Week 0

{{Short description|Opening weekend of college football season}}

Week 0 (or Week Zero) refers to the opening weekend of college football games in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), in which a small number of games are played to begin the regular season, a week before the vast majority of teams begin their season in "Week 1".{{cite web|url=https://www.theringer.com/2019/8/27/20834454/florida-gators-miami-hurricanes-week-0-ratings-hawaii-rainbow-warriors-arizona-wildcats|title=Why the "Week 0" College Football Game Is Here to Stay|first=Rodger|last=Sherman|website=The Ringer|date=August 27, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2019-09-01/when-does-2019-college-football-season-start|title=When does the 2019 college football season start?|first=Mitchell|last=Northam|website=NCAA.com|date=September 1, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bannersociety.com/2020/2/3/21120346/week-zero-college-football-scheduling|title=Let's do the WEEK ZERO BIG GAME thing every year|first=Steven|last=Godfrey|website=Banner Society|date=February 3, 2020}} Although the FBS football season has traditionally begun on the first Saturday before Labor Day, the NCAA has sporadically awarded waivers for games to be played a week earlier in order to bring a game to a national television audience, or as part of the "Hawaii Rule" that grants teams that play a game in Hawaii, usually away games against the Rainbow Warriors, an extra regular season home game to offset travel costs. Games in Alaska, Puerto Rico and other outlying territories would nominally count towards the Hawaii Rule, but those locales do not field FBS programs, or have venues that met NCAA minimum attendance guidelines before those were abolished in 2023.

The first Week 0 game was the 1983 Kickoff Classic, in which No. 1 Nebraska defeated No. 4 Penn State, 44–6, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.{{cite web|url=https://www.offtackleempire.com/2019/8/23/20812418/college-football-week-0-history-penn-state-nebraska-1983-kickoff-classic-garden-state-bowl-ncaa|title=College Football Week 0: Money, Ratings, and the NCAA Football Schedule|website=Off Tackle Empire|date=August 23, 2019}}

For the 2020 season, the NCAA issued a blanket waiver for Week 0 games by any team, in order to allow for scheduling flexibility amid the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2020-07-28|title=Reports: NCAA permits teams to schedule 'Week 0' games|url=https://www.al.com/sports/2020/07/ncaa-will-allow-fbs-teams-to-schedule-week-0-games-aug-29-reports-say.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-07-31|website=AL.com|language=en}} However, no Division I FBS members wound up playing in a Week 0 game in 2020.