Forty observations on the 2026 college football schedule:
1. Before the annual strength of schedule squabbling begins, let’s acknowledge the fact that the four power conferences are playing the same number of league games for the first time in their current iterations. (Well, almost. The ACC has a few outliers.)
For the most part, we won’t have to hear Big Ten and Big 12 clucking about the SEC and ACC playing only eight league opponents while they play nine. Nor do we have to hear excuse-making from the SEC and ACC. The new standard is nine, with the exception of five ACC teams in a 17-team league that couldn’t make the math work this season (Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and North Carolina).
This is progress toward uniformity—which seems to be prized, even though college football has thrived for decades on an inherent resistance to uniformity. However, not everyone is playing by the same nonconference scheduling rules. That’s the new strength-of-schedule battleground.
Here are the teams that are playing only nine power-conference opponents:
- Arizona
- Houston
- Indiana
- Kansas State
- Nebraska
- Penn State
- Texas Tech
- USC
- Washington
(For purposes of this exercise, Notre Dame counts as a Power 4 team.)
2. Here are the intrepid teams playing 11 power opponents:
- Boston College
- Colorado
- Georgia Tech
- Louisville
- Purdue
3. Here are the power teams that are not playing an FCS opponent:
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Oklahoma
- Penn State
- Texas
- UCLA
- USC
4. The SEC’s annual Cupcake Classic weekend in late November is nearly dead. Only Alabama (vs. Chattanooga), Auburn (vs. Samford), Mississippi (vs. Wofford) and Mississippi State (vs. Tennessee Tech) play a nonconference opponent on the penultimate Saturday of the regular season.
5. In the inevitable Big Ten vs. SEC tussle for conference supremacy, Sept. 12 will be a defining Saturday. That’s when Ohio State visits Texas and Oklahoma is at Michigan. Downstream, Mississippi State is at Minnesota.
Both leagues have additional significant matchups that day that aren’t against each other. Three SEC teams are on the road against Power 4 competition: Tennessee at Georgia Tech; Missouri at Kansas; and Arkansas at Utah. Meanwhile, Texas A&M welcomes Arizona State to Kyle Field. In the Big Ten, Iowa hosts Iowa State; Illinois hosts Duke; and Purdue hosts Wake Forest. Big Ten teams on the road: Oregon at Oklahoma State; Maryland at Connecticut; and Rutgers at Boston College.
6. Nov. 7 is the day to cash in all goodwill chips with your significant other to purchase an all-day couch pass. The games are ridiculous. Matchups of preseason AP Top 25 ranked teams that day:
- No. 2 Oregon at No. 1 Ohio State
- No. 3 Georgia at No. 9 Mississippi
- No. 5 Texas at No. 25 Missouri
- No. 7 Miami at No. 4 Notre Dame
- No. 13 Alabama at No. 11 LSU
- No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Utah
- No. 18 Penn State at No. 17 Washington
7. Arizona State has signed up for the nation’s wildest two-game combo. The Sun Devils play a 9 a.m. body-clock game Sept. 12 at Texas A&M, then have another 9 a.m. body-clock game a week later against Kansas … in London. For logistical reasons, the team will keep going east across the pond after its game against the Aggies. From a university perspective, the game in England serves as cross-pollination and promotion with the school’s academic program there. (Yes, there is an ASU London.)
8. Other body-clock games of note early in the season:
Oregon State gets a 9 a.m. PT kickoff at Houston, and Central Michigan gets a 10 p.m. ET kickoff at New Mexico on Sept. 5.
Washington State has a 9 a.m. PT game at Kansas State, and Oregon gets the same at Oklahoma State on Sept. 12. Meanwhile, Louisiana kicks off at 10 p.m. CT that day at USC.
For the glory of coast-to-coast conference broadcast rights, Purdue kicks off at 11 p.m. ET at UCLA on Sept. 19, and Georgia Tech has a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Stanford on Sept. 26.
James Madison also kicks off at 10 p.m. ET at San Diego State on Sept. 19.
