Due to these strange times we are living in, this college football season is one unlike any other. Some conferences have announced cancellations and postponements, while others like the SEC and ACC are pushing forward. Regardless, you’re here because you’re asking “how do I watch college football without cable?” Luckily, you can catch all of it without cable.
Mar 25, 2020 Pete Saloutos/iStock/Getty Images Professional and college football games last for 60 minutes, divided into two 30-minute halves and four 15-minute quarters. High school football games last for 48 minutes, divided into two 24-minute halves with four 12-minute quarters. As it turns out, the average length of a college football game is 3 hours and 24 minutes, according to NCAA statistics. College football games are noticeably longer than NFL games, which have. The last thing TV wants to do is have a game that goes too long and miss a game that is coming up.' ESPN senior vice president Burke Magnus said as long as the average game doesn't extend past 3 1.
The good news for you is that it has never been easier for cord-cutters to watch college football without an expensive cable bill, and today I am going to discuss every option available. Keep reading to learn how to live stream college football games online throughout the whole season!
Quick Solution for Most People Looking to Watch College Football without Cable Now
For many, we find that fuboTV is the best solution for watching college football without cable. Since adding ESPN networks, the service really does offer pretty much any channel you could possibly need for streaming college games.
Quick Pick: fuboTV
Highlights
- Over 100 channels, including every channel you need to watch college football online
- Watch on virtually every device ranging from Roku to Amazon Fire Stick to Apple TV
- Cloud DVR included to watch games after they air
- Free trial, no contract, no strings attached
College Football Channels
Before we get into how exactly you can watch college football online without cable, let’s talk about the television networks that you’re going to need to have access to. With a few exceptions, you’ll find that most college football games air on the following networks:
At a Glance: College Football Networks
| ABC | ESPN 3 |
| NBC | ESPNU |
| CBS | SEC Network |
| FOX | ACC Network |
| FS1 | BTN |
| FS2 | Pac-12 Network |
| ESPN | ESPN+ |
| ESPN 2 |
Overall, the ESPN family of networks is the most important, as ESPN hosts the majority of college football (approximately 80% or more!). This is particularly true for the bigger teams and more popular conferences. So you will definitely want to make sure that you have access to ESPN and ESPN’s other networks, like ACC Network, SEC Network, ESPN2/ESPN3/ESPNU, BTN, and others. You can stream all of these with Sling TV (free 7-day trial) or other services that I’ll discuss in-depth below.
Also, new for the 2020-2021 season, NCAA football fans will probably want access to ESPN+, a new service from ESPN itself. This service provides exclusive access to some games, mostly from lower-tier schools. I’ll talk about it in more detail in a section below.
Now that you know where the action is, let’s take a look at how to watch college football online and over-the-air
College Football TV Schedule
There are a lot of schedules online but NCAA.com is usually a good place to check. ESPN also has a good schedule available on their site.
You will want to reference the NCAA football schedule before deciding on a viewing strategy. There are a LOT of channels that broadcast college football, and it can differ quite a bit from team to team. So, I recommend looking for a schedule for the team(s) you like to follow, to check which networks their games usually air on.
Now, let’s move on to the actual methods you can use to watch college football without cable TV!
8 Ways to Watch College Football Online
Online streaming services are a great way to watch college football online. In recent years the rise of live television streaming has given way to previously cable-only channels, like ESPN, to become part of the live streaming lineup.
Because college sports are a lot more fragmented than the professionals, it’s going to be difficult to catch EVERY single college game. Aside from the physical limitations of watching every game on Saturday, different services will simply offer you access to different NCAA conferences.
To help you out with your search for that perfect college football friendly streaming service, here’s a quick rundown of the available live television streaming services that are good to watch college football without cable.
1. College Football on fuboTV
fuboTV (free trial) is an online streaming service designed primarily for fans who want to watch sports without cable. In fact, due to recent deals with ESPN, fuboTV is now one of the best options for watching college football.
Read our fuboTV review for an in-depth look.
Here are the relevant sports channels that you get with fuboTV:
- ABC Network (in select areas)
- CBS Network (in select areas)
- NBC Network (in select areas)
- FOX Network (in select areas)
- NBC Sports Network
- CBS Sports Network
- Local sports networks from NBC and FOX
- FS1
- FS2
- BEINSports
- BTN (Big Ten Network)
- PAC-12 Network
- ESPN Networks
- SEC Network
- ACC Network
For an additional $9 a month, you can get the Sports Plus add-on, which includes the following:
- PAC-12 Network: Arizona, Bay Area, Oregon, Washington, Mountain, Los Angeles, and more, plus FOX College Sports: Atlantic, Central, Pacific, and Stadium 1, 2 and 3
Click here to try fuboTV free for 7 days.
