The middle of the college football season is when the old rivalries come round. Between October 17 and November 7, 2026, four Saturdays bring Alabama to Knoxville, Florida State to Miami, Florida and Georgia to Atlanta, Notre Dame against Navy and then Miami, BYU to Utah, and two Big Ten trophy games. This is the list, Saturday by Saturday, with kickoff times where they are set and the TV windows where they are not. Times and venues are from ESPN's schedule; rankings are from the AP poll released on Sunday, October 4.
How kickoff times get set
Many of these games do not have a fixed start time yet. Networks choose their games a week or two ahead, and until then ESPN lists a window instead of a time: for example "3:30 to 4:30 PM ET or 6:00 to 8:00 PM ET" for an SEC game that could go to either the afternoon or the night slot. Where a time is given below, it is the one in the listing now; where it says "window", expect the time to be fixed about a week before the game. On Buffstreams the college football page picks up the final time once it is announced.
Saturday, October 17
This is the busiest of the four Saturdays.
- Alabama at Tennessee, 3:30 PM ET, Neyland Stadium. The Third Saturday in October lands on its own date this year. Alabama was No. 6 and Tennessee No. 15 in the October 4 poll.
- Florida State at Miami, 7:00 PM ET on ESPN, Hard Rock Stadium. Miami was 5-0 and No. 4 in that poll; Florida State was 3-2.
- Auburn at Georgia, 3:30 PM ET, Sanford Stadium. This is the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry, first played in 1892.
- Ohio State at Indiana, noon ET on Fox. Not a traditional rivalry, but No. 5 at No. 7, and the biggest Big Ten game of the day.
- Notre Dame at BYU, 7:30 PM ET on ABC, LaVell Edwards Stadium. Notre Dame was No. 3 and BYU No. 8.
Two of those overlap at 3:30 PM ET, and the two evening games start half an hour apart. If you follow more than one, open the game pages before kickoff and keep them in separate tabs.
Saturday, October 24
Most games this week are still in windows.
- Iowa at Minnesota, window. The winner takes Floyd of Rosedale, the bronze pig trophy the two schools have played for since 1935.
- LSU at Auburn, noon ET, Jordan-Hare Stadium.
- Texas A&M at Alabama, window (3:30 to 4:30 PM or 6:00 to 8:00 PM ET), Bryant-Denny Stadium.
- Ole Miss at Texas, window (same as above). Texas was No. 1 in the October 4 poll.
- Tennessee at South Carolina, afternoon window (3:30 to 4:30 PM ET).
Saturday, October 31
Halloween has two neutral-site games and a Big Ten trophy game.
- Florida vs. Georgia, 3:30 PM ET on ABC, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The game usually lives in Jacksonville; this year it moves to Atlanta, with Georgia listed as the home team.
- Notre Dame vs. Navy, noon ET, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Navy is the home team, playing near Boston instead of at its own stadium in Annapolis.
- Wisconsin at Iowa, window. The Heartland Trophy, a bronze bull, goes to the winner.
- Ohio State at USC, window, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
- Missouri at Arkansas, window (3:30 to 4:30 PM or 6:00 to 8:00 PM ET).
Saturday, November 7
The first Saturday in November has the strongest list of the four.
- Miami at Notre Dame, 7:30 PM ET on NBC, Notre Dame Stadium. Both teams were 5-0 in the October 4 poll, at No. 4 and No. 3.
- Alabama at LSU, window, Tiger Stadium. One of the SEC's best-known night games when it gets the late slot.
- BYU at Utah, window, Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Holy War, between two schools about 45 miles apart.
- Oregon at Ohio State, window, Ohio Stadium.
- Georgia at Ole Miss, window, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
- Kentucky at Tennessee, night window (6:00 to 8:00 PM ET).
Rankings will have moved by then, of course. By early November the College Football Playoff committee publishes its own rankings, and these games are where teams make or lose their case for the 12-team field.
Planning a full Saturday
A college football Saturday has three main windows, at noon, 3:30 PM and 7:00 to 7:30 PM ET, with the West Coast games going later. Some practical points for the four weeks above:
- The late games out West, such as BYU or Utah at home, can start at 10:00 PM ET or later. In the East they finish after 1:00 AM.
- Clocks change on November 1 in the US. For viewers in Europe, the gap to ET is one hour shorter on October 31 than on the other Saturdays, because Europe changed its clocks on October 25 and the US had not yet.
- Lightning delays are common in the South through October. If a game is not live at its listed time, check its page before assuming the feed is down.
After the regular season
Conference title games follow in early December. The 12-team playoff starts with first-round games on campus on December 18 and 19, moves to the Fiesta Bowl on December 30 and the Cotton, Rose and Peach Bowls on January 1, then the Orange and Sugar Bowl semifinals on January 14 and 15. The national championship is at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on January 25, 2027.
Every game above appears on the college football page under its Saturday, with the time shown on your own clock and a page of stream links for each one. The NFL fills the Sundays on the NFL page.
