Figuring out how to watch college football can be a bit tough. In 2024, over 20 different channels and streaming services will be showing at least one college football game — annoyingly, none of the most popular conferences have all their livestreams on a single network.
• Next big game: College Football Playoff first round: Indiana vs. Notre Dame
• Date and time: Tonight (Dec. 20) — 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT / 1 a.m. GMT (Dec. 21) / 12 p.m. AEDT (Dec. 21)
• US channels: Watch on ABC or ESPN via Sling (ABC in select markets) or Fubo
• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN 100% risk free
Even more annoyingly, college football livestreams haven't adopted streaming en masse, unlike NFL livestreams. That means that if you're trying to cut the cord and watch college football livestreams without cable, you will need a cable TV alternative like Sling, Fubo or YouTube TV.
That doesn't mean that college football won't require any of the best streaming services. If you're looking to watch every college football livestream this year, you'll definitely need Peacock and ESPN Plus. The good news though is that you won't need more than that — no need for Netflix or Prime Video for college football fans.
For those abroad, things get a bit easier. In places like Canada, the U.K. and Australia, there's typically only one home for college football in each country. You won't have access to every single game, though you could always use a VPN like NordVPN to access all your U.S. streaming services and online live TV providers from anywhere in the world.
So if you're looking for how to watch college football livestreams — including every bowl game and every College Football Playoff livestream — online without cable from anywhere in the world, you've come to the right place. Here's everything you need to know.
How to watch college football livestreams from anywhere
If for some reason you're not on campus or moved far away from your alma mater and you can't watch the college football livestreams you want, you're not out of luck. With a virtual private network or VPN, you can appear to be surfing the web from your hometown and access NFL livestreams.
We've tested many different VPN services and our favorite is NordVPN; it offers superb speeds, excellent customer service and a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out first to see if it's right for you. But you've got other VPN options too, so check out our full list of the best VPN services.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance if you're in the U.K. and want to view a U.S. service, you'd select U.K. from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to Sling, Fubo or another website and watch the game.
What channels have college football livestreams
As mentioned earlier, over 20 different channels and streaming services will air at least one college football livestream this year — including 18 that are traditional broadcast or cable TV networks.
The good news is that if you have a cable TV alternative, you can get access to most or all of these channels. The only ones you definitely won't have access to are ESPN Plus and Peacock, as these are both streaming services. These streaming services must be signed up for separately from any live TV provider, though some Xfinity customers may have Peacock included in their TV or internet subscription.
Here's the full list of every channel slated to have a college football livestream in 2024:
- ABC
- ACC Network
- Big Ten Network
- CBS
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Deportes (Spanish language)
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- Fox
- Fox Deportes (Spanish language)
- FS1
- FS2
- NBC
- NFL Network
- Peacock (streaming service)
- SEC Network
- The CW
- TNT
- truTV
College football channels by conference
In NCAA Division I college football, there are two subdivisions: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
FBS games are the ones most people think of when they think of college football. Teams like Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, USC — the big programs — are all in FBS conferences like the SEC, ACC and Big Ten.
For the purposes of this guide, we're focusing on FBS games, but if you want to watch FCS games for teams like South Dakota State, Villanova and Harvard, you can typically find FCS games on the ABC/ESPN family of Disney-owned networks: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN Plus.
Below, you can find a breakdown of which channels air games for the 10 FBS conferences.
American Athletic Conference (AAC)
- ABC
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- NFL Network
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
- ABC
- ACC Network
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- The CW
Big 12 Conference
- ABC
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- FOX
- FS1
Big Ten Conference
- Big Ten Network
- CBS
- FOX
- FS1
- NBC
- Peacock (streaming service)
Conference USA
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- NFL Network
FBS Independent schools (Notre Dame and University of Connecticut)
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- NBC
- Peacock (streaming service)
Mid-American Conference (MAC)
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- NFL Network
Mountain West Conference
- CBS
- CBS Sports Network
- FOX
- FS1
- truTV
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
- ABC
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- SEC Network
Sun Belt Conference
- ABC
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPN Plus (streaming service)
- NFL Network
College football livestreams by country
College football livestreams in the US
College football livestreams in US via cable alternatives
If you've cut the cord and are looking to watch college football livestreams this season, you need a cable TV alternative. So many games are only available on traditional linear TV rather than streaming services, that there's just no way to go completely away from live TV providers. But even ditching cable for a cable alternative can still save you a lot of money.
There are a few options we recommend. First up is Sling, which is the cheapest cable alternative we recommend.
Sling Orange is $46 a month and gives you ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN 3. Sling Blue starts and $46 a month and gives you local NBC, ABC and Fox affiliates (in select markets) as well as NFL Network. You can combine them both for $61 a month and then also add on the Sports Extras package for $15 a month, which gives you access to ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPNU, SEC Network and more.
If you want certain channels though, you'll want Fubo.
