Touchdown Season! College Football’s Biggest Opening Weekend Is Here
Quick Summary
College football is back! The 2026 season’s Week 1 is underway right now, with games being played from Thursday through Monday. Today — Friday, September 4 — more matchups are on the schedule. Fans across the country are filling up stadiums, watching their favorite teams take the field for the very first time this year.
What Happened?
Every September, something exciting happens across the United States: college football roars back to life. More than 100 college teams begin their season during Week 1, playing against each other in front of huge crowds of cheering fans.
This year’s Week 1 is spread across five days — Thursday through Monday — giving fans almost a whole week of non-stop football action. Thursday’s games already got things started, with matchups like Colorado at Georgia Tech and Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Missouri. Today, Friday, more teams take the field, including San Jose State at Eastern Michigan.
The biggest wave of games arrives on Saturday, September 5, which is when most of the top programs play. That includes matchups like East Carolina at Alabama and Washington State at Washington.
This is the 13th year of the College Football Playoff — the system that decides the national champion at the end of the season. This year’s playoff still uses the 12-team format, which means more teams than ever before have a chance to win a national title.
For many players, Week 1 is the moment they have dreamed about since childhood. Months of early-morning practice, film study, and hard work all lead to this: running out onto the field in front of thousands of roaring fans.
And for fans young and old, there is nothing quite like the smell of popcorn, the crunch of a tackle, and a last-second touchdown to make autumn feel perfectly complete.
Why Does It Matter?
College football is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Millions of people tune in each weekend, and many of today’s college players will go on to play professionally in the NFL. Week 1 is where the journey to a championship begins — for teams that are expected to win big and for underdog teams hoping to pull off a giant surprise.
It is also a reminder of what makes sports great: teamwork, effort, and the thrill of not knowing who will come out on top.
Big Words
- College Football Playoff (CFP) — the system used to determine the national champion in college football each year; the top 12 teams compete in a bracket of games at the end of the season
- Week 1 — the first full week of the regular college football season, when most teams play their opening game
- Matchup — a game between two specific teams
- Underdog — a team that is not expected to win, but plays hard to surprise everyone
- Regular season — the series of games all teams play before the playoffs begin
Fun Fact
College football stadiums can be enormous — Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor holds over 100,000 fans, making it one of the largest sports venues in the entire world!
Think About It
If you were a college athlete, what sport would you play — and what is the hardest part of being part of a team?
Sources
- NCAA.com — College Football Schedule: When Does the 2026 College Football Season Start?
- College Football News — College Football Week 1 Schedule, Predictions & Scoreboard
- ESPN — College Football Schedule – Week 1, 2026 Season
- CBS Sports — FBS College Football Schedule – Week 1