College Football Schedule 2025-26
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NCSU 34 , WAKE 24 | Robby Ashford 252 | Hollywood Smothers 163 | Chris Barnes 76 |
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IU 73 , INST 0 | Fernando Mendoza 270 | Khobie Martin 109 | Omar Cooper Jr. 207 |
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SYR 66 , COLG 24 | Steve Angeli 417 | Cole Fulton 72 | Darrell Gill Jr. 152 |
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HOU 36 , CU 20 | Conner Weigman 222 | Dean Connors 89 | Stephon Johnson 117 |
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ARI 23 , KSU 17 | Noah Fifita 178 | Ismail Mahdi 189 | Jayce Brown 68 |
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NM 35 , UCLA 10 | Nico Iamaleava 217 | Damon Bankston 154 | Mikey Matthews 67 |
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MEM 28 , TROY 7 | Brendon Lewis 213 | Sutton Smith 113 | Cortez Braham Jr. 69 |
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BAMA 38 , WISC 14 | Ty Simpson 382 | Darrion Dupree 26 | Ryan Williams 165 |
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BAYLOR 42 , SAM 7 | Sawyer Robertson 211 | Bryson Washington 135 | Torrey Ward 62 |
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NEB 59 , HOUCHR 7 | Dylan Raiola 222 | Kwinten Ives 85 | Dane Key 104 |
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ORE 34 , NW 14 | Dante Moore 178 | Dierre Hill Jr. 94 | Malik Benson 62 |
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OKLA 42 , TEM 3 | John Mateer 282 | Tory Blaylock 100 | Isaiah Sategna III 97 |
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GT 24 , CLEM 21 | Haynes King 211 | Haynes King 101 | Bryant Wesco Jr. 126 | |
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UVA 55 , W&M 16 | Daniel Kaelin 164 | Harrison Waylee 151 | Deven Thompson 108 |
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MD 44 , TOWSON 17 | Malik Washington 261 | Iverson Howard 60 | Octavian Smith Jr. 103 |
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MICH 63 , CMU 3 | Bryce Underwood 235 | Bryce Underwood 114 | Semaj Morgan 69 |
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BUFF 31 , KENTST 28 | Ta'Quan Roberson 323 | Al-Jay Henderson 70 | Nik McMillan 122 |
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CENTCT 31 , STF-PA 7 | Brady Olson 193 | Donny Marcus 46 | Donovan Wadley 72 |
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LEHIGH 35 , DUQ 21 | Hayden Johnson 224 | Luke Yoder 68 | Joey Isabella 153 |
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SHEART 24 , LIU 21 | Jack Snyder 193 | Mitchell Summers 105 | Kevin McGuire 88 |
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AUBURN 31 , USA 15 | Bishop Davenport 170 | Jeremiah Cobb 119 | Eric Singleton Jr. 65 |
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MIZZOU 52 , UL-LAF 10 | Beau Pribula 174 | Ahmad Hardy 256 | Kevin Coleman Jr. 84 |
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TNTECH 72 , DAV 14 | Kekoa Visperas 246 | Quintell Quinn 122 | Maury Sullivan 78 |
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MARIST 21 , WAGNER 10 | Sonny Mannino 101 | Andre Hines Jr. 106 | Connor Hulstein 71 |
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LAF 42 , GTOWN 37 | Danny Lauter 319 | Kente Edwards 255 | Elijah Steward 113 |
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SOUDAK 24 , NORCOL 17 | Eric Gibson Jr. 336 | L.J. Phillips Jr. 301 | Charles Garrison 112 |
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BALLST 34 , UNH 29 | Matt Vezza 259 | Qua Ashley 154 | Caleb Burke 89 | |
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URI 9 , HOLYCR 7 | Devin Farrell 271 | Antwain Littleton, Jr. 94 | Marquis Buchanan 84 |
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ELON 37 , WCU 31 | Landen Clark 305 | Landen Clark 72 | Isaiah Fuhrmann 105 |
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MONT 24 , NORDAK 23 | Keali'i Ah Yat 300 | Jerry Kaminski 85 | B.J. Fleming 138 |
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MONTST 41 , SD 7 | Justin Lamson 293 | Julius Davis 83 | Taco Dowler 116 |
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ILLST 42 , EASTIL 30 | Connor Wolf 411 | Wenkers Wright 94 | CJ Nelson 194 |
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DEL 44 , UCONN 41 | Joe Fagnano 346 | Jo Silver 179 | Kyre Duplessis 161 |
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UNT 59 , WSU 10 | Drew Mestemaker 211 | Makenzie McGill II 67 | Carter Pabst 65 | |
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TX-SA 48 , INCWOR 20 | Owen McCown 238 | Robert Henry Jr. 144 | Chedon James 134 |
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SMU 28 , MOSTU 10 | Kevin Jennings 281 | TJ Harden 96 | Dash Luke 84 |
