Networks Unveil 2026 College Football Broadcast Schedules

Major rights-holders rolled out their 2026 college football slates today, offering a first look at marquee windows, kickoff partners, and conference distribution heading into the fall. Below is a network-by-network breakdown of the announcements from ESPN/ABC, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, NBC Sports, USA Sports, The CW, ACC Network, BTN, SEC Network and a conference-by-conference breakdown.

ESPN/ABCESPN's 2026-27 coverage spans ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN , SEC Network , and ACCNX, with more than 1,000 games set across the networks and every game streaming on the ESPN App.

Week 0 opens on a global footprint. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic from Dublin pits North Carolina against No. 23 TCU (Aug. 29, Noon, ESPN), followed by the inaugural College Football Brasil game between NC State and Virginia from Rio de Janeiro (3:30 p.m., ESPN). The Cricket MEAC/SWAC Challenge Kickoff caps the day with Alabama A&M vs. Howard in Atlanta (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Week 1 features Colorado at Georgia Tech (Sept. 3, 8 p.m., ESPN) marking Deion Sanders return to Atlanta, followed by No. 7 Miami at Stanford (Sept. 4, 9 p.m., ESPN) to open ACC conference play under the league's new nine-game format. Saturday's ABC slate includes No. 16 Alabama vs. East Carolina (Noon), the Aflac Kickoff Game with Baylor vs. Auburn in Atlanta (3:30 p.m.), and Clemson at No. 11 LSU (7:30 p.m.). College GameDay Built by The Home Depot airs from Baton Rouge for the franchise's 500th road show. The weekend continues with No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 9 Ole Miss in the inaugural Liberty Mutual Music City Kickoff in Nashville (Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m., ABC) and No. 22 SMU at Florida State on Labor Day (Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m., ESPN).

Week 2 is headlined by No. 1 Ohio State at No. 5 Texas in primetime on ABC (Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m.), the host site for College GameDay. Additional Week 2 windows include No. 2 Oregon at Oklahoma State (ESPN), No. 10 Texas A&M vs. Arizona State (ABC), Alabama at Kentucky (3:30 p.m., ABC) to launch the SEC's first season of nine conference games, No. 25 Tennessee at Georgia Tech, and Arkansas at No. 18 Utah.

Week 3 delivers an ABC tripleheader: No. 3 Georgia at Arkansas, Florida State at No. 16 Alabama (3:30 p.m.), and No. 11 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss in primetime. ESPN windows include North Carolina at Clemson, Florida at Auburn, No. 7 Miami at Wake Forest (Friday primetime), and Syracuse at Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Friday nights remain anchored by ACC, Big 12, and American matchups throughout the regular season, with mid-week coverage including Weekday CUSA in October, MACtion in November, and Sun Belt windows on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Rivalry Week, previously announced at the Disney Upfront, features No. 23 TCU at No. 8 Texas Tech on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 26, 8 p.m., ESPN), followed by a Black Friday lineup on ABC: the 123rd Egg Bowl between Mississippi State and No. 9 Ole Miss (Noon), Florida at Florida State (3:30 p.m.), and No. 5 Texas at No. 10 Texas A&M (7:30 p.m.).

ABC will carry the ACC, American, Big 12, and SEC Championship Games during Championship Weekend. The Big 12 title game kicks off Friday, Dec. 4, at 8 p.m. from AT&T Stadium, followed Saturday by the ACC Championship from Charlotte (Noon), the SEC Championship from Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4 p.m.), and the American Championship in primetime. ESPN carries the Sun Belt Championship (Friday, 7 p.m.) and MAC Championship from Detroit (Saturday, Noon), with the SWAC Championship on ESPN2.

The CFP broadcast schedule will be announced June 1, the bowl schedule on June 3, and remaining SEC windows on June 10.

FOX SportsFOX Sports will carry 137 college football games across the FOX family of networks in 2026, including 89 Big Ten conference games across FOX, FS1, and BTN. The schedule is anchored by BIG NOON KICKOFF and BIG NOON SATURDAY, with FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL FRIDAY returning as a dedicated primetime window.

BIG NOON SATURDAY opens its season by featuring college football's last three national champions in consecutive weeks. Reigning national champion Indiana hosts North Texas in Week 1 (Sept. 5, 12 p.m. ET, FOX), with BIG NOON KICKOFF live from Memorial Stadium starting at 10 a.m. Week 2 features a rematch of the 2025 showdown as Oklahoma travels to Michigan (Sept. 12, 12 p.m. ET, FOX), with the pregame show originating from Ann Arbor. Week 3 spotlights Ohio State vs. Kent State from Ohio Stadium (Sept. 19, 12 p.m. ET, FOX).

The regular season culminates with The Game - Michigan at Ohio State on Nov. 28 (12 p.m. ET, FOX) - which the release notes was the most-watched game of the 2025 regular season on any network. BIG NOON KICKOFF will air a special three-hour show from Columbus starting at 9 a.m. ET.

FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL FRIDAY highlights include the Missouri-Kansas Border Showdown (Sept. 11, 8 p.m. ET), Houston at defending Big 12 champion Texas Tech (Sept. 18), Indiana hosting Northwestern in its Big Ten opener (Sept. 25), the debut of Northwestern's new Ryan Field hosting Penn State (Oct. 2), and Oregon at Michigan State (Nov. 20).

Championship Weekend on FOX features the Mountain West Championship on Friday, Dec. 4 (9 p.m. ET) and the 2026 Big Ten Championship on Saturday, Dec. 5 (8 p.m. ET). The release notes the 2025 Big Ten Championship between Ohio State and Indiana delivered 18.3 million viewers on FOX, the most-watched Big Ten Championship in history.

Additional notable windows include Memphis-UNLV in Week 0 (Aug. 29, 10 p.m. ET, FOX), Matt Campbell s Penn State debut against Marshall (Sept. 5, 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1), Arizona at BYU (Sept. 12, 3:30 p.m. ET, FOX), North Dakota State's Mountain West debut against Air Force (Sept. 12, 10 p.m. ET, FS1), and the Union Jack Classic between Kansas and Arizona State from Wembley Stadium (Sept. 19, 12 p.m. ET, FS1) - billed as the f

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