College football is, as always, an unusual sport.
How to stream college football in 2018, whether you’re cord-cutting or not
Also, our pick for the best cord-cutting service.
It doesn’t have a national version of MLB.tv or NBA League Pass, so fans can’t just pay a single flat fee and be done with it. And its games are spread around a million channels.
On another hand, every company that broadcasts college football games also lets you stream, and you can still see just about everything without cable.
First, if you still have cable/satellite, streaming almost every FBS game is likely easy.
You usually have to log in to these services via your cable account, unless you’ve cut the cord (more on that below).
- WatchESPN or the WatchESPN app: Anything on the many ESPN channels, SEC Network, ACC Network, Longhorn Network, and ABC.
- FOX Sports GO or the FOX Sports GO app: The games on regular FOX, FS1, or FS2, as well as some games on regional FOX networks.
- CBSSports.com: The week’s biggest SEC game, plus Army-Navy.
- CBS Sports HQ: Likely games on CBS Sports Network, the network’s smaller channel, but this is a new service and we’ll see how the network handles it.
- BTN2Go: Anything on the Big Ten Network.
- Pac-12 Networks Live: Anything on the Pac-12 Network.
Most of these services also have apps, ranging from the App Store to Google Play to Chromecast and various smart TVs and gaming consoles.
Without cable, you can still legally watch almost everything.
For between $35 and $40 a month, you could buy DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, or Sling and get access to most of the channels above (check exactly what’s available, because things change). You’d get the ability to watch a lot of games, including pretty much all the big ones, because those are on channels these services carry.
Some mid-major games are online-only but accessible for cable subscribers. If you’re a fan of one of those teams, be careful about relying on one of these products.
But which of these cord-cutting services is the best?
SBNation.com college football staffers who’ve tried various options pretty much unanimously prefer YouTube TV, though we’ve also tried Hulu, Sling, and others.
“I stream YouTube TV on my Xbox One, but if I need to leave the house during something I’m watching, it takes seconds to just throw that show or game over to my phone,” says college football editor Jason Kirk.
“With three devices, you can have three shows going at once. Everything is designed to work as you’d think it should. You can subscribe from any device to record any show or games involving any team, and your DVR works the same, no matter where you are.
“YouTube TV went out a couple times during the World Cup, so it’s not perfect, but I’ve never had any problems with it otherwise. I’ve also found no reason so far to upgrade our basic internet plan, even when someone else in the house is watching Netflix during a game or whatever.”
Sports has been a focus for the service. From The Verge’s YouTube TV review:
YouTube TV has placed a special emphasis on organizing [sports] content. You can select your favorite teams or leagues and the service will bundle these into folders so you can easily hop in and find recent matches. Once you let YouTube TV know your favorite league or team, it will also save all games to your DVR, no matter what channel it appears on. Since a lot of the experience is personalized around what you save and search for, YouTube TV offers six individually personalized accounts and three concurrent streams with your monthly subscription. That’s about the middle of the pack: Sony Vue offers five concurrent streams, DirecTV Now offers two, and Sling offers between one and four streams depending on the package you purchase.
There are some other players in the college streaming game now.
New in 2018, ESPN has its own premium streaming service, ESPN+. It costs $4.99 a month and affords you access to mostly mid-major games.
Periodically, mid-majors stream for free on Facebook or Stadium. If you already have ESPN but still need regional networks like Big Ten Network or Pac-12 Network, check out fuboTV. The streaming service offers a seven-day free trial and also comes with Fox, FS1, NBC and CBS.
The Group of 5 conferences and ones in FCS and Division II often have their own streaming services. Your team’s website probably has a link to some way to watch every game, even if it requires you to shell out a few dollars to Conference USA or whoever. Check your team’s schedule.
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