Overview
- North Carolina and TCU kick off the 2026 season in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, Aug. 29, with a noon ET kickoff televised by ESPN and available to stream on Fubo.
- Week 0 features eight FBS games on Aug. 29 that serve as the season’s opener, including high‑interest matchups such as Memphis at UNLV that are viewed as an early Group‑of‑Six pathway to CFP relevance.
- Broadcasters and streamers published full Week 0 and Week 1 windows, with games spread across ESPN, NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, The CW and niche cable nets plus services like Fubo and ESPN+.
- Opening betting lines and computer models are live for Week 0, and analysts are publishing divergent CFP forecasts—ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach notably disagree on Oregon’s projected seed and path in the 12‑team bracket.
- The CFP postseason calendar is fixed through Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and talks over expanding the playoff remain unresolved with the Big Ten, ACC, Big 12 and Notre Dame pushing for 24 teams and the SEC backing 16, a negotiation expected to continue into September with a possible decision by December.