Unlike Sling, Fubo offers CBS as well as NBC, ABC and Fox regardless of your media market. It also offers CBS Sports Network, along with every other channel you could want for watching college football. The only things you'll still need are Peacock and ESPN Plus.
These channels come with a cost though. Fubo starts at $79.99 a month plus taxes and fees for the Pro plan and SEC Network and ACC Network are not offered as part of your plan in all regions. If these two channels aren't part of you're plan, you'll need to pay $7.99 extra a month for the Fubo Extra add-on, which will also give you access to ESPNU.
If you don't need the CBS channels Fubo offers, Sling might be the better choice.
Aside from these two, there are two other cable alternatives worth considering. YouTube TV is great for watching sports and offers features like catching up with key plays and multiview. Unfortunately, it doesn't offer the SEC Network, and that could be a dealbreaker for a lot of college football fans.
There's also Hulu + Live TV. This cable TV alternative offers all the channels you need and gives you an ESPN Plus subscription — which is great. However, at $83 a month (starting October 17), it's pricey. You might be better off choosing Sling or Fubo and combining it with ESPN Plus a la carte or through the Disney Bundle, which would also give you Disney Plus and Hulu.
NFL livestreams in US via streaming services
Aside from these cable alternatives, you'll need two streaming services to watch every 2024 college football livestream.
Peacock has some exclusive games this college football season, but it also offers NBC college football livestreams as a simulcast if you sign up for the $13.99 per month Premium Plus tier. If you opt for Sling, that could be a major perk, since not all Sling markets offer local NBC channels.
Plus, Peacock also has the NFL's first game in Brazil, between the Green Bay Packers versus the Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paulo in Week 1 of the regular season. There are tons of other live sports too, including the Premier League, in addition to hundreds of shows and movies. Peacock starts at just $7.99 per month.
You'll also need ESPN Plus, which has a ton of college football livestreams that you can't watch anywhere else.
If you're a fan of a big program — particularly ACC, SEC, and Big Ten schools — you might be able to skip ESPN Plus, as these conferences have their own networks. But fans of the Big 12 or any of the smaller conferences will definitely need ESPN to watch college football this season.
ESPN Plus starts at $10.99 per month, though a price hike is coming in October. We recommend signing up for the Disney Bundle Trio, which gives you Hulu and Disney Plus for just $4 a month more, which is better value for your money.
Paramount Plus shows select CBS college football livestreams. You need to opt for the pricier plan though, as the live local CBS feed is only available if you have Paramount Plus with Showtime. Unless you have Sling, this probably won't be worth it just for college football.
Paramount Plus with Showtime starts at $11.99 per month and gives you a ton of shows and movies in addition to live sports. It even ditches ads for the most part, aside from live TV and a few shows.
Max also shows select TNT college football livestreams. Like with Paramount Plus, this isn't worth getting just for the college football livestreams, as it only shows games already on TNT. But it does give you a deep library of new shows and movies, including every new HBO show.
Max stars at $9.99 per month with ads, but you can also bundle it with Hulu and Disney Plus (both with ads) for just $16.99 a month. Or ditch the ads for a higher monthly cost. The choice is yours.
College football livestreams for free in US via TV antenna
With one of our best TV antenna picks you can watch select college football livestreams over the air for free. Or, you could make your own stream, with a service such as Channel Master or Tablo, connected to your antenna and a DVR box. This allows you to broadcast the stream — either live or recorded — to a set-top box, mobile device or computer just about anywhere in the world.
The cost of this method varies depending on the HD antenna you get and the service you use, but the local channels themselves are free..
College football livestreams in the UK
Sky Sports is the exclusive home of college football livestreams in the U.K. Sky Sports NFL offers three games a week this year, in addition to airing the popular analyst show "ESPN College GameDay Live" before the first game's kickoff. Later in the year, you'll also get access to the livestream for every college football bowl game.
Of course, that's not all you get with Sky Sports NFL — you also get NFL livestreams. Sky Sports NFL offers at least five live NFL games per week along with every Thursday, Sunday and Monday Night Football game. It also offers NFL RedZone, and NFL Network programming, including Good Morning Football and Total Access.
To get access to Sky Sports NFL, you'll need to sign up for a Sky Stream subscription for £26 per month (for 24 months) with a 24-month contract or £29 per month (for 24 months) as a 31-day rolling subscription that can be canceled with a month’s notice.
Of course, if you're in the U.K., you can always use NordVPN to watch your U.S. streaming services abroad.
College football livestreams in Canada
Unfortunately for Canadian football fans, ESPN has a monopoly on college football games. That means you can only watch ESPN college football livestreams up north, with TSN offering ESPN games in English and RDS offering games in French. Games can also be watched via TSN Direct and ESPN Player, both of which are Canada-only streaming services.
Among the best streaming services we've tested, the only one that may offer games is Fubo, which has a pretty deep live sports selection and operates in Canada. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot confirm that Fubo will offer any college football livestreams in Canada like it does in the U.S.
