College Football Thanksgiving schedule 2023 covers the Egg Bowl match between Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs on November 23.
The annual Thanksgiving match between the Rebels and the Bulldogs was rejuvenated in 2021. They played at Starkville, where the Rebels clinched a 31-21 victory over their rivals.
The following year, the Bulldogs avenged their defeat by cruising over the victory line by a narrowest margin of 24-22.
The November 22, 2022, game was a thrilling contest where the Rebels nearly tied the match. In the dying moments of the fourth quarter, they scored a 23-yard passing touchdown to make the score 24-22.
They went for a 2-point conversion, but the trick pass was incomplete, costing them the match.
The 2023 contest will mark their twelfth encounter.
NCAA Games On Thanksgiving
College football Thanksgiving games for 2023 pits the Ole Miss Rebels against Mississippi State Bulldogs on the 23rd of November.
The FBS match will be played at the Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field, home of the Bulldogs. The Thursday Night Football will kick off at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Time. ESPN will broadcast the fixture in the United States.
It will be the Egg Bowl 2023, also known as the Batte of the Golden Egg. The ticket price starts at $38.01.
Likewise, the festive contest will pit Tuskegee Golden Tigers against the Alabama State Hornets. ASU Stadium will host the game.
ESPN+ will air the fixture from 3:00 p.m. ET onwards.
NFL Games 2023
Three games are scheduled for 2023 NFL Thanksgiving Day. At 12:30 p.m. ET, Detriot Lions will welcome the Green Bay Packers for the first game of the day.
Fox will air the game.
Likewise, the second game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., where the Washington Commanders will travel to play the Dallas Cowboys. It will be televised on CBS.
The final game is an 8:20 p.m. primetime game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. NBC will broadcast it nationally.
What College Teams Played In The First Thanksgiving Day Football Game?
College football teams Thanksgiving was first played between Yale and Princeton on the 30th of November, 1876. The match took place in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Yale emerged victorious with a 2-0 score. The playing condition was not ideal as the weather was cold and rainy, while the playing surface was hard and wet.
A leather oval-shaped ball was used during that period.
Around a thousand people gathered to watch the first college football Thanksgiving Day game.
The 1876 season was the seventh college football season. There were thirteen participating teams. They were:
- Yale
- Rutgers
- Harvard
- Princeton
- Stevens
- CCNY
- Penn
- Columbia
- Canada All-Stars
- McGill
- Northwestern
- Philadelphia All-Stars
- NYU
Yale was crowned the 1876 Nations Champions following a 3-0 record.
Walter Camp’s First Football Season
This season was monumental in college football history as Walter Camp played his first season as a Yale player.
Camp played in the halfback position for them from 1876 to 1881.
Walter is one of the most integral parts of American football, as he invented the line-of-scrimmage system of downs and published gridiron-related books and articles. Because of this, he is called the ‘Father of American Football.’
He won three national championships with Yale as a head coach. He coached his alma mater from 1888 to 1892.
After that, he was recruited as a head coach of Stanford University in 1892 and from 1894 to 1895.
History Of Football Thanksgiving
College Football Thanksgiving tradition took after the first Thanksgiving match of 1876. This November week marks the end of the regular season.
The matches between Michigan Wolverines and Chicago Maroons in the 1890s are credited for lifting up the annual Thanksgiving game tradition. This Day’s rivalry is called The Beginning of Thanksgiving Day Football.
Another famous matchup was between the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks. They first started the norm in 1892.
During the 1910s, they suspended these games following new conference rules. But, they revised it in 1916 and followed it through the 1940s.
Likewise, another historical rivalry was between the Case Tech Rough Riders and Western Reserve University Red Cats. They battled each other at the Cleveland Stadium every year on this festive November game from 1894 to 1953.
Turkey Day Classic
Alabama State Hornets and Tuskegee Golden Tigers played the annual Turkey Day Classic from 1924 to 2012. They played the last classic in 2016.
The Hornets and Tigers are historically black schools that first met in 1901. Their Turkey Day Classic is considered the oldest black college football classic.
This classic has transitioned to Thanksgiving weekend bowls between historically black schools, like the Celebration Bowl, Bayou Ball, and Labor Day Classic.
Ole Miss and Mississippi
Ole Miss Rebels and Mississippi State Bulldogs started playing each other on Thanksgiving Day in 1998. The tradition continued till 2003.
It is called the Battle of the Golden Egg. It resumed in 2017 and later till 2019.
