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".[1][2][3] 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.
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.[5] However, no Division I FBS members wound up playing in a Week 0 game in 2020.
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".[1][2][3] 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.
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.[5] However, no Division I FBS members wound up playing in a Week 0 game in 2020.