The SMU Mustangs face the Nevada Wolf Pack as the college football season gets underway with this Week 1 showdown taking place in Reno today. This game kicks off at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MST) on Saturday, August 24 with a live broadcast on CBS Sports Network, and streaming live on demand.
• WATCH: Nevada vs. SMU live for FREE with Fubo (free trial) or with DirecTV Stream, or see more streaming options below.
When: Kickoff takes place at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET (6 p.m. MST) on Saturday, August 24
Where: Mackay Stadium | Reno, Nevada
TV Channel: CBS Sports Network (CBSSN)
How to watch live stream online: If you don’t have cable, you can still watch this game live for FREE with Fubo (free trial). You can also watch with DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have cable, you can also watch this game live on CBS Sports Network with your cable or satellite provider login information.
You can find out more about which channel CBSSN is on in your area by using the channel finders here: Comcast Xfinity, DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice.
Moneyline: SMU: -4000 | NEV: +1600
Point spread: SMU: -27 | NEV: +27
Over/Under: 55.5
Believe it or not, the college football season begins today – Saturday, Aug. 24. There are a handful of games that make up “Week 0,” including a meeting between the SMU Mustangs and the Nevada Wolf Pack. Kickoff at Mackay Stadium is slated for 8 p.m., with CBS Sports Network televising the matchup.
SMU is entering its first season as an ACC program. The Mustangs were previously in Conference USA. Led by coach Rhett Lashlee, SMU is coming off an 11-win campaign.
Coach Jeff Choate is entering his first season at the helm for Nevada. After previously serving as a co-defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Texas, Choate inherits a program coming off a 2-10 season.
Here’s more details on how you can watch:
SMU coach Rhett Lashlee knows the Mustangs didn’t get any preseason first-place votes for their debut in the Atlantic Coast Conference, nor does he think they should have.
The school is coming off its first league championship since the Pony Express days, in 1984, a boost that should help the Mustangs in their return to a power conference.
Well aware of what’s in store with a week-to-week rhythm that will be more much challenging than the American Athletic Conference, Lashlee is confident just the same.
“We have a new challenge in front of us, and we haven’t done anything,” Lashlee said. “In a good way, yeah, it feels different, but not like everybody is kind of tight. We’re going to find out where we stand. We don’t know. I like our guys, and I’m excited to watch them get to compete with this schedule.”
After the breakup of the Southwest Conference following the 1995 season, SMU bounced across three leagues over the next 28 years, the last 11 in the AAC, capped by a victory in the conference championship game.
Quarterback Preston Stone grew up in Dallas, and his dad went to SMU. He is well aware of the painful past that included the shutdown of the program in 1987 over recruiting violations, the only time the NCAA used the so-called death penalty.
Now Stone is under center for the opening of the era that will put those painful memories to rest for good.
“Obviously, I didn’t live through the glory days,” Stone said. “But I’ve known about the Eric Dickerson, Craig James, Lance McIlhenney days since I was a little kid. It’s really cool how we’re making our way back to that.”
