No single day in the year is as synonymous with football as Turkey Day, and boy, we have a mouth-watering triple-header of games on deck this Thanksgiving.
The action starts at 12:30 p.m. ET and continues through the late night hours with college football action in the Egg Bowl and the clash of the titans in college basketball thrown into the mix.
The action does not stop there, as we’ll enjoy the first-ever NFL game on Black Friday and more fantastic NFL, NCAAF, and NCAAB games throughout the weekend.
Below, we break down the entire schedule for you, highlighting all games’ exact times and TV channels, along with some of our top betting picks at US sportsbooks. Sit comfortably on your sofa, keep your remote nearby, and enjoy the thrilling Thanksgiving weekend action.
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Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions — Thanksgiving Day
- Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Channel: FOX
- Halftime Show: Jack Harlow
- Importance: DET seeking the top seed in the NFC
- Best Pick: Lions -7.5 (-110) with DraftKings
The Lions will hope for a replay of the game played earlier in the season when they managed a rather comprehensive victory over Green Bay at Lambeau Field. Detroit means business this year. They are 7-2 after 10 weeks and enter the Thanksgiving tie as clear favorites. FOX will air the game in which Amon-Ra St. Brown should bully the leaky Packers’ defense, as we can hardly see anything but a straightforward win for the hosts. Rap superstar Jack Harlow will perform at the Halftime Show.
Washington Commanders vs. Dallas Cowboys — Thanksgiving Day
- Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
- Channel: CBS
- Halftime Show: Dolly Parton
- Importance: DAL, chasing the NFL title, WAS in the mix for a wild card spot
- Best Pick: Commanders +9.5 (-110) with BetMGM
Dallas Cowboys maintained their perfect home record, outscoring New York Giants 49-17 in Week 10. They are now 4-0 at AT&T Stadium and are huge favorites (9.5 points) in the Thanksgiving encounter with NFC East rivals Washington Commanders. It would take something spectacular to happen for the Commanders to pull off an upset in Arlington, but we like them to win in +9.5 points, considering the spread is too high at the moment. Washington has already shown strength by managing three wins on the road this year. The halftime show is reserved for global icon Dolly Parton while CBS secures the live coverage.
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San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks — Thanksgiving Day
- Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
- Channel: NBC
- Halftime Show: Steve Aoki
- Importance: NFC West title potentially on the stake
- Best Pick: 49ers -3.5 (-110) with DraftKings
A massive NFC West encounter between the top two teams in the division will complete this fantastic slate in the main event of the Thanksgiving Day at Lumen Field. The 49ers head into it as the favorites for a good reason. They snapped a three-loss thread with a statement victory at Jacksonville, while the Seahawks revealed all their flaws in the recent 3-37 disaster against the Baltimore Ravens. Either way, we are surely in for a spectacular contest and a spectacular Halftime Show led by world-renowned DJ Steve Aoki. You can watch it all live on ABC.
Learn all you need to know about betting on football in our complete guide to NFL Betting.
Big College Basketball Action on Thanksgiving
On top of the three main events in the NFL, Turkey Day brings us some very interesting matchups in college sports. The clash between traditional heavyweights Michigan State and Arizona highlights the rich NCAA basketball schedule. A potential March Madness matchup tips off at 3 p.m. ET. You can watch it live on FOX, straight after the Packers vs. Lions game in the NFL.
College basketball fans will also enjoy a very interesting 2023 ESPN Events Invitational tournament. Six of eight teams in the competition made it to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, including FAU, which has gone all the way to the final four. The event also features a legit Top 15 team, Texas A&M, meaning we should be in for exciting four days of holiday hoops in Orlando, Florida. Here is the full schedule for the first day of the tournament (Thanksgiving), including exact times and TV coverage:
- 12 p.m. Penn State vs. Texas A&M — ESPN
- 2:30 p.m. Florida Atlantic vs. Butler — ESPN2
- 5:30 p.m. Iowa State vs. VCU — ESPN2
- 8 p.m. Boise State vs. Virginia Tech — ESPN2 or ESPNU
The winners will advance to the semifinals, while the losers will lock horns in consolation games, all scheduled for Black Friday. The championship game tips off on Sunday, November 26, at 1 p.m. with live coverage from ESPN. Both semifinals will be aired on ESPN2.
Learn More: Holiday Hoops: Best Basketball Thanksgiving Betting Predictions
College Football Celebrate the Holiday with the Rivalry Weekend
The rivalry weekend in college football starts with an Egg Bowl classic between Mississippi and Mississippi State. The game begins at 7:30 p.m. ET; you can watch it live on ESPN. The rivalry dates back to 1901, and the Rebels will chase revenge for last year’s narrow defeat (22-24) after the unsuccessful two-point conversion.
Black Friday brings us the last clash between Oregon State and Oregon as conference rivals since the Ducks are bound to move to the Big Ten next year. Oregon has an imperative to get the win to stay in contention for the College Football Playoff. FOX will air the game with the kickoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
We will highlight two more must-see games on Saturday. The first is “The Game,” as Ohio State and Michigan take on each other on Saturday at noon, with the winning team bound to win the Big Ten Conference and lock in the College Football Playoff spot. You can watch “The Game” live on FOX.
The other clash you should not miss out on is between Northwestern and Illinois. The Fighting Illini celebrated a demolishing 41-3 victory in this matchup last year. However, they’ll face hard times repeating such a performance based on everything we’ve seen from the two sides in the season. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET with coverage secured by Big Ten Network.
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The First Black Friday Game in the NFL History
We will conclude the article with the inaugural Black Friday game in the history of the NFL as the New York Jets host the Miami Dolphins in the big AFC East matchup at MetLife Stadium. The Dolphins enter the tie as the favorites, but they’ve struggled to translate the impeccable home form on travels this year, losing three of five away games. Could the Jets give them a game on Friday? The fans will make noise, the hype will be there, and we’d not be shocked to see an upset. The value is with the Jets to win in +6 points at -110 odds with DraftKings.
You should have enough time to do the Black Friday shopping and return home just before the kickoff at 3 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime.
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