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TTU 45 , ORST 14 | Behren Morton 465 | Cameron Dickey 77 | Coy Eakin 139 | |
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NDAKST 41 , SEMO 14 | Cole Payton 348 | Barika Kpeenu 84 | Bryce Lance 159 |
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UGA 44 , TENN 41 | Joey Aguilar 371 | Nate Frazier 73 | Chris Brazzell II 177 |
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CIN 70 , NWST 0 | Brendan Sorsby 253 | Tawee Walker 66 | Caleb Goodie 106 | |
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WVU 31 , PITT 24 | Eli Holstein 303 | Tye Edwards 141 | Raphael Williams Jr. 119 | |
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UNC 41 , RICH 6 | Gio Lopez 119 | Demon June 148 | Jordan Shipp 52 | |
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MSU 41 , YSU 24 | Aidan Chiles 270 | Aidan Chiles 76 | Nick Marsh 94 | |
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PSU 52 , VILL 6 | Drew Allar 209 | Kaytron Allen 86 | Luke Reynolds 73 | |
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USC 33 , PUR 17 | Ryan Browne 305 | Waymond Jordan 77 | Ja'Kobi Lane 115 |
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RUT 60 , NOR 10 | Athan Kaliakmanis 309 | Antwan Raymond 79 | KJ Duff 119 |
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TOL 60 , MORGST 0 | Tucker Gleason 174 | Willie Shaw III 49 | Javon Brown 94 |
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FURMAN 28 , CAMP 24 | Trey Hedden 314 | JJ Cowan 53 | Evan James 134 |
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STNYBR 41 , FORD 18 | Chris Zellous 260 | Roland Dempster 94 | Marqeese Dietz 120 |
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BUCK 35 , VMI 28 | Ralph Rucker IV 405 | Leo Boehling 66 | Sam Milligan 192 |
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IDAHO 20 , UTAHTE 6 | Joshua Wood 119 | Art Williams 144 | Ryan Jezioro 50 |
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IAST 24 , ARKST 16 | Rocco Becht 265 | Carson Hansen 116 | Xavier Townsend 92 |
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LINDEN 35 , CHSOU 28 | Zolten Osborne 289 | Ke'Marion Baldwin 81 | Jalen Smith 96 |
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TEX 27 , UTEP 10 | Malachi Nelson 209 | James Simon 67 | Trevon Tate 64 |
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ALAA&M 23 , TENNST 21 | Cornelious Brown IV 329 | Kendric Rhymes 111 | Travaunta Abner 104 |
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MIA-FL 49 , USF 12 | Carson Beck 340 | Mark Fletcher Jr. 120 | Chas Nimrod 128 | |
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MIDDTN 14 , NEVADA 13 | Nicholas Vattiato 247 | Herschel Turner 90 | Myles Butler 65 | |
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UNI 17 , EASTWA 14 | Matthew Schecklman 359 | Nate Bell 89 | Tysen Kershaw 143 |
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BGSU 23 , LIB 13 | Ethan Vasko 194 | Evan Dickens 86 | Donte Lee Jr. 77 | |
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MSST 63 , ALC 0 | Blake Shapen 173 | Fluff Bothwell 93 | Jordan Mosley 75 | |
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MARSH 38 , EASTKY 7 | Carlos Del Rio-Wilson 108 | Carlos Del Rio-Wilson 58 | Justin Williams-Thomas 41 |
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CHAR 42 , MONM 35 | Derek Robertson 415 | Rod Gainey Jr. 74 | E. Jai Mason 228 | |
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FIU 38 , FLAATL 28 | Caden Veltkamp 343 | Kejon Owens 173 | Jayshon Platt 90 |
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KENNST 27 , MERRIM 13 | Ayden Pereira 148 | Ayden Pereira 57 | Jalen McDonald 116 | |
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CHAT 63 , STET 0 | Camden Orth 94 | Camden Orth 118 | Jamarii Robinson 41 |
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STONEH 13 , MAINE 10 | Jack O'Connell 132 | Sincere Baines 106 | Brigham Dunphy 43 |
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WESTGA 35 , EASTTN 31 | Davin Wydner 263 | Latrelle Murrell 116 | Latrelle Murrell 92 |
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SCST 55 , B-C 41 | Cam'Ron Ransom 302 | Mason Pickett-Hicks 87 | Maleek Huggins 148 |
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MERC 22 , WOF 21 | Braden Atkinson 316 | Ihson Jackson-Anderson 84 | Kendall Harris 101 |
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SOUMIS 38 , APP 22 | Braylon Braxton 268 | Rashod Dubinion 96 | Jaden Barnes 132 | |
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RICE 38 , PVA&M 17 | Tevin Carter 131 | Chase Jenkins 125 | Jyzaiah Rockwell 92 |
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MISS 41 , ARK 35 | Trinidad Chambliss 354 | Taylen Green 115 | Harrison Wallace III 93 |