9. Toughest overall schedule: Ohio State is at Texas Sept. 12, has the previously mentioned October gauntlet, then closes with November home games against Oregon and archrival Michigan. If the Buckeyes were underprepared for the College Football Playoff last year after facing fairly light regular-season competition, they might be overprepared this year.
10. Easiest overall power-conference schedule: Texas Tech’s slate is shameless. The nonleague lineup is Abilene Christian, Oregon State and Sam Houston State (average Sagarin Rating of those three in 2025: 151st). The Big 12 schedule does not include the league’s projected runner-up (BYU) or perennial contender Utah. The toughest opponents (Arizona, Arizona State, Houston and TCU) are all at home.
11. Toughest September schedule, power-conference department: LSU faces Clemson on Sept. 5, vs. Mississippi on Sept. 19 on the road in a game you may have heard a little about, and hosts Texas A&M on Sept. 26.
12. Toughest September schedule, non-power-conference department: Western Kentucky opens with three straight on the road, at Nevada (potentially manageable), Georgia (unmanageable) and Indiana (also unmanageable). The Hilltoppers have the latest home opener in FBS, hosting Mercyhurst on Sept. 26.
13. Easiest September schedule: Indiana spends the entire month at home, taking on the likes of North Texas, Howard, Western Kentucky and Northwestern.
14. Toughest October schedule: Ohio State plays at Iowa on Oct. 3, hosts Maryland on Oct. 10, visits Indiana on Oct. 17 and USC on Oct. 31. That’s three preseason Top 25 opponents, all on the road, in one month. (Honorable mention to Auburn, which goes: at Tennessee, at Georgia, home against LSU and at Mississippi. At least the Tigers don’t have a three-time-zone travel game during the month.)
15. Easiest October schedule, power-conference department: SMU plays three straight home games against Boston College (Oct. 3), Virginia (Oct. 17) and California (Oct. 24) before a trip to Syracuse on Halloween.
16. Toughest November schedule: Texas plays three preseason Top 25 teams on the road in Missouri (Nov. 7), LSU (Nov. 14) and Texas A&M (Nov. 27). A home game against old rival Arkansas is slated for Nov. 21.
17. Easiest November schedule, power-conference department: The SEC makes up for Auburn’s October gauntlet with some relief in the final month. The Tigers have home games against Arkansas (Nov. 7) and Samford (Nov. 21) and a road game at Mississippi State (Nov. 14) before things get serious against Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
18. Army might have the toughest slate in terms of fatigue. The Black Knights face a seven-game stretch from Sept. 25 through Nov. 7 with the following: a pair of back-to back road trips (at Temple and Louisiana Tech on Sept. 25 and Oct. 3, plus at Tulsa and Memphis on Oct. 23 and 31); three consecutive games with an open-date disadvantage, against Louisiana Tech, Tulane and Florida Atlantic; and a rivalry game at the end of that run against Air Force.
19. Scheduling complaints should be way down in the power conferences, thanks to major improvements in a couple of key areas: consecutive road games and open-date disadvantages. (Schools will still find something to complain about, but there is less justification for it.)
20. In the SEC, just one-fourth of the league has league road games on consecutive weeks:
- Vanderbilt at Auburn and Georgia (Sept. 26 and Oct. 3)
- Texas at Missouri and LSU (Nov. 7 and 14)
- Alabama at LSU and Vanderbilt (Nov. 7 and 14)
- LSU at Tennessee and Arkansas (Nov. 21 and 28)
Zero SEC teams have multiple open-date disadvantages (where one team is coming off an open date and one is not).
21. One-third of the Big Ten has league road games on consecutive weeks:
- Indiana at Rutgers and Nebraska (Oct. 3 and 10)
- Maryland at Nebraska and Ohio State (Oct. 3 and 10)
- Rutgers at Maryland and Northwestern (Oct. 17 and 24)
- Nebraska at Illinois at Rutgers (Nov. 7 and 14)
- Wisconsin at Maryland and Purdue (Nov. 14 and 21)
- Northwestern at Ohio State and Minnesota (Nov. 14 and 21)
No teams have multiple open-date disadvantages.
