OUR 2026 SCHEDULE KICKS OFF AUGUST 29 AND FINISHES “TENTATIVELY” ON JANUARY 14
Collegefootballfan.com celebrates 47th season and 750th Game in 2026
Lebanon, TN – On August 29, we start to celebrate our 47th season of another full slate of college games including our 750th contest! In so many ways, this season gives us much to celebrate and be thankful for. Our 47th kicks off on a very high mark personally. On August 29, I celebrate my 70th birthday. Can’t believe it. Still going strong to pursue this fantastic, unique lifetime adventure. Til I drop? Thanks to many of you who joined me along the way and who continue to follow this adventure online!
Week 0 2026 starts with New Mexico State at Florida State, hopefully without the threat of any hurricane (not Miami U type, of course). Lots of questions about the Seminoles entering this season again. HC Mike Norvell sits the hot seat after two seasons of no bowl games and a 7-17 record. The Aggie’s mirror the same record, but not against Power Five competitors. Only the second time NMSU appears on our slate. The first turned out to be a memorable experience when we saw them play Army at West Point in 1999. Read the chapter, “Try this at your Local Supermarket!” in my book, Fifty Years of Tailgate Tales.
Primary goals: Competitive games, new destinations, and other fun stuff
Reviewing our schedule now in July, six teams on our slate rank in Top 25’s of several preseason polls. That doesn’t concern us that there seems to be a shortage of quality teams. Two play each other on October 10 when USC visits Penn State in a Big Ten clash of significance for both. Between August 29 and January 27 at the CFP championship in Las Vegas, preseason rankings will be totally dismantled. We know after 46 seasons following this that Top 25’s are mostly wrong. For our schedule every year, we plan to attend a competitive game every weekend as best we can. It’s tough to forecast, but luckily, that works out for us more often than not.
With ulterior goals to reach within our life-long adventure, we align finding competitive games at all college football venues and eventually in 49 states and Washington D.C., especially where we have not yet attended. Last year, we attended a D-3 game in Vermont, the highest level of college football played in The Pine Tree State. This season, we target six new stadiums to watch games, three new states to see a game for the first time, and two new teams never witnessed in action before us (FCS West Georgia and FCS UC Davis). In October, we will celebrate our 750th game over two consecutive football weekends tailgating with friends known since the very beginning of this adventure!
Every season, we announce our “Tentative” schedule around the beginning of May. Of course, it’s subject to change for media scheduling, better opportunities or unavoidable personal issues even after the seasons start. Retirement from the 40+hour work weeks has really paid off to focus more on this great adventure. With a designated “bucket list” (published in the final pages of our book) we focus on that as best we can to balance out our season between favorite, traditional places experienced over the years along with brand new opportunities. Hopefully, the new adventures keep us young. Who knows how long we will be able to continue to attain the goals we list, but however far we can go, we’re going to make sure we continue to enjoy this crazy journey.
Get on board here to join our 2026 collegefootballfan.com schedule!
Last season, our travels brought us up to 203 stadiums attended (102 in FBS) and 42 states (including DC) in all since our adventure began. We now plan some games closer to our Tennessee headquarters early to begin our football travels. This alleviates some early travel costs. This works well now especially since we now prefer to go see more significant games in the future during post-season play. Also, we try to weave around over, and past the many early season games. Powerhouses tend to pay non-competitive programs for an automatic win. We try avoid them now. Please follow us regularly during the upcoming season. See games we plan to attend listed below.
FINAL 2026 COLLEGEFOOTBALLFAN.COM SCHEDULE
August-September 2026
AUG 29 NEW MEXICO STATE AT FLORIDA STATE, TALLAHASSEE, FL
SEPT 6, LOUISVILLE VS. OLE MISS, NASHVILLE, TN (NISSAN STADIUM)
SEPT 12 DELAWARE AT VANDERBILT, NASHVILLE, TN
SEPT 18 MIAMI (FL) AT WAKE FOREST, WINSTON-SALEM, NC
SEPT 19 WEST GEORGIA** AT EAST TENNESSEE STATE, JOHNSON CITY, TN**
SEPT 25 NAVY AT ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM, BIRMINGHAM, AL
SEPT 26 SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AT TULANE, NEWORLEANS, LA**
OCTOBER 2026 SCHEDULE
OCT 3 MARYLAND AT NEBRASKA, LINCOLN, NE**
OCT 10 USC AT PENN STATE, STATE COLLEGE, PA
OCT 17 AUBURN AT GEORGIA, ATHENS, GA
OCT 24 NORTH TEXAS STATE AT NAVY, ANNAPOLIS, MD
OCT 27 DELAWARE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY, BOWLING GREEN, KY
OCT 28 KENNESAW STATE AT MIDDLE TENNESEE STATE, MURFREESBORO, TN
OCT 31 TEXAS STATE AT BOISE STATE. BOISE, ID**
NOVEMBER 2026 SCHEDULE
NOV 7 KENTUCKY AT TENNESEE, KNOXVILLE, TN
NOV 14 UC DAVIS* AT IDAHO, MOSCOW, ID** 1PM PT
NOV 14 COLORADO STATE AT WASHINGTON STATE, PULLMAN, WA** 7:30 PM PT
NOV 21 MEMPHIS AT NAVY, ANNAPOLIS, MD
NOV 28 TULANE AT SOUTH FLORIDA, TAMPA, FL
DECEMBER 2026 SCHEDULE
DEC 4 CONFERENCE USA OR SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP, SITE TBD AND/OR
DEC 5 ACC OR AMERICAN ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIP, SITE TBD
DEC 12 ARMY- NAVY, EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ
DEC 20 BOWL GAME OR PLAY-OFF, SITE TBD
DEC 26 CHRISTMAS BYE WEEK
January – Championship and Bowl Season
JAN 1 CHICK-FIL-A CFP QUARTERFINAL PEACH BOWL, ATLANTA, GA
JAN 9 FCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, NASHVILLE, TN
JAN 14 CAPITALONE SEMI-FINAL ORANGE BOWL, MIAMI LAKES, FL
JAN 25 CFP CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ???, LAS VEGAS, NV- UNDER CONSIDERATION
* INDICATES A NEW TEAM ON OUR SCHEDULE SEEN FOR THE FIRST TIME
**INDICATES A NEW VENUE ON OUR SCHEDULE VISITED FOR THE FIRST TIME