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ILL 38 , WESTMI 0 | Luke Altmyer 196 | Kaden Feagin 100 | Hank Beatty 53 |
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WESTIL 51 , VALPO 30 | Chris Irvin 247 | Markell Holman 74 | Demari Davis 106 |
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SDAKST 37 , DRAKE 21 | Chase Mason 225 | Julius Loughridge 83 | Lofton O'Groske 78 |
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APSU 56 , MOR 7 | Chris Parson 199 | Javious Bond 84 | Courtland Simmons 107 |
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TARLST 56 , CENARK 10 | Victor Gabalis 177 | Tre Page III 81 | Peyton Kramer 71 |
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WEB 42 , MCNE 41 | Jake Strong 278 | Tre'Vonte Citizen 117 | Jonathan Harris 114 |
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SIU 37 , TN-MAR 10 | DJ Williams 217 | DJ Williams 128 | Bryce Bailey 70 |
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LAMAR 31 , TXSO 7 | Aiden McCown 81 | LaDamian McDowell 92 | Devyn Gibbs 31 |
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SELA 56 , MSVL 3 | Kyle Lowe 155 | Calvin Smith Jr. 69 | Jaylon Domingeaux 82 |
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GASO 41 , JACST 34 | JC French IV 193 | OJ Arnold 128 | Dalen Cobb 72 | |
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GAST 37 , MUR 21 | TJ Finley 150 | Branson Robinson 65 | Ted Hurst 172 | |
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ODU 45 , VATECH 26 | Colton Joseph 276 | Trequan Jones 101 | Ja'Cory Thomas 83 |
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OHIOST 37 , OHIO 9 | Julian Sayin 347 | Bo Jackson 109 | Jeremiah Smith 153 | |
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G-WEBB 23 , CIT 13 | Nate Hampton 206 | Quasean Holmes 90 | Chris Lofton 90 |
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NCA&T 33 , HAMP 30 | Isaiah Freeman 153 | Isaiah Freeman 129 | Jayvonne Dillard 59 |
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NEWHAV 24 , ALBANY 17 | Jack Shields 396 | Brian Thomas 43 | Carter Moses 119 |
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LATECH 49 , NMST 14 | Logan Fife 281 | Blake Baker 103 | PJ Johnson III 157 | |
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LSU 20 , FLA 10 | DJ Lagway 287 | Caden Durham 93 | Aaron Anderson 75 |
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IOWA 47 , UMASS 7 | Mark Gronowski 179 | Jaziun Patterson 54 | Sam Phillips 75 |
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ECU 38 , COASTC 0 | Katin Houser 293 | London Montgomery 59 | Anthony Smith 136 | |
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UK 48 , EASTMI 23 | Noah Kim 330 | Seth McGowan 104 | Terry Lockett Jr. 90 |
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TEXA&M 41 , ND 40 | Marcel Reed 360 | Jeremiyah Love 94 | Mario Craver 207 |
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VANDY 31 , SCAR 7 | Diego Pavia 177 | Rahsul Faison 74 | Nyck Harbor 66 |
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UTAH 31 , WYO 6 | Devon Dampier 230 | Devon Dampier 86 | Ryan Davis 91 |
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NAVY 42 , TLSA 23 | Baylor Hayes 189 | Blake Horvath 159 | Zion Booker 90 |
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TULN 34 , DUKE 27 | Darian Mensah 319 | Jake Retzlaff 107 | Shazz Preston 95 |
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TCU 42 , ABICHR 21 | Josh Hoover 337 | Rovaughn Banks Jr. 105 | Joseph Manjack IV 114 |
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NOARI 52 , SOUT 49 | Ty Pennington 366 | Joshua Dye 171 | Kolbe Katsis 135 |
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UAB 31 , AKRON 28 | Jalen Kitna 341 | Sean Patrick 81 | Israel Polk 99 |
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SAC 49 , MERCYH 28 | Adam Urena 280 | Damian Henderson II 98 | Ernest Campbell 78 |
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USU 49 , AF 30 | Bryson Barnes 287 | Cade Harris 72 | Braden Pegan 147 | |
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FRES 56 , SOU 7 | E.J. Warner 240 | Bryson Donelson 90 | Rayshon Luke 79 | |
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ASU 34 , TXST 15 | Sam Leavitt 188 | Raleek Brown 144 | Jordyn Tyson 105 | |
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STAN 30 , BC 20 | Dylan Lonergan 333 | Micah Ford 157 | Reed Harris 141 |
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CAL 27 , MINN 14 | Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 279 | Fame Ijeboi 85 | Le'Meke Brockington 106 |
MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
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HAWAII 23 , PORST 3 | Luke Weaver 240 | Landon Sims 41 | Zachary Dodson-Greene 78 |
All times are in ET. Tap on each match's time to view it in your local timezone.
