It's never too early to prepare for the next college football season. After Indiana won the 2025-26 College Football Playoff title, the 2026-27 season looks to pick up where it left off with exciting action.
You can find information on when the 2026 college football season starts here. This story will be updated if games and times are changed.
When does the 2026 college football season start?
The 2026 season is set to begin on Thursday, Aug. 27 in this year's "Week Zero." Most of the nation's Division I programs will start their seasons the following week.
Here are some of the games currently scheduled for Week Zero:
Thursday, Aug. 27
- Mercyhurst at Youngstown State | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- Maine at Towson | 6 p.m. ET | FloSports
- Chattanooga at West Georgia | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- Charleston Southern at Lindenwood | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- Southern Illinois at West Florida | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
- Central Arkansas at UT Martin | 7:30 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- Gardner-Webb at Austin Peay | ESPN+
- Stony Brook at Delaware State | ESPN+
- LIU at North Dakota | ESPN+
Friday, Aug. 28
- Marist at New Haven | 6 p.m. ET | NEC Front Row
- Colgate at Fordham | 6 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- New Hampshire at UAlbany | 7 p.m. ET | FloSports
- Rhode Island at Merrimack | ESPN+
- Idaho at Cal Poly | ESPN+
Saturday, Aug. 29
- Aer Lingus College Football Classic: North Carolina vs. TCU (in Dublin, Ireland)
- College Football Brasil: NC State vs. Virginia (in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- New Mexico State at Florida State
- Hawaii at Stanford
- Memphis at UNLV
- San Jose State at Southern California
- Jacksonville State at North Dakota State
- Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan
- FCS games
- MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Alabama A&M vs. Howard (in Atlanta, Georgia) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ABC
- Morgan State at North Carolina A&T | 6 p.m. ET | FloSports
- North Alabama vs. Samford (in Huntsville, AL) | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN+
- Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina | ESPN+
- Jackson State at Tennessee State | ESPN+
- Abilene Christian at Lamar | ESPN+
- Monmouth at Tennessee Tech | ESPN+
- Prairie View A&M at Tarleton State | ESPN+
- William & Mary at Villanova | ESPN+
- North Carolina Central at Texas Southern
- Southern vs. Alabama State (in Birmingham, AL)
The following week begins Week 1 of the 2026 college football season, with most of the games set for Saturday, Sept. 5 during Labor Day weekend. Here are some of the season-opening matchups.
Thursday, Sept. 3
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Missouri | 8 p.m. | SEC Network
- Colorado at Georgia Tech | ESPN
- Akron at Wake Forest
- UMass at Rutgers
- Eastern Illinois at Minnesota
- Idaho at Utah
- UAlbany at Buffalo
- Bethune-Cookman at UCF
- Merrimack at Delaware
- West Georgia at Kennesaw State
Friday, Sept. 4
- LIU at Kansas
- Miami (FL) at Stanford
- North Carolina A&T at Georgia State
- San Jose State at Eastern Michigan
Saturday, Sept. 5
- Baylor vs. Auburn (in Atlanta, Ga.)
- Washington State at Washington
- Clemson at LSU
- Boise State at Oregon
- North Texas at Indiana
- Ball State at Ohio State
- Texas State at Texas
- East Carolina at Alabama
- Tennessee State at Georgia
- Florida Atlantic at Florida
- Western Michigan at Michigan
- FIU at South Florida
- Liberty at James Madison
- Tulane at Duke
- Oklahoma State at Tulsa
Sunday, Sept. 6
- Louisville vs. Ole Miss (in Nashville, TN) | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
- Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame (in Green Bay, WI) | NBC/Peacock
- Orange Blossom Classic: South Carolina State vs. Florida A&M (in Miami Gardens, FL)
- Texas Southern at Prairie View A&M
Monday, Sept. 7
- SMU at Florida State
Some other early-season nonconference games to watch can be found below:
Week 2
- Thursday, Sept. 10
- Florida A&M at Miami (FL)
- Friday, Sept. 11
- Rutgers at Boston College
- Missouri at Kansas
- Villanova at Louisville
- Norfolk State at Virginia
- Saturday, Sept. 12
- Ohio State at Texas
- Oklahoma at Michigan
- Arizona State at Texas A&M
- Oregon at Oklahoma State
- Arkansas at Utah
- UCF at Pittsburgh
- Tennessee at Georgia Tech
- Iowa State at Iowa
- Memphis at Boise State
- Georgia State at Kennesaw State
Week 3
- Saturday, Sept. 19
- Duke's Mayo Classic: Virginia vs. West Virginia (in Charlotte, N.C.)
- Union Jack Classic: Arizona State vs. Kansas (in London, England)
- Miami (Ohio) vs. Cincinnati (neutral site in Cincinnati)
- Florida State at Alabama
- FIU at Florida Atlantic
- Michigan State at Notre Dame
- Utah State at Utah
- North Texas at Texas State
- Virginia Tech at Maryland
College Football Playoff and New Year's Six bowl games schedule
The 2026 season is the 13th edition of the College Football Playoff and the third in the 12-team format.
Here are the College Football Playoff dates and schedule for next season. All New Year's Six games are also included:
- First round | Week of Saturday, Dec. 19
- Location: the home field of the higher-seeded team or another site designated by the higher-seeded program.
- One game | Friday, Dec. 18
- Three games | Saturday, Dec. 19
- Quarterfinal sites:
- Fiesta Bowl | Wednesday, Dec. 30
- Cotton Bowl | Friday, Jan. 1
- Rose Bowl | Friday, Jan. 1
- Peach Bowl | Friday, Jan. 1
- Semifinal sites:
- Orange Bowl | Thursday, Jan. 14
- Sugar Bowl | Friday, Jan. 15
- CFP National Championship Game: Monday, Jan. 25, 2026 (in Las Vegas, Nevada)
The title game will be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, Jan. 25, 2027. This will mark the first time Las Vegas will host the CFP National Championship Game.
CALENDAR: 2026-27 College Football Playoff schedule, dates, TV channel, sites
Indiana won the College Football Playoff National Championship during the 2025-26 season. Here's a complete history of the CFP title game.
| Year (Game Date) |
Game | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 2 Oregon 20 | Arlington, Texas |
| 2016 | No. 2 Alabama 45, No. 1 Clemson 40 | Glendale, Arizona |
| 2017 | No. 2 Clemson 35, No. 1 Alabama 31 | Tampa, Florida |
| 2018 | No. 4 Alabama 26, No. 3 Georgia 23 | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 2019 | No. 2 Clemson 44, No. 1 Alabama 16 | Santa Clara, California |
| 2020 | No. 1 LSU 42, No. 3 Clemson 25 | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| 2021 | No. 1 Alabama 52, No. 3 Ohio State 24 | Miami Gardens, Florida |
| 2022 | No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18 | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| 2023 | No. 1 Georgia 65, No. 3 TCU 7 | Inglewood, California |
| 2024 | No. 1 Michigan 34, No. 2 Washington 13 | Houston, Texas |
| 2025 | No. 8 Ohio State 34, No. 7 Notre Dame 23 | Atlanta, Georgia |
| 2026 | No. 1 Indiana 27, No. 10 Miami 21 | Miami Gardens, Florida |
🏆: Complete college football championship history | Schools with the most titles | Most CFP appearances
Future CFP national championship locations and dates
2026-27: Las Vegas (Allegiant Stadium) - Jan. 25
2027-28: New Orleans (Caesars Superdome) - Jan. 24
2028-29: Tampa (Raymond James Stadium) - Jan. 22
2029-30: Miami (Hard Rock Stadium) - Jan. 21
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.
