Arizona State heads into 2026 with a very different kind of spotlight on it.
Two years after Kenny Dillingham said the Sun Devils were ready for the College Football Playoff, that idea no longer sounds out of place. Dillingham has already turned that early confidence into credibility, and now Arizona State gets another chance to show the skeptics they were wrong again.
The program also locked in its coach for the long haul in December, when ASU gave Dillingham a five-year extension and shut down the chatter about him leaving for a bigger job. But the roster story is just as important. The Sun Devils are basically rebuilding from the ground up, with Sam Leavitt now at LSU and chasing a Heisman Trophy, and not a single full-time offensive starter from last season back on the team.
Arizona State opens the 2026 season against Morgan State on Sept. 5, and that matchup kicks off a schedule that quickly turns into a major test. The Sun Devils go to Texas A&M on Sept. 12, then host Kansas on Sept. 19.
Here’s the full 2026 Arizona State football schedule with dates, times and TV info:
- Sept. 5 vs. Morgan State - 10 p.m.
ET, ESPN+
- Sept. 12 at Texas A&M - Noon ET, ABC
- Sept. 19 vs. Kansas - Noon ET, FS1
- Oct. 3 vs. Baylor - TBA
- Oct. 10 vs. Hawaii - TBA
- Oct. 17 at Texas Tech - TBA
- Oct. 24 vs.
Kansas State - TBA
- Oct. 31 at BYU - TBA
- Nov. 7 vs. Colorado - TBA
- Nov. 14 at UCF - TBA
- Nov. 21 vs.
Oklahoma State - TBA
- Nov. 28 at Arizona - TBA
- Dec. 5 Big 12 Championship - 8 p.m.
ET, ABC
The final stretch also includes the regular-season finale at Arizona on Nov. 28 before the Big 12 Championship on Dec. 5.
In Other News...
Former Sun Devil Sam Leavitt Lands At Center Of LSU Overhaul
When LSU moved on from Brian Kelly during the 2025 season and hired Lane Kiffin, the ripple effect was immediate and sweeping. The Tigers roster has been rebuilt almost from scratch for 2026, with 38 players transferring out and 44 new transfers coming in, and the updated depth chart is already being shaped by the kind of movement that changes a programs identity in a hurry.
At the center of that overhaul is former Sun Devil quarterback Sam Leavitt, now one of the most notable names in the LSU reset as the new staff sorts out its first look at the offense. He is joined by other high-profile additions, including left tackle Jordan Seaton, and the Tigers reported transfer haul, along with the latest 247Sports and Ourlads data, gives a strong sense of just how aggressively Kiffin is trying to retool the roster before 2026 arrives. [Read more 🡒]