College Football Schedule
Rose Bowl
The United States probably has the biggest following with respect to any college sport in the world. In fact, there are plenty of people in America who are not as gung ho about the professional sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. as they are about the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) sports. There could be several reasons for this but the one thing that stands out is the passion individuals have for their school and the respective college team.
The college football season typically starts from the end of August to the early part of January. Teams generally play anywhere between 8 to 12 games a year. They play an equal number of home and away games throughout the season but the scheduling process is quite complex to understand.
Understanding how the NCAA runs college football games can be quite confusing. The NCAA for instance does not control all aspects of college football games. It only has control over the rules and compliances on the field, apart from that everything else including the money and the tournaments is managed by the respective conferences of college football.
NCAA Football Conferences
The NCAA football constitutes first and foremost of four divisions which are Division 1 FBS, Division 1 FCS, Division 2, and Division 3. Most of the college football teams belong to either one of these divisions. Although not everything is set in stone, it is generally considered that playing college football for a Division 1 school will get you the maximum chance of going professional in the future.
We will check out only the Division 1 FBS in this article as it is the most important one and really the only one that matters. FBS stands for Football Bowl Subdivision and within this division, we have a total of 10 different conferences. The four teams of Notre Dame, Brigham Young University, Army, and Navy do not belong to any of the conferences despite being in the FBS.
Out of these ten, there are five conferences known as the Power Five Conferences, which are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The remaining five conferences which are at times referred to as the Non-Power Five (Group of 5) Conferences are the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA Conference, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).
NCAA Football Schedule Process
This is where things start getting tricky because every conference in college football has its individual freedom. That means all conferences have the autonomy to create their own schedules, but it is not as simple as just assigning two teams to play each other within their own conference.
Every conference has its own set of rules and guidelines which they use to schedule games. In addition to that, some conferences have more pull than others thereby directly impacting which teams get to play the best games. To create one national schedule from this is one tough ask.
It may come as a surprise that in today's day and age when the simplest of simple things are done with the help of an algorithm run by software, that college football schedules are drawn up by speaking to one another and agreeing to terms. The conference officials and the athletic directors all must come together and work out a possible schedule that works for everyone and which also allots an equal number of home and away games to each team.
There are three main factors which go into consideration during the scheduling of college football games. They are conference scheduling, non-conference scheduling, and TV broadcasting.
Conference scheduling
Since each conference has its own method of scheduling games, the process remains unique to all conferences. Generally, all the schools will play the other schools within their conference at least once a year. The Power Five conferences also play a few cross-divisional games in addition to their conference games.
Non-conference scheduling
These are the games that each team needs to play outside of their own conference against other teams. As each team must figure out with whom they will play and when and where, this can get a bit complicated, especially for the smaller school.
Power Five teams will normally play one or two non-conference games with other Power Five conferences as well as one or two games with teams from Group of Five conferences. Since the reward is greater for Group of Five teams when they go up against the Power Five competition, teams from the former conferences will generally try to play more games with the latter. In doing so, Group of Five teams will get a significantly more amount of revenue.
TV Broadcasting
The third factor that goes into scheduling college football games is that of TV broadcasting. This is because all top networks want to show the best possible games at the best time slots on their respective networks. Therefore, many times the TV networks will also have a say in the scheduling matters and may request any changes or modifications as they see fit.
Power 5 and Group of 5 Conferences
Typically, the best of the best teams are all in the Power 5 conferences. They are the ones who receive the maximum media attention, the maximum revenue, and boast of the maximum fan following as well. The teams in these conferences have a long-standing history of winning and producing the best talent that will carry forward to the professional league.
Each conference in the Power Five has its own rules for scheduling and not all conferences play the same number of games within their own conference. For example, teams in the Big Ten conference will play nine conference games and three non-conference games, but the same is not the case with the SEC as they play only eight conference games and four non-conference games.
However, a lot of mixing up and shaking up of the conferences and their rules keep taking place and therefore not everything can be attributed to a permanent way of functioning. For instance, some teams are looking to jump from one conference to another while some conferences that are playing eight inter-conference games want to move to nine.
Therefore, for the various conferences to make their schedules, a lot of attention must be given to all the guidelines and a committee needs to monitor all the intricacies such as the competitive balance between the teams, broadcast terms and conditions, an equal number of home and away games, and more.
As for the Group of Five conferences, most of them will play eight inter-conference games and four non-conference games. The same level of thought process must go into making the schedule for these conferences as well. But one disadvantage for the Group of 5 teams is that they must strive harder to get a matchup with some of the Power 5 teams.
