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We are six months away from kickoff of the 2026 college football season.
With half a year to go, the American Conference released its 2026 football schedule on Thursday, Feb. 26. In an ever-evolving college football landscape, the American is at a place of stability right now. The conference is comprised of the same 14 teams for the third year in a row.
There is one notable difference, however. The American Conference Championship Game returns to Saturday (Dec. 5) after a brief 2-year run of kicking off Friday night. However, the time and network are currently unannounced.
Without further ado, here is the complete 2026 American Conference football schedule:
2026 American football schedule
| Week | Saturday Date | Army | Charlotte | East Carolina | Florida Atlantic | Memphis | Navy | North Texas | Rice | South Florida | Temple | Tulane | Tulsa | UAB | UTSA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Aug. 29 | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | at UNLV* | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE |
| 1 | Sept. 5 | vs. Bryant (FCS)* | vs. The Citadel (FCS)* | at Alabama* | at Florida* | vs. Arkansas State* | vs. Towson (FCS)* | at Indiana* | vs. Houston Christian (FCS)* | vs. FIU* | vs. Rhode Island (FCS)* | at Duke* | vs. Oklahoma State* | at Illinois* | vs. UTRGV (FCS)* |
| 2 | Sept. 12 | vs. South Florida | at Ole Miss* | vs. App State* | vs. Navy | at Boise State* | at Florida Atlantic | vs. UNLV | at Notre Dame* | at Army | vs. Penn State* | vs. South Alabama* | at Sam Houston* | vs. ULM* | at Texas State* |
| 3 | Sept. 19 | BYE | at App State* | at Old Dominion* | vs. FIU* | vs. UT Martin (FCS)* | BYE | at Texas State* | vs. Western Michigan* | vs. Delaware State (FCS)* | at Toledo* | at Kansas State* | vs. East Texas A&M (FCS)* | at Louisiana* | at Texas* |
| 4 | Sept. 26 | at Temple | vs. Louisiana* | vs. NC Central (FCS)* | at ULM* | BYE | at UAB [Fri] | vs. Houston Christian (FCS)* | at Fresno State* | at Bowling Green* | vs. Army | vs. Southern Miss* | at Arkansas* | vs. Navy [Fri] | vs. Colorado State* |
| 5 | Oct. 3 | at Louisiana Tech* | vs. Memphis | BYE | vs. Texas Southern (FCS)* | at Charlotte | at Air Force* | at Tulsa [Thu] | vs. UTSA | vs. Temple | at South Florida | BYE | vs. North Texas [Thu] | vs. Samford (FCS)* | at Rice |
| 6 | Oct. 10 | vs. Tulane | at North Texas | vs. Rice | BYE | vs. UAB | vs. Tulsa | vs. Charlotte | at East Carolina | at UTSA [Thu] | vs. UConn* | at Army | at Navy | at Memphis | vs. South Florida [Thu] |
| 7 | Oct. 17 | vs. Florida Atlantic | at Temple | at UAB [Thu] | at Army | at Tulane [Fri] | at UTSA | BYE | vs. Tulsa | vs. Kent State* | vs. Charlotte | vs. Memphis [Fri] | at Rice | vs. East Carolina [Thu] | vs. Navy |
| 8 | Oct. 24 | at Tulsa [Fri] | BYE | at Memphis [Thu] | vs. Rice | vs. East Carolina [Thu] | vs. North Texas | at Navy | at Florida Atlantic | BYE | BYE | vs. UTSA | vs. Army [Fri] | BYE | at Tulane |
| 9 | Oct. 31 | at Memphis | vs. Tulane [Fri] | vs. Temple | at North Texas [Thu] | vs. Army | vs. Notre Dame* [neutral] | vs. Florida Atlantic [Thu] | BYE | vs. UAB | at East Carolina | at Charlotte [Fri] | BYE | at South Florida | BYE |
| 10 | Nov. 7 | vs. Air Force* | at UAB | vs. South Florida [Fri] | vs. UTSA [Thu] | BYE | vs. Temple | vs. Rice | at North Texas | at East Carolina [Fri] | at Navy | vs. Tulsa | at Tulane | vs. Charlotte | at Florida Atlantic [Thu] |
| 11 | Nov. 14 | BYE | vs. East Carolina | at Charlotte | at Tulsa | at South Florida [Thu] | BYE | at UTSA | vs. Tulane | vs. Memphis [Thu] | vs. UAB | at Rice | vs. Florida Atlantic | at Temple | vs. North Texas |
| 12 | Nov. 21 | vs. East Carolina | at Tulsa | at Army | vs. South Florida | at Navy | vs. Memphis | at Tulane | at Temple [Thu] | at Florida Atlantic | vs. Rice [Thu] | vs. North Texas | vs. Charlotte | vs. UTSA | at UAB |
| 13 | Nov. 28 | at Rice | vs. Navy | vs. Florida Atlantic [Fri or Sat] | at East Carolina [Fri or Sat] | vs. Temple [Fri or Sat] | at Charlotte | vs. UAB | vs. Army | vs. Tulane [Fri or Sat] | at Memphis [Fri or Sat] | at South Florida [Fri or Sat] | at UTSA [Fri or Sat] | at North Texas | vs. Tulsa [Fri or Sat] |
| 14 | Dec. 5 | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship | American Championship |
| 15 | Dec. 12 | vs. Navy* [neutral] | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | vs. Army* [neutral] | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE | BYE |
* denotes non-conference game
Confirmed weeknight games
There are 13 confirmed weeknight games, and all of them are conference matchups. Eight of these weeknight games transpire on Thursday night, while the other five are Friday night spectacles.
