How To Watch NCAA Football From Anywhere

If you’re worried you won’t be able to watch your favorite NCAA team, a virtual private network (VPN), can get you the pick 6 that you need. A VPN masks your IP address and changes how your location appears, giving you access to geo-restricted content.

No matter what college football team you’re cheering for, there’s nothing worse than not being able to watch the games because of location blackouts or because you’re out of the country. Just because you’re traveling, you don’t have to miss out on the Red River Showdown between Oklahoma University and the University of Texas or one of the ultimate college football rivalries: Michigan versus Ohio State.

Before college football kicks off, make sure you have one of the best VPN apps installed so that you’re ready to follow your favorite team all the way to the College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship.

How to watch NCAA football from anywhere

If you want to spend every weekend focused on college football, you need to make sure you have a few things ready to go. And we’re not talking about snacks.

First, you’ll need a subscription to a streaming or TV provider that airs your favorite team’s games. Next, you’ll want to install a VPN in case you need to access geo-restricted content.

There are several different streaming platforms that show college football all season long. And there is also a variety of VPNs that can help you gain access. The right streaming service and an effective VPN are the Joe Montana and Jerry Rice of watching college football anywhere.

Hulu + Live TV

One of the easiest ways to livestream all your favorite teams this year is with Hulu + Live TV. Not only do you get access to Hulu and live TV, you also get access to ESPN+ and Disney+. Hulu + Live TV costs $69.99/mo at the time of writing.

If that’s too pricey for you, there are several different ways to mix and match streaming services with Hulu. You can subscribe to Hulu’s Disney Bundle Trio Basic, which gives you access to Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ for about $13.00/mo. The Trio Premium plan removes ads from Hulu and Disney+ for about $20.00/mo. (No matter which plan you choose with Hulu, you can’t eliminate ads on ESPN+.)

ESPN Plus

ESPN+ gives you access to more than 25 conferences, including the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, and the Big 12 Conference. An ESPN+ subscription costs about $10.00/mo.

Sling TV

Another way to catch all of your favorite NCAA college football games is with Sling TV. Sling TV has several different streaming packages, but its Sling Orange package gives you access to ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3.

At the time of writing, Sling Orange costs $40 per month, but Sling TV offers the first month for $15. You can also grab the Sports Extra add-on for about $11.00/mo extra. Sports Extra comes with 14 additional channels including PAC-12 Network, ESPNU, and ESPNews — and you can even watch matchups for other sports on NBA TV, MLB Network, and NHL Network.

DIRECTV Stream

If you want to watch all of the SEC conference games this season, one option is to use DIRECTV Stream. With DIRECTV’s Choice package, you can access the ACC Network, Big Ten Network, and SEC Network. The Choice package is about $85.00/mo for the first 24 months.

DIRECTV’s Ultimate package also gives you access to college football games but costs about $110.00/mo.

fuboTV

fuboTV is another great option if you’re looking to watch various college football games this season. fuboTV’s Pro, Elite, and Premier plans include many college football conference games. These game selections are dependent on which market you’re logging in from, so you may need to use a VPN service to access content around the nation.

The fuboTV website makes it easy to find out which college football conference is showing on which channels and with what fuboTV plans.

Here’s the most recent pricing for the fuboTV plans to give you access to college football this year:

• Pro: $74.99/mo
• Elite: $84.99/mo
• Premier: $94.99/mo

YouTube TV

YouTube TV is another great way to watch college football and other live sports. If you’re looking for an option to keep up on college and professional football, you can also access NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV. It also includes NFL Live and College Football Live, among dozens of other sports networks.

With YouTube TV you can access local channels as well as stations like ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN U. YouTube TV also gives you access to the NFL Network, and costs about $73.00/mo.

NBC or Peacock

Don’t miss a single game of the Fighting Irish with Peacock or NBC. Peacock has all of Notre Dame’s games for the 2023 season. All games, except against Central Michigan, will also be available on NBC. You can snag a monthly subscription to Peacock for only $4.99 a month, while NBC is usually offered in cable TV packages.

Big Ten Network or FOX Sports

You can access live NCAA college football games with Fox Sports or the Big Ten Network. But since the Big Ten Network is now part of Fox Sports, you’ll need to download the Fox Sports app to stream these games.

If you’re trying to access non-televised games, you can find those on B1G+. To access Fox Sports, you can sign in with your TV provider or create a Fox Sports account. The Fox Sports app is free to download, but to access live games you’ll need a TV subscription.

If you pay for DIRECTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Sling, or YouTubeTV, you can use those accounts to access Fox Sports.

Why do you need a VPN to stream college football?

During college football season in the fall, there are also a lot of other events happening. You can’t be at your favorite tailgate for every game. If you’re traveling, a VPN can change the location of your IP address so that, from the internet’s perspective, you’re still in your favorite recliner at home cheering for your team.

Since many college football games are aired in specific locations, you may need to use a VPN to connect to a server closer to the game to access the play-by-play. Let’s say you’re traveling on the East Coast, and you want to access a PAC-12 Network game that’s only available on the West Coast. You can use a VPN provider like NordVPN or ExpressVPN to connect to a server in Los Angeles or Salt Lake City to access the game that was available only in local markets.

VPNs are also beneficial for keeping your internet activity encrypted. With a VPN, your internet service provider (ISP) can’t track your bandwidth usage or limit your activity based on network restrictions. VPNs are also valuable if you’re using public Wi-Fi and protecting your internet traffic, passwords, and other personally identifiable information from hackers.