Conference Scheduling
Since all conferences have their unique ways of creating a schedule, not all teams will play each other from their respective conference on an annual basis. Such a case arises because there are a greater number of teams in conferences than the number of games a team can play. Therefore, each conference needs to resort to a rotation-based design to ensure that teams will play each other once every few years.
For example, if we look at the Big 12 conference, it has a total of ten teams. This conference plays 9 conference and 1 non-conference game throughout the season. Thus, as per the rotation policy, each team will play all other teams in the conference at least once in two years.
Taking the example of the SEC, which is probably the most popular conference today, it has fourteen teams within the conference and it is also subdivided into two divisions, namely: the East and the West. Each team will play a total of eight conference games out of which six are from their own division and the other two are from the other division. This conference also has 1 permanent rival for each team and it rotates the other seven conference games every year.
Non-Conference Scheduling
Scheduling the non-conference games does not require any rotational policy as teams are free to select their opponents mutually. However, teams will want to play games against top-quality opposition to ensure they remain at a high level when they play their conference games. Also, the Group of 5 conference teams can take this opportunity to not only see where they are in terms of performance with the top tier teams, but they can also generate much more income from these games as more media and revenue are associated with the Power 5 teams.
When it comes to non-conference scheduling, there are many teams that have created matchups with one another years in advance. This is done as careful planning is required to generate proper revenue for home games and to maintain steady competition. Teams will alternate between easy and difficult games every other year as a way of balancing out their schedules.
FBS Power 5 Conferences
ACC Scheduling
From 2023, the ACC will play their games with the newly introduced 3-5-5 format. That means that each team will play three of their rivals on a permanent basis which leaves ten teams. These ten teams will be separated into two groups of five and they will be flipped every other year. Therefore, within the conference the ACC will play eight teams and then they will play a further four teams outside of their conference as well.
As of 2023, the ACC consists of 14 schools in the conference which are as follows:
- Boston College Eagles
- Clemson Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- Florida State Seminoles
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Louisville Cardinals
- Miami Hurricanes
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Syracuse Orange
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The permanent matchups for the ACC teams are as below:
University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 | Rival 3 |
Boston College | Miami | Pittsburgh | Syracuse |
Clemson | Florida State | Georgia Tech | NC State |
Duke | North Carolina | NC State | Wake Forest |
Florida State | Clemson | Miami | Syracuse |
Georgia Tech | Clemson | Louisville | Wake Forest |
Louisville | Georgia Tech | Miami | Virginia |
Miami | Boston College | Florida State | Louisville |
North Carolina | Duke | NC State | Virginia |
NC State | Clemson | Duke | North Carolina |
Pittsburgh | Boston College | Syracuse | Virginia Tech |
Syracuse | Boston College | Florida State | Pittsburgh |
Virginia | Louisville | North Carolina | Virginia Tech |
Virginia Tech | Pittsburgh | Virginia | Wake Forest |
Wake Forest | Duke | Georgia Tech | Virginia Tech |
Big 10 Scheduling
The Big 10 which is divided into the East and West division follows a nine game conference schedule. Seven teams are placed in both divisions based upon their locality. The Big 10 schedules six divisional games and three cross divisional games. The Indiana and Perdue game is an annual cross division game which is a permanent fixture. Apart from this, each team will face three non-conference teams as well.
As of 2023, the Big Ten’s two divisions and their respective teams are as follows:
East | West |
Ohio State Buckeyes | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Iowa Hawkeyes |
Maryland Terrapins | Wisconsin Badgers |
Michigan Wolverines | Illinois Fighting Illini |
Michigan St. Spartans | Purdue Boilermakers |
Penn St. Nittany Lions | Northwestern Wildcats |
Indiana Hoosiers | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
Big 12 Scheduling
The Big 12’s current scheduling system is a 14 team round robin event. Upon its conclusion, the top two teams in the conference will fight it out in the Championship game to declare the eventual winner of the conference.
The current teams playing in the Big 12 conference are:
- BYU Cougars
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Houston Cougars
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Texas Longhorns
- UCF Knights
- Baylor Bears
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- West Virginia Mountaineers
PAC-12 Scheduling
The PAC-12 which once followed divisions of two has done away with them and now hold a round robin system similar to that of the Big 12. Once the season comes to an end the top two teams in the conference will play the Championship game.
The PAC-12 football conference is made up of the following teams:
- USC Trojans
- Arizona Wildcats
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- California Golden Bears
- Colorado Buffaloes
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon State Beavers
- Stanford Cardinal
- UCLA Bruins
- Utah Utes
- Washington Huskies
- Washington State Cougars
SEC Scheduling
Considered by many to be the best conference in college football at least since the past few years, the SEC operates in a division format with two divisions of seven teams each. However, with more teams joining next year, it is expected that the current system will undergo a change to better accommodate the expansion of the conference. At present though, each team within the conference plays eight conference games.
