What is Week 0? Why some college football teams can start 2024 season a week early

Saturday marks the unofficial start of the 2024 college football season , although most teams across the FBS landscape won't be in action.

Saturday's schedule — headlined by No. 10 Florida State vs. Georgia Tech in Dublin — marks the first day of college football for the year. It will only include a select few games, however, as most teams will start their respective seasons during Week 1 over the Labor Day weekend.

REQUIRED READING: College football Week 0 breakdown starts with Florida State-Georgia Tech clash

As such, the technical first weekend of college football is called "Week 0" — and has had some intriguing matchups over the years. That includes the Big Ten meeting between Nebraska and Northwestern in 2022 and the historical Notre Dame-Navy rivalry in 2023. Both of those games were also in Dublin, which has become something of a traditional host site for such contests.

With that, here's everything to know about Week 0, which will have the first college football action of the 2024 season:

What is college football Week 0?

Week 0 is the unofficial first week of college football, and typically hosts only a handful of games as opposed to a full schedule. The vast majority of teams open their season in Week 1 over Labor Day weekend.

Indeed, NCAA Rule 17.11.4 states the earliest a college football team can scrimmage or play an outside opponent is the Thursday before Labor Day (which in 2024 falls on Aug. 29). So how then are Florida State, Georgia Tech and others able to play on Saturday?

The NCAA has a few exceptions to the rule, including the 17.11.4.3 exception, regarding in-season foreign competition. Per the NCAA:

" An institution that is scheduled to play a regular-season game in a foreign country may play its first permissible contest with outside competition on the Saturday prior to the Thursday preceding Labor Day. An institution that uses this exception must provide its student-athletes with five additional days off from all countable athletically related activities during the institution's declared playing season. "

Week 0 games don't count as an extra game on each team's schedule, as they'll make up for the early week with an extra week off during the season. For example, Florida State still plays 12 regular season games, but will have three weeks off on Sept. 7, Oct. 12 and Nov. 16.

REQUIRED READING: College football Week 0 kicks off and we're also talking College Football Playoff this week

That still leaves three other games on Saturday that don't fall under the foreign competition exception: Montana State at New Mexico; SMU at Nevada; and Delaware State at Hawaii, all of which will be played in the U.S.

Each of those teams is able to compete in Week 0 thanks to the 17.11.4.1 exception, which pertains to teams that compete in Hawaii in a given season:

"An institution that is scheduled to play a regular-season game in Hawaii may play its first permissible contest with outside competition on the Saturday prior to the Thursday preceding Labor Day. If the institution's first opponent of the season is not a member institution located in Hawaii, the institution’s first opponent of the season may also play its first contest (game or scrimmage) with outside competition on the Saturday prior to the Thursday preceding Labor Day."

Aside from Delaware State — which is playing at the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday — both Nevada (Oct. 26) and New Mexico (Nov. 30) are scheduled to play at Hawaii in 2024, allowing them and their opponents to play in Week 0.

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Week 0 college football schedule

Here's the schedule for Week 0 of the 2024 college football season:

All times Eastern

• No. 10 Florida State at Georgia Tech (Dublin) | Noon | ESPN (Fubo)
• Montana State at New Mexico | 4 p.m. | Fox Sports 1 (Fubo)
• SMU at Nevada | 8 p.m. | CBS Sports Network (Fubo)
• Delaware State at Hawaii | 11:59 p.m.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is Week 0? Why some college football teams can start 2024 season a week early