Week 4 of the 2026 college football season is loaded from top to bottom, and Saturday, Sept. 26 is the kind of slate that keeps fans parked in front of the TV all day. The headliner arrives early, with No.
1 Texas heading to Knoxville to meet No. 14 Tennessee at Neyland Stadium at 12 p.m.
ET on ABC.
That’s only the start. ESPN College GameDay will be on campus for the matchup, and President Donald Trump is set to attend, giving the opening window of the day a huge spotlight. From there, the schedule never really lets up.
There are ranked showdowns in every major timeslot, including No. 4 Ole Miss at No.
21 Florida, No. 17 Iowa at No.
18 Michigan, No. 23 Texas A&M at No.
10 LSU, No. 20 Oregon at No.
12 USC, and No. 19 Missouri at No.
24 Mississippi State. In other words, this is one of those Saturdays where the channel remote will get a workout.
The day opens with a crowded noon window. Along with Texas-Tennessee, FOX has Illinois at No.
7 Ohio State, TNT carries Sam Houston at No. 11 Texas Tech, ESPN has Wake Forest at No.
16 Louisville, and ESPN2 shows Colorado at Baylor. That same slot also includes Bucknell at Pitt, Virginia Tech at Boston College, San Diego State at Toledo, Colorado State at UTSA, UNLV at Akron, Ball State at Kent State, Presbyterian at Marist, and Wisconsin-Whitewater at Keystone.
A little later, South Alabama visits Kentucky at 12:45 p.m. on SEC Network, followed by another wave of games at 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and YouTube, including Lindenwood at Eastern Michigan, Monmouth at Dartmouth, Stony Brook at Fordham, Yale at Cornell, North Dakota at Indiana State, Lehigh at Penn, Drake at Davidson, New Haven at Merrimack, Kentucky State at Albany State, Edward Waters at Morehouse, Methodist at Apprentice School, Lycoming at Rowan, and Albion at Hope.
The afternoon builds toward another strong batch. At 1:30 p.m., UCLA travels to Maryland on Big Ten Network.
At 2 p.m., No. 3 Notre Dame is at Purdue on Peacock, while Northern Illinois plays Georgia State, South Dakota meets Youngstown State, Furman goes to Richmond, UT Martin visits Austin Peay, Butler is at Valparaiso, Chattanooga travels to The Citadel, and Colgate plays Villanova.
At 3 p.m., Central Arkansas visits Florida State on ACC Network, Hawai’i plays Wyoming on CW, and UAlbany is at Princeton on ESPN+. Then the 3:30 p.m. window hits hard: Oklahoma at No.
2 Georgia on ESPN, No. 4 Ole Miss at No.
21 Florida on ABC, No. 15 Utah at Iowa State on FOX, No.
17 Iowa at No. 18 Michigan on CBS, TCU at UCF on FS1, William & Mary at Duke on ACCNX, Boise State at Western Michigan on ESPN2, UConn at Miami (Ohio) on ESPN+, New Mexico at New Mexico State on CBSSN, Robert Morris at Buffalo on ESPN+, Stonehill at Ohio on ESPN+, Gardner-Webb at Marshall on ESPN+, Western Carolina at East Tennessee State on ESPN+, and VMI at Samford on ESPN+.
The late afternoon keeps rolling with No. 25 Houston at Georgia Southern at 4 p.m. on ESPNU, North Carolina Central at East Carolina on ESPN+, Western Illinois at North Alabama on ESPN+, Lamar at Nicholls on ESPN+, and Olivet at Calvin on YouTube. At 4:15 p.m., Vanderbilt heads to Auburn on SEC Network.
At 5 p.m., Wisconsin visits No. 13 Penn State on Peacock, Nebraska is at Michigan State on Big Ten Network, and South Florida plays Bowling Green on ESPN+. Illinois State also meets UNI on ESPN+.
The evening slate is just as crowded. Delaware visits Virginia at 6 p.m. on ACC Network, UIW is at Texas State on USA Network, Long Island University plays Florida International on ESPN+, James Madison visits Old Dominion on ESPN+, Fort Valley State is at West Georgia on ESPN+, Northeastern State visits Stephen F.
Austin on ESPN+, and Trine plays at Kalamazoo on YouTube. Central Michigan then goes to No.