From the division itself, each team plays all the other six teams every year. Then, each team has a permanent cross division rival for the seventh game and the eighth game is a cross divisional rotation.
The SECs permanent cross-divisional matchups are:
- Alabama vs. Tennessee
- Arkansas vs. Missouri
- Auburn vs. Georgia
- LSU vs. Florida
- Mississippi State vs. Kentucky
- Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
- Texas A&M vs. South Carolina.
The teams participating in the SEC conference as of 2023 are:
East | West |
Vanderbilt Commodores | Alabama Crimson Tide |
Georgia Bulldogs | Arkansas Razorbacks |
Kentucky Wildcats | Auburn Tigers |
Missouri Tigers | Ole Miss Rebels |
Tennessee Volunteers | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
Florida Gators | TexasA&M Aggies |
South Carolina Gamecocks | LSU Tigers |
FBS Group of Five Conferences
AAC Scheduling
The AAC scheduling system has just recently undergone a change which is expected to be continued till 2026. Featuring a conference of 14 teams, each team is set to play 8 conference games. As per this schedule, each team within the conference will face every other team twice in a period of four years getting one home game and one away game respectively. The ACC has also included six annual matchups which are as follows:
- North Texas vs. SMU
- UAB vs. Memphis
- Rice vs. UTSA
- Charlotte vs. East Carolina
- Florida Atlantic vs. South Florida
- Navy vs. Temple
The 14 members of the AAC are as follows:
- Memphis Tigers
- Charlotte 49ers
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Navy Midshipmen
- Rice Owls
- SMU Mustangs
- South Florida Bulls
- Temple Owls
- Tulane Green Wave
- Tulsa Golden Hurricane
- UAB Blazers
- UTSA Roadrunners
- East Carolina Pirates
- North Texas Mean Green
C-USA Scheduling
This conference has been quite unstable since its formation. Several teams have left to join different conferences while new teams are making their way to the C-USA. This conference is set to expand further by next year making it one of the most unpredictable conferences in college football. As a result, the current schedule is in place only for the 2023 season and is expected to undergo some type of modification before the 2024 season. As for now, all nine teams from the conference will play each other in a round robin format.
The nine teams which make up the C-USA conference are:
- Liberty Flames
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Sam Houston Bearkats
- FIU Panthers
- New Mexico State Aggies
- UTEP Miners
MAC Scheduling
The MAC conference is quite simple as it is divided into divisions featuring six teams each. Teams in this conference are set to play eight conference games which includes five divisional games and three cross divisional games.
The divisions of the MAC are as below:
East | West | |
Ohio Bobcats | Central Michigan Chippewas | |
Akron Zips | Eastern Michigan Eagles | |
Bowling Green Falcons | Northern Illinois Huskies | |
Miami (OH) RedHawks | Toledo Rockets | |
Buffalo Bulls | Western Michigan Broncos | |
Kent State Golden Flashes | Ball State Cardinals |
MWC Scheduling
The MWC has made a change from 2023 onwards. Earlier this conference had a divisional system but now that has been scrapped. The twelve-team conference will play a 2-6 format wherein the 2 games will be against fixed opponents every year. The remaining six games will be rotation based and will be flipped every other year.
The teams making up the Mountain West Conference are:
- Air Force Falcons
- Fresno State Bulldogs
- Wyoming Cowboys
- San Diego State Aztecs
- New Mexico Lobos
- UNLV Rebels
- Utah State Aggies
- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
- San Jose State Spartans
- Colorado State Rams
- Boise State Broncos
- Nevada Wolf Pack
The two permanent fixtures per team are as below:
University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 |
Air Force | Colorado State | Wyoming |
Boise State | New Mexico | Utah State |
Colorado State | Air Force | Wyoming |
Fresno State | Nevada | San Jose State |
Hawaii | San Diego State | UNLV |
Nevada | Fresno State | UNLV |
New Mexico | Boise State | San Jose State |
San Diego State | Hawaii | Utah State |
San Jose State | Fresno State | New Mexico |
UNLV | Hawaii | Nevada |
Utah State | Boise State | San Diego State |
Wyoming | Air Force | Colorado State |
SBC Scheduling
The SBC conference is another one divided into two divisions of seven teams each. According to their scheduling, each team will play two cross divisional games, one at home and one away. Furthermore, each team will play against all six divisional opponents every year for a total of eight conference games.