22. More than half of the Big 12 has league road games on consecutive weeks:
- Central Florida at Houston and Oklahoma State (Oct. 3 and 10)
- Kansas at Utah and Kansas State (Oct. 10 and 17)
- Baylor at Kansas and UCF (Oct. 24 and 30)
- Kansas State at Arizona State and Colorado (Oct. 24 and 31)
- Oklahoma State at Iowa State and Kansas State (Oct. 31 and Nov. 7)
- Cincinnati at Houston and Iowa State (Nov. 7 and 14)
- Houston at Colorado and West Virginia (Nov. 13 and 21)
- Texas Tech at Oklahoma State and Baylor (Nov. 14 and 21)
- Utah at Arizona and TCU (Nov. 14 and 21)
However, no Big 12 teams have multiple open-date disadvantages.
23. The ACC has the messiest schedule, which is somewhat predictable given the tie-ins with Notre Dame and the rollout of a nine-game league slate for most of the league. Four teams have two sets of league/Notre Dame road games on consecutive weeks:
- Stanford is at Wake Forest and Notre Dame on Oct. 3 and 10, then at Virginia Tech and California on Nov. 14 and 21
- Florida State is at Louisville and Miami on Oct. 9 and 17, then at Boston College and Pitt on Nov. 7 and 13
- Pittsburgh is at Boston College and Miami on Oct. 10 and 17, then at Louisville and California on Nov. 21 and 28
- Wake Forest is at NC State and Cal on Oct. 10 and 17, then at SMU and Georgia Tech on Nov. 14 and 21
ACC teams with one set of back-to-back roadies in the league/against Notre Dame:
- North Carolina at Pitt and Duke on Oct. 10 and 17
- Cal at SMU and NC State on Oct. 24 and 31
- Boston College at Georgia Tech and Duke on Oct. 24 and 31
- Clemson at Florida State and Syracuse on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7
- Miami at North Carolina and Notre Dame on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7
- Duke at NC State and Miami on Nov. 7 and 14
- Louisville at Georgia Tech and North Carolina on Nov. 7 and 14
- Syracuse at NC State and Boston College on Nov. 14 and 21
- SMU at Notre Dame and Stanford on Nov. 21 and 28
- NC State at Florida State and North Carolina on Nov. 21 and 28
24. Three ACC teams have multiple open-date disadvantages against league opponents:
- Virginia at SMU and at Wake Forest
- Florida State at Miami and at Pitt
- Stanford at home against NC State and at Louisville
25. There are 10 instances of Power 4 teams playing road games against non–Power 4 opponents:
- Oklahoma State at Tulsa, Sept. 5
- Penn State at Temple, Sept. 12
- Maryland at UConn, Sept. 12
- Texas Tech at Oregon State, Sept. 12
- BYU at Colorado State, Sept. 19
- Houston at Georgia Southern, Sept. 26
- Arizona at Washington State, Sept. 26
- Syracuse at UConn, Oct. 3
- California at UNLV, Oct. 3
- North Carolina at UConn, Nov. 7
(Some of those will be de facto home games for the visitors.)
26. After weirdly joining the Mountain West Conference, Northern Illinois will play a suitably weird schedule: seven road games, including trips to Tucson; Atlanta; Laramie, Wyo.; Las Vegas; San Jose; and Fargo, N.D. That includes back-to-back games at Arizona and Georgia State in September (the first of which is a 9:30 p.m. CT kickoff) and back-to-back games at UNLV and San Jose State on Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.
27. New Mid-American Conference member Sacramento State—another odd fit—gets the full #MACtion treatment with a Wednesday night game at Central Michigan on Nov. 11. Mount Pleasant is lovely that time of year. The Hornets also play Ball State on the road on a Friday night before returning home to host Toledo five days later.
28. UTSA’s first seven games are in the state of Texas. The Roadrunners don’t leave until a trip to Tulane on Oct. 24.
29. For the first time in 15 years, Eastern Michigan opens with two straight at home, hosting Sacramento State and San José State at “The Factory,” as its gray-turfed stadium is known.
