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
- Charleston Southern at Lindenwood | 7 p.m. ET
- Central Arkansas at UT Martin
- Eastern Illinois at Murray State
- Maine at Towson
- Stony Brook at Delaware State
- LIU at North Dakota
Friday, Aug. 28
- Marist at New Haven
- New Hampshire at UAlbany
- Rhode Island at Merrimack
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
- FCS games
- MEAC/SWAC Challenge: Alabama A&M vs. Howard (in Atlanta, Georgia) | 7:30 p.m. ET | ABC
- North Alabama vs. Samford (in Huntsville, AL)
- Southern vs. Alabama State (in Birmingham, AL)
- Eastern Kentucky at Western Carolina
- Jackson State at Tennessee State
- Abilene Christian at Lamar
- North Dakota State at UIW
- Morgan State at North Carolina A&T
- Monmouth at Tennessee Tech
- Prairie View A&M at Tarleton State
- William & Mary at Villanova
- Chattanooga at West Georgia
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
- Eastern Illinois at Minnesota
- Idaho at Utah
- UAlbany at Buffalo
- Akron at Wake Forest
- Bethune-Cookman at UCF
- Merrimack at Delaware
- UMass at Rutgers
- Southern Illinois at Samford
- Lindenwood at Stony Brook
Friday, Sept. 4
- LIU at Kansas
- Miami (FL) at Stanford
Saturday, Sept. 5
- Clemson at LSU
- Louisville vs. Ole Miss (in Nashville, Tenn.)
- Baylor vs. Auburn (in Atlanta, Ga.)
- Boise State at Oregon
- Washington State at Washington
- UCLA at California
- Tulane at Duke
- Colorado at Georgia Tech
- North Texas at Indiana
- East Carolina at Alabama
- Fresno State at USC
- FIU at South Florida
- Texas State at Texas
- Oklahoma State at Tulsa
- Western Michigan at Michigan
- Florida Atlantic at Florida
- Tennessee State at Georgia
- Norfolk State at Old Dominion
- Chicago State at UT Martin
Sunday, Sept. 6
- Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame (in Green Bay, Wis.) | NBC/Peacock
- 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
- 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
- North Carolina A&T at North Carolina Central
- UIW at Northern Arizona
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)
- Florida State at Alabama
- FIU at Florida Atlantic
- Michigan State at Notre Dame
- Utah State at Utah
- North Texas at Texas State
- Miami (Ohio) vs. Cincinnati (neutral site in Cincinnati)
- Virginia Tech at Maryland
- Harvard at New Hampshire
- Austin Peay at North Dakota State
- Abilene Christian at Idaho
- Stephen F. Austin at Prairie View A&M
- Dartmouth at Lehigh
- Hampton at Norfolk State
- Youngstown State at Sacramento State
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.