Of course, if you're in Canada, you can always use NordVPN to watch your U.S. streaming services abroad.
College football livestreams in Australia
Aussies will find college livestreams on Kayo Sports. Kayo Sports will give you ESPN coverage of both college football and NFL livestreams, with a few games on offer each week.
Of course, if you're in Australia, you can always use NordVPN to watch your U.S. streaming services abroad.
Key college football livestreams
If you haven't noticed by now — and I'm sure you have — there are a ton of college football livestreams each week. Honestly, with 134 schools in the FBS alone, it's borderline unwieldy.
But we've finally hit the point in the college football season where every game matters. There are Bowl games, the Army-Navy game and the College Football Playoff. Since every one of those games matters, we're giving you the whole schedule down below so you know how to watch every college football livestream the rest of the season.
2024 College Football livestreams College Football Playoffs and Bowl games schedule
All games in Eastern Time
Saturday, December 14
- Cricket Celebration Bowl: Jackson State 28 - South Carolina State 7
- Army-Navy game: Navy 31 - No. 22 Army 13
- IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl: South Alabama 30 - Western Michigan 23
Tuesday, December 17
- Scooter's Coffee Frisco Bowl: No. 25 Memphis 42 - West Virginia 37
Wednesday, December 18
- Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky 17 - James Madison 27
- Art of Sport LA Bowl: California 13 - No. 24 UNLV 24
Thursday, December 19
- R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Georgia Southern 26 - Sam Houston 31
Friday, December 20
- StaffDNA Cure Bowl: Ohio vs. Jacksonville State @ 12 p.m. (ESPN)
- Union Home Mortgage Bowl: Tulane vs. Florida @ 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
- College Football Playoff First Round Game: No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 7 Notre Dame @ 8 p.m. (ABC/ESPN)
Saturday, December 21
- College Football Playoff First Round Game: No. 11 SMU vs. No. 6 Penn State @ 12 p.m. (TNT/Max)
- College Football Playoff First Round Game: No. 12 Clemson vs. No. 5 Texas @ 8 p.m. (TNT/Max)
- College Football Playoff First Round Game: No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 8 Ohio State @ 8 p.m. (ABC/ESPN)
Monday, December 23
- Myrtle Beach Bowl: Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA @ 11 a.m. (ESPN)
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State @ 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, December 24
- Hawai'i Bowl: South Florida vs. San José State @ 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, December 26
- GameAbove Sports Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Toledo @ 2 p.m. (ESPN)
- Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. Kansas State @ 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- 68 Ventures Bowl: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green @ 9 p.m.
Friday, December 27
- Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Navy @ 12 p.m. (ESPN)
- Birmingham Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt @ 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Arkansas @ 7 p.m. (ESPN)
- DirecTV Holiday Bowl: No. 21 Syracuse vs. Washington State @ 8 p.m. (Fox)
- SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl: USC vs. Texas A&M @ 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, December 28
- Wasabi Fenway Bowl: UConn vs. North Carolina @ 11 a.m. (ESPN)
- Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl: Boston College vs. Nebraska @ 12 p.m. (ABC)
- Isleta New Mexico Bowl: Louisiana vs. TCU @ 2:15 p.m. (ESPN)
- Pop-Tarts Bowl: No. 18 vs. No. 13 Miami @ 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
- Snopp Dogg Arizona Bowl: Miami (OH) vs. Colorado State @ 4:30 p.m. (The CW Network)
- Go Bowling Military Bowl: East Carolina vs. NC State @ 5:45 p.m. (ESPN)
- Valero Alamo Bowl: No. 17 BYU vs. No. 23 Colorado @ 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
- Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl: Marshall vs. No. 22 Army @ 9:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, December 30
- TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. No. 19 Missouri @ 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, December 31
- ReliaQuest Bowl: No. 11 Alabama vs. Michigan @ 12 p.m. (ESPN)
- Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Louisville vs. Washington @ 2 p.m. (CBS)
- Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: No. 15 South Carolina vs. No. 20 Illinois @ 3 p.m. (ABC)
- Kinder's Texas Bowl: Baylor vs. LSU @ 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
- College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl: TBD vs. No. 3 Boise State @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, January 1
- College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: TBD vs. No. 4 Arizona State @ 1 p.m. (ESPN)
- College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential: TBD vs. No. 1 Oregon @ 5 p.m. (ESPN)
- College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl: TBD vs. No. 2 Georgia @ 8:45 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, January 2
- TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Duke vs. No. 14 Ole Miss @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, January 3
- SERVPRO First Responder Bowl: North Texas vs. Texas State @ 4 p.m. (ESPN)
- Duke's Mayo Bowl: Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, January 4
- Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs. Liberty @ 11 a.m. (ESPN2)
Thursday, January 9
- College Football Playoff Semifinal game at the Capital One Orange Bowl: TBD vs TBD @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, January 10
- College Football Playoff Semifinal game at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: TBD vs TBD @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Monday, January 20
- College Football Playoff National Championship: TBD vs TBD @ 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