5 best VPNs for watching NCAA football

You’ll be able to access even more college football games with the help of a VPN. If you’re traveling outside of the country, or you can’t find a game in your area, a VPN allows you to change how your location appears. For example, even though you might be in Salt Lake City, your VPN provider can connect you to a server in Miami to give you access to different channels and games.

Each of these VPNs offers at least a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you sign up and don’t like the solution, you can easily get a refund.

Here are the five best VPNs for watching college football this fall:

5 best VPNs for watching college football:

VPN	Price range	Streaming services	Learn more
NordVPN	$2.99–$17.99/mo	Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN+, fuboTV, YouTube TV	View Plans
ExpressVPN	$4.99–$12.95/mo	Hulu, ESPN+, fuboTV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV Stream	View Plans
Surfshark	$1.99–$17.95/mo	Hulu, ESPN+, fuboTV, YouTube TV	View Plans
CyberGhost	$2.03–$6.99/mo	Hulu, fuboTV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV Stream, Fox TV	View Plans
Private Internet Access	$2.03–$11.99/mo	Hulu, ESPN+, fuboTV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV Stream, Sling TV, Peacock	View Plans

1. NordVPN

NordVPN is an easy-to-use VPN with various plans to fit your needs. Its cheapest plan, Standard, gives you full access to its VPN, while Plus and Complete give you additional features such as NordPass, a password management tool, and NordLocker, a secure file storage solution. (Both come highly recommended by our team of experts.)

NordVPN costs $2.99/mo (billed every two years) for the Standard plan if you pay for a 2-year subscription, while a month-to-month subscription costs $12.99/mo. You can connect up to 10 devices at a time on your NordVPN account, so if everyone wants to watch different games or check scores, you can do that.

Streaming services that NordVPN unblocks

• Hulu
• Amazon Prime Video
• ESPN+
• fuboTV
• YouTube TV

Get NordVPN | Read Our NordVPN Review

2. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is another great solution if you’re looking for a VPN to watch college football. One of the things that sets ExpressVPN apart from others is the Lightway protocol. A VPN protocol defines how data is transmitted within the VPN. ExpressVPN’s Lightway protocol improves overall speeds and uses less battery power than other VPNs.

On the other hand, ExpressVPN is more expensive than some of the other VPN solutions. A month-to-month subscription costs $12.95/mo. However, if you commit to a 12-month contract, you can get ExpressVPN for $6.25/mo (billed annually). ExpressVPN currently also offers 3 additional months for free if you sign up for a year.

ExpressVPN allows 8 devices to be connected at a time.

Streaming services that ExpressVPN unblocks

• Hulu
• ESPN+
• fuboTV
• YouTube TV
• DIRECTV Stream

Get ExpressVPN | Read Our ExpressVPN Review

3. Surfshark

One of Surfshark’s benefits is that the VPN service doesn’t have a limit on connected devices. Maybe there are multiple games airing simultaneously and you want to stream them all from different devices — Surfshark won’t limit you from doing that.

Surfshark also offers additional products on top of its VPN service, including Surfshark Antivirus, a private search browser, and a data leak monitor.

For the best deal, you’ll want to sign up for Surfshark’s 24-month subscription for $1.99/mo (billed every two years). You get 1 free month with SurfShark’s 24-month plan. A 1-month subscription costs $3.99/mo (billed every two years).

Streaming services that Surfshark unblocks

• Hulu
• ESPN+
• fuboTV
• YouTube TV

Get Surfshark | Read Our Surfshark Review

4. CyberGhost

CyberGhost is an easy-to-use VPN that allows you to find servers optimized for your needs quickly. If you’re looking to stream a game on Hulu or YouTube, CyberGhost shows you which servers are best for streaming from those platforms.

CyberGhost allows you to connect up to 7 devices on one subscription and has servers in 100 countries around the world. CyberGhost also gives you free ID Guard monitoring so that you’re informed about email or password breaches.

To get CyberGhost on your team, you’ll pay $2.03/mo (billed every two years) for 2 years or you can purchase a month-to-month subscription for $12.99/mo.

Streaming services that CyberGhost unblocks

• Hulu
• fuboTV
• YouTube TV
• DIRECTV Stream
• Fox TV

Get CyberGhost | Read Our CyberGhost Review

5. Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access or PIA is our final pick for watching college football with a VPN. PIA offers VPN access on unlimited devices and is also the least expensive VPN out of the five. You can get a monthly subscription for $1.45/mo + cost of VPN or, if you want to pay for 3 years upfront, you can get a 3-year plan for $2.03/mo (billed every two years).

One thing that sets PIA apart from other VPNs is that the solution is completely open source. An open-source solution like PIA can be inspected by third parties and outside developers to help find any security flaws or potential hacks.

Streaming services that PIA unblocks

• Hulu
• ESPN+
• fuboTV
• DIRECTV Stream
• YouTube TV
• Sling TV
• Peacock

Get PIA | Read Our PIA Review

How to watch college football online FAQs

Bottom line

Get your streaming game plan figured out before kickoff this year by combining a VPN and streaming platform. No matter what team you’re cheering on, you can access live coverage of games this season.

If a game isn’t available in your local market, you can connect to one of the best streaming VPNs and find a server closer to the game to give you access.

Depending on which team you cheer for, you may need to use a different streaming platform for full access. YouTube TV and Hulu + Live TV are great options that give you access to a variety of games, and you can also check ESPN+, DIRECTV Stream, fuboTV, and Sling TV to see if your games air there.