College football kicked off with an exciting slate of games in Week 0 last weekend, headlined by Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels upsetting the TCU Horned Frogs in Ireland.
For most fans and analysts, though, Week 1 is when the season kicks off in earnest, and a slate of games on Thursday is bound to whet the appetite.
Is There a College Football Game Today?
There are several college football games on Thursday, spread across different conferences. The slate will kick off with the UMass Minutemen’s clash against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Piscataway.
College Football Games on Thursday, Sept. 3
- Massachusetts at Rutgers at 6 p.m. ET on BTN
- Bethune-Cookman at UCF at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- Merrimack at Delaware at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- West Georgia at Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- Albany at Buffalo at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- Akron at Wake Forest at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network
- Arkansas-Pine Bluff at No. 25 Missouri at 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network
- Colorado at Georgia Tech at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
- Eastern Illinois at Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock
- Idaho at No. 21 Utah at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU
- UAB at Illinois at 9 p.m. ET on BTN
PREDICT THE CFB SEASON: PFN’s Free CFB Playoff Predictor
College Football Games on Friday, Sept. 4
There will be several games on Friday, including three featuring ranked teams.
Last year’s national championship finalists, the No. 7-ranked Miami Hurricanes, will be on the road to face off against the Stanford Cardinal. On the other hand, coach Brent Venables’ Oklahoma Sooners, who reached the first round of the College Football Playoff last season, will host the UTEP Miners in Norman.
Coach Lincoln Riley’s No. 14-ranked USC Trojans will seek to continue their perfect start to the season with a home game against the Fresno State Bulldogs. Riley’s Trojans earned a PFN College Team Offense Impact score of 89.7 (No. 4 in college football) in 2025 and are expected to be one of the country’s best offensive teams this year.
- UTEP at No. 10 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network+
- LIU at Kansas at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPNU
- North Carolina A&T at Georgia State at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- Indiana State at Purdue at 7 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network
- San Jose State at Eastern Michigan at 6:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+
- Toledo at Michigan State at 8 p.m. ET on FS1
- No. 7 Miami at Stanford at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN
- Fresno State at No. 14 USC at 9 p.m. ET on FOX
START PREPARING: PFN’s Free College Fantasy Simulator
Week 1 of the 2026 college football season promises to be one for the books, with several high-profile games already on the slate.