The divisions of the SBC conference are as below:
East | West |
Old Dominion Monarchs | Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks |
Georgia Southern Eagles | South Alabama Jaguars |
Georgia State Panthers | Southern Miss Golden Eagles |
James Madison Dukes | Texas State Bobcats |
Marshall Thundering Herd | Troy Trojans |
Appalachian State Mountaineers | Arkansas State Red Wolves |
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns |
Independents (FBS) Scheduling
The Independent programs in college football are very few today with only four of them left. Most of the independent schools from earlier have joined other conferences as they can then earn revenue from television broadcasting. In addition to that, joining a conference makes their scheduling worries easier. However, the independent schools do get more flexibility to schedule their matchups as they are not conference bound. This gives them added advantage in having interesting games throughout the year.
The four independent football schools that are remaining are:
- Army West Point Black Knights
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Connecticut Huskies
- Massachusetts Minutemen
The Army has fixed annual games against the Navy and Air Force. They also have a rivalry game with Notre Dame but it is not on an annual basis and is scheduled quite randomly. As for Notre Dame, they have many long-standing rivalry matchups throughout the year and they also have a deal with the ACC which gives them five games every year.
UConn was earlier part of the AAC but their other sports faced some issues due to which they had to leave the conference in 2020. Nowadays, as their football program is not so strong, many FBS schools play against them in order to fill out their schedules.
FCS Conferences
The conferences in the FCS division of college football are undergoing regular changes with new conferences coming up and teams leaving and joining every passing year. As a result of which the scheduling format for these conferences keep on changing and information pertaining to the same is scantily available.
Big Sky Scheduling
The Big Sky Conference consists of twelve teams currently. Their schedule from 2022 to 2024 is set at eight league games which comprises two fixed annual opponents and six rotating ones. This new format was put into action to make sure that teams would get to play other teams in the conference more frequently than earlier. Teams have also been afforded the flexibility to choose at least one of their permanent opponents.
The Big Sky’s twelve-member conference is as follows:
- Idaho Vandals
- Montana Grizzlies
- Sacramento State Hornets
- Weber State Wildcats
- Cal Poly Mustangs
- Montana State Bobcats
- UC Davis Aggies
- Eastern Washington Eagles
- Idaho State Bengals
- Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
- Northern Colorado Bears
- Portland State Vikings
Big South Scheduling
The Big South Conference is one of the newest conferences in college football. Initially starting out with nine teams, it has quickly been reduced to only four at present. This conference has decided to merge with the Ohio Valley Conference in 2026 as both conferences do not have sufficient teams. Due to so many ongoing changes, the exact scheduling format for the Big South Conference is not available.
The four teams in the Big South Conference are as below:
- Bryant Bulldogs
- Charleston Southern Buccaneers
- Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
- Robert Morris Colonials
Coastal Athletic Association Conference Scheduling
The CAA conference which consists of fifteen teams has each team playing eight games in the conference. Moreover, each team has been allotted two permanent rivals annually while the remaining six games are on rotation basis. This means each team will play every other team at home and away at least once in eight years.
The fifteen members of the CAA conference are:
- William & Mary Tribe
- Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
- Monmouth Hawks
- Rhode Island Rams
- Villanova Wildcats
- Hampton Pirates
- New Hampshire Wildcats
- Albany Great Danes
- Elon Phoenix
- Maine Black Bears
- North Carolina A&T Aggies
- Richmond Spiders
- Campbell Fighting Camels
- Towson Tigers
- Stony Brook Seawolves
Independents (FCS) Conference Scheduling
In the FCS division of college football, the Kennesaw State Owls are the only team which are playing as an independent conference. The Owls are slowly beginning their transition from the FCS to the FBS as they are moving to Conference USA football conference in 2024.
Ivy League Conference Scheduling
There are a total of eight Ivy League Schools featuring in the college football program. The Ivy League Conference usually starts a little later than the other conferences, mostly near mid-September. These schools play ten games each which include a complete round-robin system where each team plays all the other seven teams. The remaining three games are scheduled against non-conference teams.
Ivy League Conference teams include:
- Dartmouth Big Green
- Harvard Crimson
- Columbia Lions
- Princeton Tigers
- Cornell Big Red
- Penn Quakers
- Yale Bulldogs
- Brown Bears
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The MEAC is a conference consisting of six football teams. As per their schedule for the 2023 season, teams will play non-conference games at the start and the end of the season with conference games being sandwiched in between.
The six participating teams in MEAC are”
- North Carolina Central Eagles
- Howard Bison
- Morgan State Bears
- Norfolk State Spartans
- Delaware State Hornets
- South Carolina State Bulldogs
Missouri Valley Conference Scheduling
The Missouri Valley Conference is one of those which has somewhat of a complex history. It has undergone a couple of name changes over the years as well. This conference uses a simple round robin system to decide the eventual conference champion. The first three weeks are usually reserved for non-conference matchups while the remaining nine weeks are for conference games. Teams are also allowed to make changes to their schedule provided both teams have a written agreement in place.
