Week Zero Is Not The Start Of College Football

I've been seeing this creeping in over the last three or four seasons, but 2023 is the first year where it really seems like most people are identifying Week Zero as the actual start of college football season. There are seven games, six of which nobody would ever dream of watching if they took place during a real week of college football, and somehow this is what we're saying constitutes the start of the most wonderful time of the year? Absolutely not.

College football starts on September 2 — I'm willing to have the debate on the Thursday of Week 1 vs. the Saturday, but that's for a different time. We all need to be pulling in the same direction against this Week Zero nonsense. We've waited eight months, let's not cheapen such a beautiful thing by saying UMass-New Mexico State is one of the big kickoff games of the season.

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Week Zero is meant to serve as a nice reminder that the next time you get up on Monday morning and head to work, it's game week. We get one halfway decent game with a big brand team and another playing a cupcake. This is the day to figure out the snack rotation for the season, make sure the grill is ready to go for next week and get a small taste of the best game on the planet.

But if you're a reasonable person who understands this isn't the real start of college football, you have an obligation to speak up.