The 2017 college football season is finally here! College football teams around the country have been working hard since last year; which saw Clemson defeat Alabama in a thrilling National Championship game. The slate is clean this year, and teams are ready to compete for the third College Football National Championship trophy. The season kicked-off Thursday night with several teams in action, and the Labor Day Weekend fun keeps going with a full slate of college football games on Saturday. If you enjoy college football, this weekend will deliver on all the action you’ve been craving for months!
2017 College Football Saturday
Saturday is the perfect time to get your college football fix. The primetime matchup will give you #3 Florida State vs #1 Alabama at the Mercedes Benz Stadium (not to be confused with the Mercedes Benz Superdome) in Atlanta. This game could be a preview of the National Championship game according to some analyst. Other nationally televised games include #11 Michigan vs #17 Florida on Saturday, and #22 West Virginia vs #21 Virginia Tech on Sunday.
Sun Belt and Conference USA
The two teams that will compete in the 2017 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will again come from the Sun Belt and Conference USA. Last year, Southern Miss (Conference USA) defeated Louisiana Lafayette (Sun Belt). To kick off the 2017 season, 4 games in the Sun Belt Conference and 1 game in Conference USA were played on Thursday night. On Saturday, two Sun Belt teams and one CUSA team will play nationally ranked opponents. Georgia Southern will play #12 Auburn and Appalachian State will play #15 Georgia. UTEP will play #7 Oklahoma. You can view both the Sun Belt and Conference USA full schedules to see what time each team will play on Saturday.
2017 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
This year, the R+L Bowl game will be on Saturday, December 16 and televised on ESPN and ESPN Radio. Who will join us in New Orleans? Anything can happen during the season, but according to preseason rankings Appalachian State is picked to win the Sun Belt and Western Kentucky is picked to win its third straight outright league title in Conference USA. Appalachian State returns 13 of 22 starters on offense and defense, which should give them an edge in conference play. Troy, Arkansas State, South Alabama, and UL Lafayette round out the top 5 in the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky is returning several key players on offense and defense, including preseason offensive player of the year QB Mike White and preseason all conference DB Joe Brown. Louisiana Tech, the University of Texas at San Antonio, Middle Tennessee, and Old Dominion rounded out the top 5 according to who received the most first place votes in the conference.
The R+L Carriers Fan Zone and the official R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl website will be periodically bringing you updates leading up to the R+L Bowl. Tweet us @RLCarriers and use #RLBowl to interact with us throughout the season.