- Teams participating in this conference currently are:
- Illinois State Redbirds
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- North Dakota State Bison
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits
- Southern Illinois Salukis
- Murray State Racers
- South Dakota Coyotes
- Youngstown State Penguins
- Indiana State Sycamores
- Missouri State Bears
- UNI Panthers
- Western Illinois Leathernecks
Northeast Conference Scheduling
The Northeast Conference features eight teams which will all play each other. Each team will get four home games and three away games in the conference. Each team will also play three away non-conference games for the 2023 season.
The eight teams making up the Northeast Conference are:
- Stonehill Skyhawks
- Duquesne Dukes
- LIU Sharks
- Merrimack Warriors
- Sacred Heart Pioneers
- Saint Francis U Red Flash
- Wagner Seahawks
- Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
Ohio Valley Conference Scheduling
The Ohio Valley Conference has joined forces with the Big South Conference as both conferences had lost several teams. Now the two conferences together have a total of ten teams and will play a schedule consisting of six conference games. As prior commitments with teams are still prevalent, more conference games cannot be played currently.
The Ohio Valley Conference teams are:
- Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
- Eastern Illinois Panthers
- Tennessee State Tigers
- UT Martin Skyhawks
- Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
- Lindenwood Lions
Patriot League Conference Scheduling
The Patriot League Conference features seven teams which are as follows:
- Georgetown Hoyas
- Fordham Rams
- Bucknell Bison
- Holy Cross Crusaders
- Lafayette Leopards
- Lehigh Mountain Hawks
- Colgate Raiders
Pioneer League Conference Scheduling
This conference is truly a one-of-a-kind conference given the fact that it has teams from both coasts and many more through the heart of the country. The eleven team conference boasts teams such as:
- Stetson Hatters
- Butler Bulldogs
- Dayton Flyers
- Morehead State Eagles
- Presbyterian Blue Hose
- St. Thomas (MN) Tommies
- Marist Red Foxes
- Davidson Wildcats
- Drake Bulldogs
- San Diego Toreros
- Valparaiso Beacons
Southern Conference Scheduling
The Southern Conference is a nine-team conference which is comprised of the following teams:
- Western Carolina Catamounts
- Mercer Bears
- Chattanooga Mocs
- ETSU Buccaneers
- Furman Paladins
- VMI Keydets
- Citadel Bulldogs
- Wofford Terriers
- Samford Bulldogs
Southland Conference Scheduling
With eight teams featuring in the Southland Conference, each team will play against the other teams in a round-robin format in 2023. This is the first time since 2013 that the round-robin format has been implemented. Apart from these seven games, teams will also play non-conference games.
The Southland Conference is made up of the following eight teams:
- Houston Christian Huskies
- UIW Cardinals
- Lamar Cardinals
- McNeese Cowboys
- Nicholls Colonels
- Northwestern State Demons
- Southeastern Louisiana Lions
- Texas A&M-Commerce Lions
Southwestern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The SWAC has been divided into two divisions and since 2021, it has implemented the following schedule to its football program. Each team will play five divisional and three non-divisional games. Three teams from the other division will be rotated every two years. The team with the best record in the conference will get the chance to host the Championship game.
The two divisions of the SWAC are as follows:
EAST | WEST |
Florida A&M Rattlers | Prairie View A&M Panthers |
Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils | Alcorn State Braves |
Alabama A&M Bulldogs | Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions |
Alabama State Hornets | Grambling State Tigers |
Bethune-Cookman Wildcats | Southern University Jaguars |
Jackson State Tigers | Texas Southern Tigers |
United Athletic Conference Scheduling
The United Athletic Conference is a newly formed conference with the merger of two previously independent conferences, namely, the ASUN Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. Having nine teams currently as part of its membership, the UAC will be limited to six conference games for the 2023 season before it switches to a full round-robin system in 2024.
The UAC teams at present include:
- Tarleton State Texans
- Abilene Christian Wildcats
- Central Arkansas Bears
- Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
- Austin Peay Governors
- Eastern Kentucky Colonels
- Southern Utah Thunderbirds
- Utah Tech Trailblazers
- North Alabama Lions
Conclusion
In short, college football scheduling is not the same for each team as it has more flexibility. This is the case because the NCAA does not have a say in scheduling matters which is being handled by the respective conferences. Furthermore, each conference has its own set of rules that it follows to prepare its unique schedule taking into consideration various factors such as home and away games, conference, and non-conference games, and of course the broadcasting terms and conditions.
Sometimes, another issue which crops up during scheduling is the lack of availability of a stadium due to various factors beyond the team’s control. Considering all these factors, the committee members of each conference come out with a schedule which is then overseen by the NCAA.