Week 1 of the 2026 college football season has turned into a full-on showcase for the AP Top 25, with every ranked team set to hit the field by Monday night.
The slate stretches from Thursday through Sept. 7, and the headliners are easy to spot: No. 24 Louisville against No.
9 Ole Miss in a ranked-on-ranked matchup Sunday night, Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut against Clemson, and a Monday-night meeting between No. 19 SMU and Florida State.
A couple of ranked teams already handled business on Thursday. No.
25 Missouri beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 54-14, and No. 21 Utah rolled past Idaho, 66-14.
Friday brings three more ranked teams into action, starting with UTEP at No. 10 Oklahoma at SEC Network.
No. 7 Miami travels to Stanford on ESPN, and Fresno State heads to No.
14 USC on FOX.
Saturday is where the schedule really swells. The day opens with North Texas at No.
6 Indiana on FOX, followed by East Carolina at No. 13 Alabama on ABC and Oregon State at No.
23 Houston on ESPN. No.
1 Ohio State hosts Ball State at 12:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network, while No. 3 Georgia takes on Tennessee State on SEC Network and No.
20 Tennessee faces Furman later in the afternoon.
There’s plenty more on the board Saturday, including Marshall at No. 18 Penn State on FS1, Texas State at No.
5 Texas on ESPN, Boise State at No. 2 Oregon on CBS, and Northern Illinois at No.
22 Iowa on Big Ten Network. Night games add Missouri State at No.
8 Texas A&M, Abilene Christian at No. 12 Texas Tech, Western Michigan at No.
16 Michigan, and Clemson at No. 11 LSU, with Utah Tech at No.
14 BYU closing out the day on ESPN+.
Sunday keeps the ranked action rolling. Washington State visits No.
17 Washington on NBC, and Wisconsin meets No. 4 Notre Dame in Green Bay on NBC before Louisville and Ole Miss square off in Nashville on ABC.
The week wraps Monday night with No. 19 SMU at Florida State on ESPN.
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