2. College Football on Hulu Live
Hulu Live is the streaming giant’s attempt at breaking into the live television streaming market with this cable TV alternative. Currently, there is only one plan available and it costs $64.99 a month.
Read out Hulu Live review for an in-depth look.
Here are the relevant sports channels included in the plan:
- ABC (in most areas)
- CBS (in most areas)
- NBC (in most areas)
- FOX (in most areas)
- ESPN
- ESPN 2
- ESPN 3 (via WatchESPN App)
- ESPNU
- ESPN Goal Line
- ESPN College Extra
- FS1
- FS2l
- SEC Network
- NBCSN
- Big Ten Network (BTN)
Hulu is perhaps the most complete way to watch college football without cable. It includes many of the most important channels you’ll need to keep up, all in one package. Not only does it cover ESPN’s network of channels, but it offers local channels like NBC, FOX, CBS and ABC in most areas. While Sling and other similar services do offer these channels in some areas, nobody currently has as good of coverage as Hulu Live TV.
And while it’s more expensive than Sling TV, Hulu still offers excellent value. This is particularly true if you consider the fact that Hulu Live TV comes with the original Hulu, which is a huge on-demand library of thousands of entertainment options (similar to Netflix).
Click here to watch college football on Hulu Live TV for free!
3. Stream College Football on Sling TV
Sling TV (free 7-day trial) is a budget-friendly online streaming service that offers a good way to watch college football games online. It offers two primary subscription plans; Sling Orange and Sling Blue. Both are available for $45 per month. You can also get both plans for $45 a month and get all of the channels included in the Orange and Blue plans.
Read out Sling TV review for an in-depth look.
Here are some of the most important college football channels that you get with each plan:
Sling TV Orange
- ESPN
- ESPN 2
- ESPN 3
- ACC Network
Sling TV Blue
- FOX Network (in select areas)
- NBC Network (in select areas)
- Local FOX Sports stations (in select areas)
- Local NBC Sports stations (in select areas)
- FS1
- FS2
- NBC Sports Network
In addition to the two plans, you can pay $10 extra for a sports add-on and get additional channels that air college football. What channels come with the sports add-on will depend on which main plan you’re subscribed to, however, there is a bit of overlap.
Here’s what the sports-add on looks like for both plans.
Sports Extra Orange
- SEC Network
- SEC Network+
- ESPNU
- ESPNEWS
- ESPN Goal Line
- PAC-12 Network
- LHN (Longhorn Network)**
- BeIN Sports
- Other sports networks, like NHL Network, ESPN Bases Loaded, MLB Network and more
Sports Extra Blue
- PAC-12 Network
- Other sports networks, like Tennis Channel, NBA TV, MLB Network and more
**This is technically not included in the subscription, but you can access LHN content through the WatchESPN app using your Sling TV credentials.
The bottom line is this: Sling TV is the most affordable way to watch college football games without cable. Technically an antenna is cheaper, BUT, antennas offer fairly limited coverage of CFB as they don’t include any of the ESPN channels.
Click here to try a free 7 day trial of Sling TV.
4. Watch College Football Online with Vidgo
Vidgo (free trial) is one of the newest ways to watch college football online without cable TV. And it’s available for only $40 per month.
Read out Vidgo review for an in-depth look.
Here are the relevant Vidgo channels that you get:
- ESPN Networks
- ACC Network
- Big Ten Network
- Pac 10 Network
- SEC Network
Vidgo is a great, inexpensive way to watch college football online. Try it free here!
5. Cheap College Football with ESPN+
ESPN+ is a new service that comes directly from ESPN itself. It’s available without a cable subscription, and costs only $4.99 per month. The service provideslimited access to some live college football games. The games are mostly from less popular/lower-tier schools. But for $5 a month, it’s a service that’s well worth having for any sports fan.
Read our ESPN+ review for an in-depth look.
Keep in mind that ESPN+ is definitely not a full-fledged way to watch live college football. It’s meant to supplement other sources, as much of the content on ESPN+ is exclusively on ESPN+. At the same time, you won’t see big primetime games airing on this service, so it’s far from a complete solution.
