When is it college football/basketball season?

[S.o.a.r.]

This topic ties in with my upcoming California trip in seven months (!) which takes me by San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. It will be my third time in both SF and LA, so I really wanna see a college football game this time but I'm really unsure on when it's football season. I'll be going in January, so will I be able to watch a football and/or basketball game in any of these cities? I mostly wanna watch games in both SF and LA because I'm in awe of their universities. 

[Harmonie]

Hm... I think college football is pretty much wrapped up by January. Although, I think that there are some bowl games in early January, and some bowl games do take place in southern California.

EDIT: I missed you saying basketball for some reason. Basketball season is definitely on during January, you should be able to find something.

[kaoskat]

I.........have no idea........

[archidraca]

You'll likely have to do basketball as college football is all tied up by Jan early.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule/_/seasontype/3

[S.o.a.r.]

Oh okay, so no football
Well, basketball is fine too!
When should I visit in order not to miss the football season?

[archidraca]

It depends on how big of a game you want to go to.

If you're wanting to go to a FBS (formerly Div 1A) where the Stadiums hold 50-150k (way larger than the Pros) then SD State and Stanford both have home games on week 1, Aug 26 is the Friday that starts that. Week 13 is the last guaranteed time any of that level's CA teams are playing as many of them don't belong to Conferences that do real Championship games, week with Friday November 25th.

Bowl games are expensive and need to be purchased far in advance so that is inadvisable for a whim but is usually a great experience if you can swing it.

California bowls:

Poinsettia Bowl
Wednesday, December 21 Qualcom Stadium in SD

Holiday Bowl
Tuesday, December 27

Rose Bowl
Monday, January 2 Rose Bowl in Pasadena

You can likely find other games that are smaller in Div 2 and 3 http://espn.go.com/college-football/schedule/_/group/35 that have a similar regular season schedule. You'll have to check the calendar of the college of your choice on details for those schedules as ESPN under-reports them. December is usually when they hold Championship bracket games so you're not likely to find much after November.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

If you want to get in on football season, fall is the best time to do it (late August-late November). That goes for high school, college, and pro. Fall is basically football season. 

[S.o.a.r.]

Thanks for the help guys!
(Also, I'm only interested in "regular" college football games so no bowl games...)

[Harmonie]

Thanks for the help guys!
(Also, I'm only interested in "regular" college football games so no bowl games...)

To my knowledge, the final regular games of the football season happen around Black Friday (late November), so, yeah, no luck in January for you, then. 

I could be wrong, though. I think that's when the two big teams of my state always have their season matchup.

[S.o.a.r.]

Thanks for the help guys!
(Also, I'm only interested in "regular" college football games so no bowl games...)

To my knowledge, the final regular games of the football season happen around Black Friday (late November), so, yeah, no luck in January for you, then. 

I could be wrong, though. I think that's when the two big teams of my state always have their season matchup.

Oh well, I'll find out for sure once I'm in SF and/or LA. If I'm too late/early then I'll have something to look forward to next time I'm in the US. At the moment I have two trips in 2018 in the works, so...