College football is officially back, and how sweet it is.
While most fans anticipate the start of the college football season to begin on Labor Day weekend in Week 1, the 2026 season officially gets underway today, Saturday, August 29, with Week 0 action!
But the question fans are asking is whether Week 0 counts towards teams’ 2026 records.
Does Week 0 Count Towards the 2026 College Football Season?
Despite the naming of the week, Week 0 is absolutely the start of the college football season. The games all count towards records and, ultimately, postseason resumes.
The start of the season is called “Week 0” simply for scheduling-related purposes.
The NCAA allows a limited number of teams to play before the traditional opening weekend, thus providing certain programs with the opportunity to get their seasons underway a week earlier than most.
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For 2026, the FBS season features eight games on Saturday, providing an early taste of the football season to follow.
So who takes action in Week 0? For a week that is largely a tune-up with larger implications for these teams, some entertaining games fill the slate.
Week 0 kicks off at noon Eastern with all eyes on Bill Belichick and his North Carolina Tar Heels as they look to avoid starting 0-1 for the second straight season, against the TCU Horned Frogs once again, this time in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium.
No. 14 USC then takes the field against San Jose State at 3 p.m. ET. The Trojans are the only AP Top 25-ranked team playing and enter the season with significant expectations under head coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Jayden Maiava, who is expected to be in the thick of the Heisman race.
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Another notable afternoon matchup sees NC State travel to Virginia for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff. This game was originally slated to take place in Brazil as part of college football’s ever-expanding international matchups. Instead, the game will take place in Charlottesville, Virginia. This means the two ACC foes will play a conference game in Week 0, which is very far from the norm in college football.
The evening slate then includes Jacksonville State and newly promoted North Dakota State, who come up from FCS, at 5:30 p.m. ET. That game is followed by Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Later on, at 7 p.m., Hawaii visits Stanford while New Mexico State travels to Florida State as head coach Mike Norvell looks to get off the hot seat with Florida State.
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The final FBS game of the night features an intriguing matchup between Memphis and UNLV at 10 p.m. ET. UNLV has confirmed its intentions to use both Jackson Arnold and Alex Orji at quarterback, setting up quite the interesting quarterback competition as the season begins.
Interested in these Week 0 matchups and wondering where you can watch them? Well, here is where you find these college football games on your television.
Where to Watch Week 0
- North Carolina vs. TCU – 12 p.m. ET (on ESPN)
- San Jose State at Southern California – 3 p.m. ET (on NBC/Peacock)
- NC State at Virginia – 3:30 p.m. ET (on ESPN)
- Jacksonville State at North Dakota State – 5:30 p.m. ET (on CBS Sports Network)
- Sacramento State at Eastern Michigan – 6:30 p.m. ET (on ESPN+)
- Hawaii at Stanford – 7 p.m. ET (on ACC Network)
- New Mexico State at Florida State – 7 p.m. ET (on The CW)
- Memphis at UNLV – 10 p.m. ET (on FOX)
Sit back and enjoy as the 2026 college football season officially gets underway. From here on out, Saturdays are for ball!