30. The resuscitated and reconfigured Pac-12 has the biggest schedule innovation of the season, with a “flex week” of matchups at the end on Thanksgiving weekend. With eight league members and only seven league games, the Pac-12 has set up tentative home-and-home rematch games from earlier in the season, while flipping the locations: Boise State at Utah State; San Diego State at Fresno State; Texas State at Colorado State; and Oregon State at Washington State. Those matchups could be altered at the league’s discretion to enhance playoff positioning, but the four teams playing at home will not change.
31. After playing at Oklahoma early last year, Michigan gets back to what it knows best: opening the season with a long stretch of home games. From 2021 to ’24, the Wolverines played at least their first four games at home. This season, they open with Western Michigan, Oklahoma, UTEP and Iowa all in the Big House before visiting Minnesota on Oct. 3.
32. For the seventh straight season and under its third different coach, LSU opens against a power-conference opponent when Clemson comes to Death Valley, Bayou Version. It is one of the few marquee matchups of a flat Week 1 Saturday. LSU’s record in the previous six power-conference openers: 1–5, with the lone victory coming last year at Clemson. (It did not augur much in terms of future success; Brian Kelly was fired before November.)
33, Miami finishes the regular season with three straight at home, hosting Duke, Virginia and Boston College. But the Hurricanes’ last road trip is a doozy and possibly a cold one, at Notre Dame on Nov. 7. Other warm-weather schools facing November road games with potential weather implications:
- Florida State at Boston College on Nov. 7 and Pitt on Nov. 13
- UCLA at Minnesota on Nov. 7 and Michigan on Nov. 21
- USC at Indiana on Nov. 14
- Arizona at Kansas State on Nov. 21
- Houston at West Virginia on Nov. 21
- UCF at Colorado on Nov. 28
34. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but Florida State seems to have gotten a league schedule that is commensurate with a school that sued its conference.
35. Hangover games to watch out for:
- LSU playing Texas A&M and Mississippi playing at Florida on Sept. 26, a week after the Lane Kiffin Bitter Bowl in Oxford, Miss.
- Utah at Arizona and BYU hosting Baylor a week after the Holy War
- Notre Dame playing Boston College a week after Miami, a scheduling setup reminiscent of when the Fighting Irish flopped against the Eagles right after winning a No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown against Florida State in 1993
- Indiana hosting Minnesota a week after playing Ohio State and Michigan on Oct. 17 and 24, and a week before playing USC
36. Hangover prevention: Texas gets three straight at home after the Red River Rivalry vs. Oklahoma, with Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State coming to Austin. The Longhorns play one road game prior to November (at Tennessee on Sept. 26).
37. First-year coach who was dealt the best hand: Matt Campbell at Penn State. The Nittany Lions don’t face Indiana, Ohio State or Oregon; they get five Big Ten games at home and four on the road; and they don’t leave the state of Pennsylvania until October.
38. Hot seat coach who was dealt the worst hand: Bill Belichick could be 1–5 at North Carolina by midseason. The season opens in Ireland against TCU, and there is an Oct. 3 game against Notre Dame. The Tar Heels’ first three ACC games are on the road, at Clemson on Sept. 19, Pitt on Oct. 10 and Duke on Oct. 17. Carolina also faces heavy ACC favorite Miami on Halloween.
39. All grass, no brakes: Per Phil Steele’s preview magazine, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and South Carolina play every game on real grass.
40. Fake grass only:
- Akron
- Air Force
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Boise State
- Boston College
- Clemson
- Coastal Carolina
- Colorado State
- Florida State
- Georgia Tech
- Houston
- Indiana
- Jacksonville State
- Liberty
- Middle Tennessee
- Michigan
- North Dakota State
- North Texas
- Northern Illinois
- Ohio
- Oregon State
- South Alabama
- TCU
- Texas Tech
- Troy
- UNLV
- Western Michigan
- Wyoming
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