No, your calendar isn’t broken: The college football season will kick off with almost a full week left in August, with the marquee matchup for Aug. 26 (“Week Zero”) featuring the U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Your GPS isn’t broken, either: The teams will square off in Dublin for just the third time in the history of the nearly century-old rivalry. Their 96th meeting will launch a 2023 service academy football slate that begins in earnest come September.

Haven’t been paying attention in the offseason and looking to catch up? Here’s a quick cheat sheet, complete with links to more detailed information for the super-fans (or those who serve, work, or live with super-fans and want to keep pace).

The Openers

• Navy and Notre Dame will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 26 from a sold-out Aviva Stadium (NBC-TV, streaming on Peacock). It’s the earliest start for a Navy football season in school history, and it’ll be the longest regular season in college football this year. More on that below.
  
  
• The U.S. Air Force Academy is up next, hosting Robert Morris University on Sept. 2 at 1 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Mountain). The game will air on the regional Altitude Sports network; Robert Morris, located outside Pittsburgh, began fielding a football team in 1994 and has never defeated a top-tier (Football Bowl Subdivision, or FBS) opponent.
  
  
• The U.S. Military Academy Black Knights visit University of Louisiana-Monroe at 7 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 2, with the game airing on NFL Network. Army has played ULM twice since 2020, winning both games.

What’s New

• New Coach: Brian Newberry moves into the top job at Navy after spending the last four years as the school’s defensive coordinator. A win over the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish would make him the first coach in school history to debut with a victory over a ranked opponent.
  
  
• New Offense: Army will dump its option offense attack this season, a move Sports Illustrated called “perhaps the largest stylistic shift in modern college football history.” This means fans can expect more of a passing attack – the Black Knights completed 42 passes all season last year, while more than a dozen FBS teams averaged 25 or more completions a game.
  
  
• New Faces: Air Force has back-to-back 10-win seasons but enters 2023 without five of its top six rushers, including quarterback Brad Roberts, who led the FBS with 1,728 rushing yards.

Ready for Rivalries?

• Air Force visits Annapolis, Md., to take on the Midshipmen on Oct. 21 in the first Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy showdown of 2023. The noon kickoff will air on CBS (streaming on Paramount+), and the Falcons will sport uniforms paying tribute to the Doolittle Raiders.
  
  
• Three weeks later, Air Force hosts Army at Denver’s Empower Field (home of the NFL’s Broncos). The 2:30 p.m. Eastern (12:30 p.m. Mountain) game will air on CBS Sports Network and will mark the third off-campus showdown for the rivals in as many years – the teams split the last two meetings in Arlington, Texas.
  
  
• Don’t skip the Secretaries Cup: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy hosts the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Nov. 11 in the regular season finale for both schools. The home team has lost the last four rivalry contests; could a new look bring a different result?
  
  
• A scant 105 days after facing Notre Dame in Dublin, Navy will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. (home of the NFL’s New England Patriots) to face Army for the 124th time since 1890 (3 p.m. Eastern, CBS, Paramount+). The Black Knights won in double overtime last year. It’s the first time New England has hosted the rivalry contest, which will make future stops in the NFL homes of the Washington Commanders (2024), Baltimore Ravens (2025), New York Giants/Jets (2026), and Philadelphia Eagles (2027).

Link Up

Some questions, answers, and useful links for the more-than-casual fan, including:

• Could the service academies be part of the next wave in NCAA conference realignment? Not without the luck (and influence) of the Irish. But don’t hold your breath.
  
  
• Will that be cash or charge? Air Force fans, your money is no good here.
  
  
• Where can I get the latest Navy news? Midshipmen fans can keep up via a new podcast featuring a familiar radio voice and a longtime local sports reporter.
  
  
• What channel is that game on, again? Finding the games this season may require a few more remote control clicks than usual – fans would need access to at least a half-dozen different networks just to watch Army, Navy, and Air Force play through September. Bookmark each school’s schedule page at the previous links to keep tabs on TV and streaming options, plus any late changes to kickoff times.
  
  
• Are any of the academies fielding the best college football team in their respective state? Maybe.
  
  
• I’d rather skip the on-field action and learn more about the mascots. Can MOAA help? Definitely.