again half of the Irish’s home-and-home with Texas A&M might be cool, and so will their first-ever assembly with Arkansas. Another spherical of the Holy War in Chestnut Hill might be extra aggressive with Bill O’Brien steering the ship at Boston College. Oh, and Notre Dame’s rivalry sport in opposition to USC is at all times value a watch. But the Irish’s solely opponent this season that joined them within the first-ever 12-team CFP is Boise State.

The applications have by no means met earlier than. Their first showdown gained’t be on blue turf, however “Touchdown Jesus” can have the most effective seat in the home. Yes, Boise State misplaced Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty to the NFL. That doesn’t imply the Broncos’ playoff hopes are gone. Far from it, truly — they’re returning 67% of the manufacturing from final 12 months’s playoff workforce, per ESPN. The offensive line is loads deep, and there are extra backs within the secure Jeanty left. Plus, the Broncos return quarterback Maddux Madsen and a bunch of playmakers on protection.

Georgia vs. Georgia Tech: 3:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 28

If you didn’t watch final 12 months’s sport between these two, go watch the highlights after which come again. It took eight overtimes for the Bulldogs to carry off the Yellow Jackets in Athens. That stung for Georgia Tech, which briefly returned to the AP Top 25 for the primary time since 2015 early within the season however completed 7-6 with two notably agonizing losses. The first was at Syracuse, the place the Jackets’ comeback bid fell quick. The second was at Georgia, the place the Bulldogs accomplished a come-from-behind victory in a marathon of a sport that noticed the in-state rivals commerce extra time successes and failures like tennis gamers in a tiebreak.

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Past midnight, the Bulldogs prevailed with one closing two-point conversion try that crossed the airplane and unearthed a wave of emotion throughout the sphere. Still, Georgia Tech pocketed top-10 wins over an finally mega-disappointing FSU workforce and a CFP-caliber Miami workforce final 12 months, and quarterback Haynes King and Co. are able to take one other swing at a program breakthrough in 2025. Georgia gained the SEC in a down 12 months of types and now has one other crew of blue-chippers, in addition to an intriguing portal pool, to revamp the roster.

Clemson at South Carolina: 12 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29

Rivalry Week has one other must-watch, in-state ACC-SEC battle that packed an identical cardiac punch final time round. South Carolina entered the fourth quarter trailing by a landing and left Clemson with a three-point victory. Quarterback LaNorris Sellers scored from 20 yards out with 1:08 remaining, and the Gamecocks picked off Klubnik within the sport’s waning seconds to carry on for his or her sixth straight win, 4 of which got here in opposition to ranked opponents.

Sellers, like Klubnik, is a Heisman candidate. The dual-threat sensation totaled 3,208 yards from scrimmage and 25 touchdowns final season. The Shane Beamer expertise in Columbia has been a curler coaster, however the highs have provided peak recollections. This 12 months, the Gamecocks have introduced again foundational items comparable to Sellers and star defensive finish Dylan Stewart — who notched 6.5 sacks and three compelled fumbles as a real freshman — however they’re counting on transfers and unproven gamers at a handful of spots, notably within the trenches and within the backfield. This sport might have CFP implications once more, and this time it might have an effect on the Heisman race too.

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Honorable Mentions

• Nebraska vs. Cincinnati (Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City): 9 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 28

• Auburn at Baylor: 8 p.m., Friday, Aug. 29

• South Carolina vs. Virginia Tech (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta): 3 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 31

• Baylor at SMU: 12 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6

• Kansas at Missouri: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6

• Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6

• UCLA at UNLV: 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 6

• Wisconsin at Alabama: 12 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13

• Pitt at West Virginia: 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13

• Texas A&M at Notre Dame: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 13