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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Bryan Flynn

College football and the NFL are back. World, see you in February—after the Super Bowl—or when my daughter is born.

Thursday, Sept 6

College football (7-10 p.m. ESPN): The Cincinnati Bearcats host the Pittsburgh Panthers. This matchup lost a lot of shine after Youngstown State beat Pitt.

Friday, Sept 7

College football (7-10 p.m. ESPN 2): Utah might have moved to the Pac-12, but the Utes are hitting the road to face Utah State out the WAC.

Saturday, Sept 8

College football (11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ESPN): Mississippi State, after beating JSU last week, begins SEC play hosting the Auburn Tigers. … College football (6-9 p.m. Fox Sports South): Ole Miss looks to keep winning to start the Hugh Freeze era against the UTEP Miners at home.

Sunday, Sept 9

NFL (noon-3 p.m. Fox): Second overall pick Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins take on the New Orleans Saints in the rowdy Superdome.

Monday, Sept 10

NFL (6 p.m.-midnight ESPN): It’s a double header starting with the Cincinnati Bengals at the Baltimore Ravens and the ending with the San Diego Chargers at the Oakland Raiders.

Tuesday, Sept 11

Soccer (7-9 p.m. ESPN 2): U.S. Men’s National Soccer team faces Jamaica in a World Cup qualifying match.

Wednesday, Sept 12

WNBA (6-8 p.m. ESPN 2): As the WNBA season begins to reach the end, the Seattle Storm need a win to reach the playoffs as they face the Indiana Fever, one the top WNBA teams.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.