6 Miami (Fla.) at 6:30 p.m. on CW, while Louisiana visits Charlotte on ESPN+.
At 7 p.m., South Carolina is at No. 8 Alabama on ESPN, Kansas State visits Cincinnati on ESPN2, Oklahoma State goes to West Virginia on FS1, and a long list of ESPN+ games follows: Southern Miss at Tulane, Kennesaw State at Arkansas State, Mercyhurst at Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee at Jacksonville State, Southern Illinois at Murray State, Cal Poly at Eastern Washington, Eastern Illinois at South Dakota State, SE Louisiana at Northwestern State, Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Southern at Jackson State, East Texas A&M at McNeese, and West Florida at Southeast Missouri State.
Then comes the night’s marquee finish. No.
23 Texas A&M visits No. 10 LSU at 7:30 p.m. on ABC, No.
20 Oregon plays No. 12 USC at 7:30 p.m. on NBC, Arizona travels to Washington State on CBS, Troy is at Utah State on CBSSN, Houston Christian visits North Texas on ESPN+, and Appalachian State plays at NC State on ESPNU.
At 7:45 p.m., No. 19 Missouri heads to No.
24 Mississippi State on SEC Network.
The final stretch runs deep into the night. Tulsa visits Arkansas at 8 p.m. on SECN+, Florida Atlantic plays UL Monroe on ESPN+, Mercer is at Abilene Christian on ESPN+, Idaho State visits Southern Utah on ESPN+, Utah Tech is at Northern Colorado on ESPN+, Portland State plays Weber State on ESPN+, and Harding meets Ouachita Baptist on YouTube.
At 9 p.m., Missouri State visits No. 22 SMU on ACC Network and Oregon State plays at UTEP on MW+, while UMass visits Sacramento State on ESPN+.
Rice is at Fresno State at 10 p.m. on CW, Montana visits UC Davis on ESPN+, and then the very last games of the night arrive at 10:30 p.m.: Georgia Tech at Sanford on ESPN, Air Force at Nevada on FS1, and Northern Arizona at Montana State on ESPN2. Minnesota at Washington closes out the full schedule at 11 p.m. on FOX.
In Other News...
Texas Is Chasing A Key Flip In A Crowded Recruiting Battle
Texas has jumped into the race for three-star linebacker Jason Crenshaw Jr., a Georgia Tech commitment whose recruitment has suddenly gotten a lot busier. The Longhorns offered Crenshaw, and since then the list of suitors has grown to include several heavyweight programs, which is usually a sign that a prospect's stock is rising fast. For Texas, the appeal is obvious: if a player starts drawing that kind of national attention, getting him on campus becomes the first real test.
Crenshaw is set to make an official visit to Austin in late October, giving the Longhorns a chance to sell him in the middle of one of the more eye-catching home dates on the schedule. It is the kind of weekend that can change a recruit's perspective quickly, especially when a defender has a current pledge elsewhere and a growing pile of fresh offers waiting in the wings. Texas now has a real shot to make a late push, but the full picture of where this one is headed still has to unfold. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Lets Another Road Lead Slip In Frustrating SEC Draw
Texas had a chance to bring home a road win from Donald R. Dizney Stadium, but instead settled for a 1-1 SEC draw with Florida after taking the lead in the first half. Anderson put the Longhorns in front on a penalty kick in the 30th minute, giving Texas a path to a useful conference result in a tough environment.
Florida answered in the second half when Zoe Main curled in a free kick from just outside the box at the 59:40 mark, and the Gators pressed harder after that, outshooting Texas over the final 45 minutes. Bayliss Flynn helped Texas hang on with five saves, but the Longhorns were left to wonder about another road lead that got away. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Faces An SEC Road Test That Will Reveal A Lot
Texas is about to find out plenty about itself in Knoxville, where the Longhorns open SEC play on the road in their first-ever game at Tennessee and their first road trip of the season. Steve Sarkisian made it clear this one is as much about habits as venue, pointing to ball control, winning the line of scrimmage and matching the kind of physicality that usually decides September league games.
Tennessee comes in at 3-0 and has already established a confident early-season rhythm, which only sharpens the challenge for Texas on a field it has never played before. For the Longhorns, the visit offers an immediate read on how well the offseason talk translates when the game gets tighter, louder and a lot more demanding in conference play. [Read more 🡒]