The wait is almost over. If you have been counting down the offseason, here is your college football Week 0 2026 how to watch guide, with every kickoff time, TV channel, and streaming option for the games that officially bring the sport back. Week 0 is small by design, but it is real football that counts, and it gives fans a full Saturday of action before the traditional opening weekend arrives.
Below you will find the full Week 0 schedule, the headliner in Dublin, and a quick look ahead at the Labor Day weekend slate that follows.
The 2026 season opens in stages. FCS teams get going first on Thursday, August 27. The FBS Week 0 slate kicks off on Saturday, August 29, headlined by a game across the Atlantic. The first full Saturday of the season lands on September 5 during Labor Day weekend.
So if someone asks when college football starts, the honest answer is August 27 for FCS and August 29 for the big-school games most fans are circling.
Here is the confirmed Week 0 FBS lineup for Saturday, August 29 (all times ET, and networks can shift before kickoff):
That is a compact card, but it stretches from a noon start in Ireland to a late-night finish in Las Vegas, so you can park yourself on the couch and get a full day of it.
The marquee game of the weekend sends North Carolina and No. 23 TCU to Aviva Stadium in Dublin for the Aer Lingus College Football Classic. Kickoff is set for noon ET on ESPN, which means an early wake-up for anyone on the West Coast and a perfect breakfast game for everyone else.
The storyline writes itself. Bill Belichick enters Year 2 as North Carolina’s head coach after a rocky 4-8 debut, and the pressure to show progress is real. A six-time Super Bowl winner opening the college season on an international stage is exactly the kind of appointment viewing that makes Week 0 worth setting an alarm for. TCU, ranked in the preseason polls, will be looking to spoil the moment and start fast.
If you only watch one Week 0 game, this is it.
The undercard has its own hooks. NC State at Virginia is an early ACC test, and it comes with a backstory: the game was originally slated for Rio de Janeiro before being relocated to Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. San Jose State at USC gives the Trojans a soft landing on NBC and Peacock, while Hawaii at Stanford and New Mexico State at Florida State round out the daytime and evening action.
FOX closes the night with Memphis at UNLV at 10 p.m. ET, a matchup of two programs that have quietly built real momentum in the Group of Five and would love a signature early win.
Week 0 and the rest of the opening slate are spread across a familiar mix of networks: FOX, FS1, ABC, CBS, ESPN, NBC, and Peacock, plus conference channels like Big Ten Network, SEC Network, and ACC Network.
For cord cutters, the streaming picture is straightforward. ESPN+ carries a heavy load of games, and live-TV services such as YouTube TV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling TV carry the major broadcast and cable networks. Peacock is the home for select NBC games, so keep that subscription handy for the USC opener and beyond. If you own an antenna, your local FOX, ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates will carry plenty of the biggest windows for free.
For the full national breakdown of dates and TV assignments, FOX Sports has a complete Week 0 and Week 1 rundown worth bookmarking.
Week 0 is the appetizer. The main course arrives the following weekend, and it is loaded. The first full Saturday on September 5 features Clemson at LSU in prime time on ABC and Boise State at Oregon on CBS. Sunday, September 6 brings Notre Dame against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on NBC and Peacock, along with Louisville vs. Ole Miss in Nashville on ABC.
If you want the deeper breakdown of those matchups, our look at the top college football games of opening weekend covers the biggest storylines heading into Labor Day weekend.
Circle Saturday, August 29. The college football Week 0 2026 how to watch plan is simple: start with Belichick and North Carolina against TCU in Dublin at noon on ESPN, ride the day through NC State at Virginia and USC on NBC, and cap the night with Memphis at UNLV on FOX. Then take a breath, because opening weekend is right behind it. Football is back, and the countdown is finally down to days.
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