6. College Football Online with YouTube TV
YouTube TV (free trial) is another option. There’s only 1 plan, but it offers a good selection of channels to watch CFB games without cable. This is a newer service that’s still ironing out some kinks, but it’s definitely worth considering.
Read our YouTube TV review for an in-depth look.
YouTube TV has only one package. It costs $64.99 a month and covers 70+ channels. For college football streaming, here are the important channels offered:
- ABC (in select areas)
- CBS (in select areas)
- NBC (in select areas)
- FOX (in select areas)
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNU
- ESPNews
- NBCSN
- CBSSN
- Big Ten Network
- SEC Network
- FOX Sports
- FS1
- FS2
YouTube TV offers a solid all-around selection. It’s useful for watching college sports online, as well as keeping up with news, TV shows, etc.
Click here to try a free trial of YouTube TV.
7. College Football on AT&T TV NOW
AT&T TV NOW (free trial) is another streaming service that’s similar to many we’ve already discussed. Keep in mind that this service was formerly known as DIRECTV NOW, but it’s since been rebranded to AT&T TV NOW.
Read our AT&T TV NOW review for an in-depth look.
There are 2 channel packages available. Plus is $64.99 per month, while Max is a bit more. Here’s what each plan has to offer you:
Plus – 45+ channels
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- FS1
- FOX (select markets)
- NBC (select markets)
- CBS (select markets)
- ABC (select markets)
Max – 60+ channels
- Big Ten Network
- CBS Sports Network
- ESPN
- ESPN2
- ESPNews
- ESPNU
- FOX (select markets)
- NBC (select markets)
- CBS (select markets)
- ABC (select markets)
- FS1
- FS2
- SEC Network
Overall, AT&T TV NOW is a decent way to stream college football without cable TV. It’s more expensive than some options, however. For the best coverage you’ll want the Max plan, which is $70 a month – and not all that much cheaper than cable.
Click here to try AT&T TV NOW free for 7 days.
8. College Sports Live
College Sports Live (free trial) is an online streaming service dedicated to providing you with complete coverage of all college sports from 50 schools across the nation. This is a great service for people that follow smaller schools or just want a little extra coverage. The only catch is that it airs non-televised events, which means if your school is playing on ESPN, you can not stream it on College Sports Live.
Read our College Sports Live review for an in-depth look.
You can either pay $10 a month for College Sports Live or you can pay $100 for the entire year. If you love other college sports besides basketball, this is definitely worth a look. It’s far from a complete solution, though.
Can I Watch College Football Free with an Antenna?
One of the cornerstones of your cord-cutting college football setup is going to be the over-the-air antenna. With an OTA antenna, you will be able to pick ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX (although the networks you get will depend on where you live, and the quality of your antenna). OTA antennas are cheap, there are no monthly fees, and everything you watch will show up in 1080i HD.
Typically, you’re going to see a lot of prime time games airing on ABC and FOX. For your SEC fix, CBS is going to be your go-to destination; and for all things Notre Dame, NBC is where you want to be. Sometimes what you want to watch will depend on where you are and occasionally there will be blackouts, so be sure to check which game airs a few days prior to kickoff.
Here is a link to an article on NCAA.com that seems to keep a pretty good list of upcoming games, along with what channels they will air on.
Keep in mind that antennas ONLY cover games on NBC/FOX/CBS/ABC. For games airing on ESPN and all the other college football channels, you’ll need another option – find out more below.
Also, remember that antenna reception varies a lot depending on where you live. If you live near a major city, you’ll probably get most of the networks you want. If you’re more rural, you may find that you only get 1 or 2 of the major networks, if that. You can use online tools to get an idea of what channels you may pick up in your area.
Listen to College Football
If all else fails, and you just can’t find the game you’re looking for, or you are really strapped on cash then you might want to turn to the radio. Most games will have live audio coverage, and more often than not schools will stream the radio broadcast online on the team’s website.
How Long Is A College Football Game Live Stream
Barring that, you can always use online radio apps, such as TuneIn, to find local broadcasts of the team you’re looking for. TuneIn has one of the widest selections of terrestrial radio stations and best of all, its free.
You can search by location, language, topic, and more. It’s super easy to find everything and you don’t need an incredibly fast connection in order to stream. If you’ve got a little imagination, it’s the perfect penny-pinching cable TV alternative.
How to Watch College Football on Roku
Are you looking for a way to watch college football on Roku? Well you’re in luck – nearly every streaming service mentioned in this guide works on Roku. That means you can watch college football on Roku for free using free trials from Sling TV, fuboTV, Hulu, and more. Roku is considered “streaming service agnostic,” meaning it carries just about every service imaginable!