- Friday, Sept. 25: Navy at UAB
- Thursday, Oct. 1: North Texas at Tulsa
- Thursday, Oct. 8: South Florida at UTSA
- Thursday, Oct. 15: East Carolina at UAB
- Friday, Oct. 16: Memphis at Tulane
- Thursday, Oct. 22: East Carolina at Memphis
- Friday, Oct. 23: Army at Tulsa
- Thursday, Oct. 29: Florida Atlantic at North Texas
- Friday, Oct. 30: Tulane at Charlotte
- Thursday, Nov. 5: UTSA at Florida Atlantic
- Friday, Nov. 6: South Florida at East Carolina
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Memphis at South Florida
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Rice at Temple
These games are typically broadcast on ESPN, sometimes ESPN2, so it’s no surprise to see last year’s contenders frequently appear on Thursday and Friday nights. Here’s a breakdown of confirmed weeknight games by team:
- East Carolina — 3
- Memphis — 3
- South Florida — 3
- Florida Atlantic — 2
- North Texas — 2
- Tulane — 2
- Tulsa — 2
- UAB — 2
- UTSA — 2
- Army — 1
- Charlotte — 1
- Navy — 1
- Rice — 1
- Temple — 1
Thanksgiving weekend
After SEC on ABC moved the Egg Bowl from its traditional Thanksgiving Night slot to Black Friday, that opened the door for the American Conference to swoop in and put its stake in the ground for college football’s standalone Turkey Day game. In 2024, Tulane and Memphis battled in a primetime ESPN showdown on the holiday. In 2025, Memphis and Navy took center stage on ESPN as college football’s lone Thanksgiving spectacle. However, after a 2-year run, the American has discontinued the tradition.
In fact, there are currently zero college games scheduled on Thanksgiving Day 2026 as of Feb. 26, with Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt as the only leagues yet to reveal their schedules. Unless one of those leagues schedules a game for Thursday, Nov. 26, this will be the first Thanksgiving without FBS college football since 1997.
Also, there are four American matchups on Thanksgiving weekend assigned floating dates. These games can be played on either Friday or Saturday, and these games will be set in stone at a later date.
- Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28: Florida Atlantic at East Carolina
- Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28: Temple at Memphis
- Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28: Tulane at South Florida
- Friday, Nov. 27 or Saturday, Nov. 28: Tulsa at UTSA
Neutral-site games
There are two neutral-site games involving American teams for the 2026 season, and both involve Navy. Both will be played at NFL venues — one at the home of the New England Patriots and another at the home of the New York Giants/New York Jets:
- Saturday, Oct. 31: Navy vs. Notre Dame — Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Army vs. Navy — MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
The Army-Navy Game remains in its usual slot on the second Saturday of December. Although Army and Navy are American Conference opponents, this historic rivalry — which transpires after conference championship weekend — is considered a non-conference matchup. The 127th Army-Navy Game on Dec. 12, 2026 will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford for the first time since 2021.
2026 American Championship
The 2026 American Conference Championship Game returns to Saturday and will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 5.
From 2015-25, the American title game always was showcased on ABC, but the time and network have yet to be announced. The ACC Championship Game will move earlier in the day to the 12 p.m. ET ABC timeslot this coming December, while the SEC Championship Game owns the 4 p.m. ET afternoon ABC timeslot for the third-straight year. If the American Championship remains on ABC, it will likely compete against the Big Ten Championship (on FOX) in primetime.
As usual, the host site is the campus stadium of the team with the best conference record. If two teams share identical records and did not play head-to-head in the regular season, then the College Football Playoff rankings determine the host site. This tiebreaker was used to set last year’s conference championship at Tulane instead of North Texas.
Other schedule trivia
- Memphis opens shop on Aug. 29 for a Week 0 matchup at UNLV. This is only the third time the American Conference has ever been featured in Week 0. In 2023, Navy traveled to Ireland to face Notre Dame. In 2017, South Florida flew to the West Coast to battle San Jose State. Also, this makes the American the only conference to play all 16 weeks of the regular season, from this Week 0 showdown through the Week 15 Army-Navy Game.
- The rematch of the 2025 American Championship Game between Tulane and North Texas is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21. The two did not battle in the regular season last year, but Tulane won 34-21 in New Orleans to seal a College Football Playoff bid. This late-season rematch also transpires in New Orleans at Yulman Stadium.
- American teams play three 2025 College Football Playoff qualifiers in the non-conference slate. North Texas opens at defending national champion Indiana in Week 1, East Carolina pays a visit to Alabama in Week 1, and Charlotte travels to Ole Miss in Week 2.
- For the second-straight season, Tulane is the only American team to avoid playing an FCS opponent. In 2026, the Green Wave host South Alabama and Southern Miss while traveling to road games at Duke and Kansas State. Tulane played all four of these opponents in non-conference at one point from 2023-25.
- UTSA waits the longest of any team before leaving its state borders. With two home games and road games at Texas State, Texas, and Rice in the first five weeks, the Roadrunners do not have to leave the Lone Star State until a Thursday, Oct. 8 matchup at South Florida.
- Navy goes the longest without playing a road game. The Midshipmen do not have a true road contest from their Oct. 17 matchup at UTSA until their Nov. 28 trip to Charlotte. There are three conference home games, a neutral-site matchup in New Jersey vs. Notre Dame, and a bye week in between that month-plus stretch.
- This is the fourth-straight year Memphis vs. Tulane has been on a Thursday or Friday night. The 2023 matchup in Memphis was a Friday night game. The 2024 Thanksgiving meeting in New Orleans transpired on Thursday night. Last year’s battle in Memphis occurred on a Friday night. Now this year’s Oct. 16 showcase in New Orleans is slated for a Friday night.