Last season I bought a
Roku Stick and made it through both the football and basketball seasons just fine.
The first streaming service I tried was PS Vue with a free trial. I never had bandwidth or buffering issues (caveat: I've got 100 gbs, fiber optic internet), but I wasn't a huge fan of the interface. The killer, though, was that I could never get the DVR function to work right. Every time I tried to record a game, it recorded every damn NCAA game on that entire day, all of which were just labeled "NCAA football."
Next I gave Sling a whirl. Even though it didn't have a DVR function last year -- it does now -- I liked the interface more. Plus, it was even cheaper at $25 per month -- $20 for the base "Orange" package plus a $5 sports add on. For $25, I got ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, and the SEC Network, along with another 20 or so channels I mostly didn't care about. (AMC and Viceland were included, though, so that was good.) Not having Fox Sports channels was a little crappy, but if you want to shell out another $15 or $20, you can add Sling's "Blue" package and have the whole Fox Sports family of networks.
Whether you get PS Vue or Sling (or probably any other big streaming service) you'll also get access to the Watch ESPN website and app, which is available on Roku. That's huge for me because I often have to watch our games on replay at night when I have more free time. Also, you can skip through commercials that way. Without a DVR on Sling last year (and without one that I liked on PS Vue), it was a perfect setup.
Streaming devices like the Roku are also great for all the other apps you can get. For instance, I spent the weeks leading up to the season last year watching shortened, HD streams of games from 2014 and 2015 on my TV via YouTube on my Roku. It as a good way to tide me over till the season started. (Not that watching the 2014 Auburn game or the 2015 Arkansas game prepared me for the crap sandwich we got against South Alabama . . . .)
I'm sure PS Vue and Sling have both upped their games since last year, and now there are a host of other options floating around. I suggest reading a few aggregate reviews and comparing channel lineups. (Though most services offer DVR functionality, you should check the channel availability. I'm pretty sure that a few of the services' DVR functions do not work with ESPN channels. Though you've still got Watch ESPN access to get replays of anything on the ESPN channels or the SEC Network, of course . . . .)
I've also got an indoor antenna for local stuff and the occasional CBS or ABC game. I live in a wood neighborhood on a mountain on a north-facing slope, but I still get solid, HD reception for most things. Since my antenna's just a cheap RCA antenna from Wal-Mart (like
this one) and is sitting in my den's window sill around 4 feet off the ground, I imagine that the reception a higher powered or outdoor model would even better.
One last thing: Our week 2 game vs. La Tech is on CBS Sports Network. As of a week ago, the only streaming service I could find that has access to that station -- and I looked at all the big ones I knew of, from Sling to PS Vue to Direct TV Now and so on -- is
Hulu's new service. At $40 a month with the lineup and features they've got, I'd take a hard look at it this season. Or, if nothing else, do the free trial for the La Tech game and then make a decision. (They're not on Roku yet -- "coming soon," or so they say -- but support a number of devices, like Apple TV, Chromecast, and the Amazon Fire stick.)