Watch Your Favorite College Team
Click your favorite team below for more specific info on how to stream their games.
Watching College Football Without Cable
Sometimes watching college football without cable can seem tricky, but with help from today’s guide, you should have no problem finding the game of your choice at a price you can afford to stomach.
If you need a quick recap, here’s my recommendation: Sign up for a streaming service like Sling TV (free 7-day trial) or Hulu with Live TV. This will give you most of the channels you need to watch tons of college football action, alongside other sports, news and entertainment. All these services are non-contract, so you can cancel at any time if it doesn’t work out.
What’s your favorite NCAA conference? SEC? Big Ten? Or maybe something a little smaller? Let us know in the comments below or sound off on social media! And don’t forget to catch your favorite talent as they show off their talent for the scouts in the NFL Combine.
How Long Is A College Football Game Live Feed
Want to watch college football online while also keeping up with NFL and XFL? See our guide on how to watch NFL games without cable and how to watch XFL online.
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Comments
comments
As commissioner, I will:
9. Work to lessen the length of games without fundamentally changing the sport.
College football fans cannot on agree on much. We disagree on what a 'pro-style offense' is or isn’t. We disagree on whether Hot Team A has played anybody. (Spoiler: they ain’t played nobody.) We disagree on whether the Big Ten is overrated or underrated. And we definitely disagree on what targeting is.
Here’s one thing all of us agree on: games are just ... too ... damn ... long.
College football games averaged nearly three and a half hours in 2016, and some went for nearly five hours. One game lasted so long, Mack Brown had to leave the announcer's booth on air. That’s absurd, and people have plenty of ideas on how to rectify that.
Some of those ideas are ridiculous. We’re not going to change quarter length from 15 minutes to 12. It seems unfair to reduce the number of replays in a game; if your officiating crew is having a bad night, saying 'just accept it' doesn’t work.
But there are a few changes I would make immediately.
1. Fewer/shorter commercial breaks.
Any discussion about game length has to start here. Modern games have up to five times as many minutes devoted to ads as they do to gameplay.
This is a tricky issue because live sports are just about the only sure thing for television companies at the moment, and you’re going to make important revenue from live events. Selling fewer ads likely means making less money in the short term.
In the long run, however, cutting back on ad time preserves your audience, ensuring people will still tune in (and watch ads) 10 years from now.
For bigger games, it’s possible that if you sold fewer ads, you could sell them each for more money. And if you could move a few commercials from in-game action to halftime, a la soccer, people wouldn’t complain about getting less halftime analysis. (And yes, that ad time is less valuable. There’s always an issue with ad revenue.)
Whatever can be done, needs to be done. Game lengths have increased by seven minutes in just three years. Lop off two commercial breaks, and you’re almost back to 2013 levels.
Of course, you could lop off a lot more than that if you were willing to advertise in a different way.
The most valuable franchise in sports is the Dallas Cowboys, but three of the top five are soccer teams: Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester United. The world’s most valuable sports franchises function and thrive on games broadcast without commercial interruption, and sponsored in large part by on-field advertising, subscription fees, and team sponsorships.
It’s not the preference of the NFL, sure. But it has been done, and done well, and done by successful sports franchises. The future of American football probably involves embracing things currently considered heretical to the NFL and its airtight branding. There will be sponsors on uniforms, and in-game advertising on the stands, and whatever else the leagues and their television partners can plaster onto a TV screen — if only because the attention spans of the audience will only get shorter, and their patience for enduring even the biggest and most coveted live sports broadcasts more scarce.
(And if we were to do that, we’d probably want to find a way for players to get a cut.)
2. The clock doesn’t stop for a first down until the last five minutes of a half.
This keeps end-of-half scenarios exciting. And there’s no reason for the clock to stop after a 10-yard run on the first play of the game.
(If you propose we also keep the clock running after incompletions before the last five minutes, I’m listening.)
3. Replays have a time limit.
I don’t want to limit the number of potential replays, but if the replay official hasn’t reached a decision after however many seconds, we rule it inconclusive and move on.
What else?
These could cut four to nine minutes per game by themselves — one to two fewer in-game commercial breaks would save three to six minutes, and a couple of shorter reviews would save one to three minutes — and that’s before we get to the harder-to-measure impact of adjusted clock rules.
And we didn’t even have to shrink the game clock.
Connelly for Commissioner
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