13 августа 2026 г.
When Does the 2026 College Football Season Start?
College football returns Saturday, August 29, 2026 with Week 0, led by North Carolina vs TCU in Dublin. Key dates, the Week 1 slate and how the season runs.
The 2026 college football season starts on Saturday, August 29, 2026, with the Week 0 slate, headlined by North Carolina against TCU at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The first full weekend, Week 1, runs from Thursday, September 3 through Labor Day Monday, September 7, with most of the marquee openers on Saturday, September 5.
That is the answer. Below are the opening matchups worth planning around, how the season is structured from here to the national championship, and what the early weeks mean if you follow the sport with a bet on it.
Week 0: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Week 0 is the soft launch, a short slate that ends the offseason two weeks after NFL preseason begins. The 2026 edition:
North Carolina vs TCU in Dublin, Ireland, at noon ET on ESPN. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic makes it five straight seasons that the sport has opened at Aviva Stadium.
NC State at Virginia, 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
San Jose State at USC, 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, from the LA Memorial Coliseum.
Memphis at UNLV, 10 p.m. ET on FOX.
Plus Hawaii at Stanford and New Mexico State at Florida State rounding out the day.
A ranked TCU side giving up a home date to play in Ireland, and USC opening against a Mountain West opponent, is typical Week 0: a few real tests scattered among warm-ups.
Week 1: September 3 to 7, the real opening weekend
Labor Day weekend carries the heavyweight openers, spread across five days:
Boise State at Oregon, Saturday, September 5, 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Clemson at LSU, Saturday, September 5, 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, the biggest opener on the board.
Wisconsin vs Notre Dame, Sunday, September 6, 7:30 p.m. ET.
Louisville vs Ole Miss, Sunday, September 6, 7:30 p.m. ET in Nashville.
From there the sport settles into its rhythm: Saturdays stacked from noon to midnight ET, every week, into December.
How the 2026 season runs
The regular season plays out over roughly 14 weeks from Week 0, with each team playing 12 games. Conference championship games land in early December, and the 12-team College Football Playoff follows: first-round games in December, then quarterfinals, semifinals and the national championship game in January 2027. Rankings begin with the preseason polls in August and the Playoff committee's own rankings arrive from late October, at which point every Saturday starts carrying elimination weight.
One planning note: college football and the NFL barely overlap on the calendar's front end. College opens Thursday-to-Monday windows across Labor Day weekend, and the NFL season kicks off four days later on Thursday, September 10. Our guide to when the NFL season starts has that side of the schedule, and the exhibition games already running are covered in the NFL preseason guide.
Key dates at a glance
Saturday, August 29, 2026 - Week 0, opening slate, North Carolina vs TCU in Dublin.
Thursday, September 3 to Monday, September 7 - Week 1 across Labor Day weekend, first full Saturday on September 5.
Thursday, September 10 - the NFL season opener, four days after college's opening weekend.
Early December 2026 - conference championship games settle the automatic Playoff places.
December 2026 to January 2027 - the 12-team College Football Playoff, from first-round games through the national championship.
Following the season with a bet on it
College football betting works exactly like NFL betting, spreads, totals and moneylines, with one structural difference: mismatches are bigger. The NCAA board at Jacks Club already carries around 100 college football markets as this is written, including the Week 0 openers, and the early prices show both points nicely. USC is a 38.5-point favourite against San Jose State, the kind of spread the NFL simply never produces. And the Dublin game prices TCU at -333 with North Carolina at +240, two numbers that imply 76.9% and 29.4% respectively, adding to about 106%. That extra 6% is the book's margin sitting in plain sight, which is worth understanding before the season, and our NFL betting guide covers reading spreads and moneylines in full. Markets run on crypto, with deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin or USDT.
And if you are blocking out your Saturday: a college game runs a bit over three hours, which we broke down minute by minute in how long a football game takes.
Common questions
What is Week 0 in college football?
A small opening slate one week before the full schedule, allowed for certain games such as international fixtures and select early openers. It exists so the sport can start in August without every team playing 14 straight weeks.
Is there a college football game in Ireland in 2026?
Yes. North Carolina and TCU meet at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, August 29, the fifth consecutive season the Aer Lingus College Football Classic has opened the sport's calendar.
When does the College Football Playoff start?
The 12-team Playoff begins with first-round games in December 2026, running through the quarterfinals and semifinals to the national championship game in January 2027.
When does the NFL start compared to college?
Four days after college's first full weekend: the NFL opens Thursday, September 10, 2026. Between Week 0 and that Thursday, college football has the stage to itself.