They again revived the annual game in 2021 and will play their third consecutive fixture on November 23, 2023.
Ole Miss Football Thanksgiving has five wins in the Egg Bowl rivalry.
Mississippi Football Thanksgiving record is 5-5, with one vacated win in 2018.
Other notable Thanksgiving Weekend Rivalries
Other famous college football games that are played on the weekend following the Thanksgiving Day game are:
- The Iron Bowl: Auburn Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
- The Battle of the Golden Boot: Missouri Tigers vs. Arkansas Razorbacks
- Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate: Georgia Bulldogs vs. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Rumble in the Rockies: Colorado Buffaloes vs. Utah Utes
- Heroes Game: Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
- The Sunshine Showdown: Florida State Seminoles vs. Florida Gators
- The Palmetto Bowl: Clemson Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks
- The Governer’s Cup: Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Wildcats
- The Game: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines
- Duel in the Desert: Arizona Wildcats vs. Arizona State Sun Devils
- Paul Bunyan’s Axe: Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers
- North Carolina-NC State Football rivalry: North Carolina Tar Heels vs. NC State Wolfpack
College Football Thanksgiving Weekend 2023
2023 College Football Thanksgiving Weekend includes thirteen games on November 24 and forty nine matches on November 25.
Here is a complete list of FBS fixtures from the 2023 Weekend:
November 24, Friday
- Toledo Rockets at Central Michigan Chippewas
- TCU Horned Frogs at Oklahoma Sooners
- Ohio Bobcats at Akron Zips
- Miami Hurricanes at Boston College Eagles (ABC)
- Memphis Tigers at Temple Owls (ESPN)
- Iowa Hawkeyes at Nebraska Cornhuskers (CBS)
- Utah State Aggies at New Mexico Lobos (CBSSN)
- UTSA Roadrunners at Tulane Green Wave (ABC)
- Missouri Tigers at Arkansas Razorbacks (CBS)
- Air Force Falcons at Boise State Broncos (FS1)
- Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan State Spartans (NBC)
- Texas Tech Red Raiders at Texas Longhorns (ABC)
- Oregan State Beavers at Oregon Ducks (FOX)
November 25, Saturday
- James Madison Dukes at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Syracuse Orange
- Virginia Tech Hokies at Virginia Cavaliers
- Vanderbilt Commodores at Tennessee Volunteers
- North Carolina Tar Heels at NC State Wolfpack
- Kentucky Wildcats at Louisville Cardinals
- Alabama Crimson Tide at Auburn Tigers
- Georgia Bulldogs at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Connecticut Huskies at Massachusetts Minutemen
- Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at East Carolina Pirates
- Pittsburgh Panthers at Duke Blue Devils
- Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Wolverines (FOX)
- Northern Illinois Huskies at Kent State Golden Flashes
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Sam Houston Bearkats
- Miami (OH) Redhawks at Ball State Cardinals
- Maryland Terrapins at Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Kansas Jayhawks at Cincinnati Bearcats
- Indiana Hoosiers at Purdue Boilermakers
- Georgia State Panthers at Old Dominion Monarchs
- Georgia Southern Eagles at Appalachian State Mountaineers
- Florida State Seminoles at Florida Gators
- Clemson Tigers at South Carolina Gamecocks
- Charlotte 49ers at South Florida Bulls
- Arkansas State Red Wolves at Marshall Thundering Herd
- Houston Cougars at UCF Knights
- Iowa State Cyclones at Kansas State Wildcats
- Navy Midshipmen at SMU Mustangs
- Colorado Buffaloes at Utah Utes
- BYU Cougars at Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Florida Atlantic Owls at Rice Owls
- Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
- Northwestern Wildcats at Illinois Fighting Illini
- West Virginia Mountaineers at Baylor Bears
- Troy Trojans at Southern Miss Golden Eagles
- Texas A&M Aggies at LSU Tigers
- UAB Blazers at North Texas Mean Green
- Wisconsin Badgers at Minnesota Golden Gophers
- Arizona Wildcats at Arizona State Sun Devils
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at FIU Panthers
- Washington State Cougars at Washington Huskies
- San Jose State Spartans at UNLV Rebels
- South Alabama Jaguars at Texas State Bobcats
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Stanford Cardinals
- Fresno State Bulldogs at San Diego State Aztecs
- California Golden Bears at UCLA Bruins
- Liberty Flames at UTEP Miners
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks at New Mexico State Aggies
- Wyoming Cowboys at Nevada Wolf Pack
- Colorado State Rams at Hawaii Rainbow Warriors