Thanksgiving weekend is a football fan's dream.
The NFL has firmly implanted itself into Thanksgiving for decades, with three games now on the holiday schedule. And Thursday is followed by two full days of college football rivalry games before the NFL returns Sunday. The NFL is making its mark on Black Friday, as well, this year, giving fans even more options over the holiday weekend.
The earliest Thanksgiving football traditions, however, began at the collegiate level. For fans looking for college football on Thanksgiving this year, there still is an option.
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Here's a look at the college football schedule on Thanksgiving.
Are there any college football games on today?
There is one FBS game scheduled for Thanksgiving: Ole Miss will host Mississippi State in the "Egg Bowl," a rivalry game that has been played since 1901.
While the Egg Bowl is a tradition more than a century old, it's only been played on Thanksgiving 31 times, according to Ole Miss. This will be the sixth Egg Bowl played on Thanksgiving in the last seven years, excluding the pandemic-laden 2020 season, and the drama that has played out in recent years might be a sign that it should stay in the Thanksgiving slot.
The 2018 edition was defined by a brawl that resulted in four ejections, while 2019 took the hilarity a step further when a penalty on Elijah Moore for a bizarre end-zone celebration allowed Mississippi State to claim a win. Both head coaches from that game, Matt Luke and Joe Moorhead, were fired after the season.
The Rebels and Bulldogs played a fun game last year, resulting in Mike Leach's first Egg Bowl win less than three weeks before his death. Much has changed for Mississippi State entering this year's game -- Leach's replacement, Zach Arnett, has already been fired -- but the competitiveness is always at its peak when these two programs meet.
MORE: Where the Egg Bowl got its name
Thanksgiving college football schedule 2023
| Date | Game | Time (ET) | TV channel | Live stream |
| Nov. 23 | Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN | ESPN+, Fubo |
The Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. ESPN will broadcast the game, with Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic on the call from Starkville, Miss.
Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State will be the only college football game on the Thanksgiving schedule, though it will be competing against the NFL's prime-time matchup between the 49ers and Seahawks for much of the night.
Fortunately for college football fans, the Black Friday schedule is much more dense, with 13 FBS games on tap including some bitter rivalry matchups. The Egg Bowl will get the action started after the turkey has been eaten.
First college football game on Thanksgiving
College football defines the Thanksgiving weekend, with numerous rivalry games played in the days that follow the holiday. College football on Thanksgiving Day hasn't been quite as common as college football on Black Friday, but there is a history of games being played on turkey day itself.
Long before the NFL existed, Yale and Princeton played the first Thanksgiving college football game in 1876. Yale won 2-0 in rainy conditions, with about 1,000 fans in attendance.
The game was played just seven years after the first college football game in history, and it led to a few brief Thanksgiving traditions within the sport. Kansas and Missouri played on Thanksgiving each year from 1892-1910, while Michigan played 19 Thanksgiving games in a span of 21 years from 1885-1905.
At the FCS level, Alabama State has a Thanksgiving tradition against Division II Tuskegee. The two played each Thanksgiving from 1924-2012 and resumed the tradition in 2016.
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The Egg Bowl isn't an annual Thanksgiving tradition, but it does have a lengthy history on the holiday. Interestingly, it's not confirmed when the first Thanksgiving Egg Bowl was played. The Clarion-Ledger says it's "likely" the first holiday Egg Bowl was played in 1905, and Ole Miss' estimate of 31 Thanksgiving Egg Bowls is just that -- an estimate. The two schools reportedly have conflicting dates listed for some of the earliest Egg Bowls.
The only conflict this year will be on the field as Mississippi State looks to salvage a disappointing season by knocking off its biggest rival.
