IRVING, Texas – The American Conference has announced a number of kickoff times and television designations for the 2026 football season.
 
In addition to kickoff times and television assignments for the first three weeks of the 2026 season across ESPN platforms and CBS Sports Network, Wednesday's announcement also includes kickoff times for the American’s Thursday and Friday prime-time games on ESPN networks, along with Army and Navy home games, primarily on CBS Sports Network.
 
Memphis opens the season for the American with a Week Zero matchup at UNLV on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.
 
The Week 1 schedule begins Thursday, Sept. 3, with a previously announced nonconference matchup as UAB travels to Illinois for a 9 p.m. ET kickoff on Big Ten Network.
 
Week 1 Saturday matchups include North Texas traveling to face defending national champion Indiana at noon ET on FOX, East Carolina visiting 2025 College Football Playoff participant Alabama at noon ET on ABC, and Tulane taking on 2025 ACC champion Duke at 3:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network.
 
The Week 1 Saturday slate also features Tulsa hosting Oklahoma State at 3:45 p.m. ET on ESPNU, while Florida Atlantic travels to Florida for a 7:45 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network.
 
Week 2 is highlighted by the first conference game of the 2026 season as Army hosts South Florida on Sept. 12 at noon ET on CBS Sports Network. The week concludes with Florida Atlantic hosting Navy at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
 
Key nonconference games in Week 2 include Rice traveling to Notre Dame for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on NBC, Charlotte visiting 2025 College Football Playoff semifinalist Ole Miss at 7:45 p.m. ET on ESPN2/SEC Network, and Temple hosting Penn State at noon ET on ESPN2.
 
Intriguing Week 3 matchups on Sept. 19 include Tulane at Kansas State at noon ET on ESPN2, North Texas at Texas State at noon ET on USA, and UTSA traveling to Austin to face Texas at 8 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.
 
Fourteen intraconference games from the American have already been designated for national television, beginning with the Week 2 matchup between Navy and Florida Atlantic.
 
The Thursday-night conference slate on ESPN begins with North Texas at Tulsa on Oct. 1, followed by UTSA at South Florida on Oct. 8, East Carolina at UAB on Oct. 15, East Carolina at Memphis on Oct. 22, Florida Atlantic at North Texas on Oct. 29, UTSA at Florida Atlantic on Nov. 5, Memphis at South Florida on Nov. 12, and Rice at Temple on Nov. 19.
 
The American’s Friday-night lineup begins Sept. 25 with UAB hosting Navy, and Army traveling to Temple. The slate continues with Memphis at Tulane on Oct. 16, Army at Tulsa on Oct. 23, Tulane at Charlotte on Oct. 30, and South Florida at East Carolina on Nov. 6.
 
The final week of the 2026 regular season will feature four flex-option matchups to be played either on Black Friday or Saturday, Nov. 28: Florida Atlantic at East Carolina, Temple at Memphis, Tulsa at UTSA, and Tulane at South Florida. The selection of the games are expected to be made by Oct. 11. 
 
All three games in the annual Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series will once again air on CBS this season. Navy visits Air Force on Oct. 3, while Army hosts Air Force on Nov. 7. The annual Army-Navy Game presented by USAA, the third since both teams joined the American, is scheduled for Dec. 12 at MetLife Stadium.
 
The American Conference Football Championship Game presented by LLH Healthcare will air on ABC on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. ET. It marks the 12th consecutive season the conference championship game will be televised on ABC.
 
Most remaining kickoff times and television designations for the 2026 season will be announced on a weekly basis through the conference’s 12-day selection process. The most up-to-date schedule information is available at TheAmerican.org.
 
The American enjoyed a highly successful 2025 football season, sending nine teams to bowl games, highlighted by Tulane earning a berth in the College Football Playoff as the No. 11 seed. Teams from the American recorded bowl victories over opponents from the Big 12, ACC, Conference USA, and Mountain West.
 
The American was also one of only four conferences, joining the Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC, to have three teams finish with 11 wins during the 2025 season. Additionally, the American was the only conference to record nonconference wins against teams from the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, and ACC.

 
2026 American Conference Football Schedule/Television Update
 

Date	Game	Time (ET)	Television
Saturday, Aug. 29	Memphis at UNLV	10 p.m.	FOX
Thursday, Sept. 3	UAB at Illinois	9 p.m.	Big Ten Network
Saturday, Sep. 5	East Carolina at Alabama North Texas at Indiana Bryant at Army Rhode Island at Temple Tulane at Duke Towson vs Navy The Citadel at Charlotte UT Rio Grande Valley at UTSA Oklahoma State at Tulsa Arkansas State at Memphis Houston Christian at Rice Florida International at South Florida Florida Atlantic at Florida	Noon Noon Noon 2 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:45 p.m.	ABC FOX CBS Sports Network ESPN+ ACC Network CBS Sports Network ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPNU ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ SEC Network
Saturday, Sep. 12	South Florida at Army* Penn State at Temple App State at East Carolina Rice at Notre Dame UTSA at Texas State UL Monroe at UAB UNLV at North Texas Memphis at Boise State South Alabama at Tulane Tulsa at Sam Houston Navy at Florida Atlantic* Charlotte at Ole Miss	Noon Noon Noon 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 7:45 p.m.	CBS Sports Network ESPN2 ESPNU NBC/Peacock CW ESPN+ ESPNU USA ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPNU/ESPN+ ESPN2/SEC Network
Saturday, Sep. 19	Tulane at Kansas State North Texas at Texas State Temple at Toledo Charlotte at App State East Carolina at Old Dominion Florida International at Florida Atlantic UT Martin at Memphis Western Michigan at Rice Delaware State at South Florida UAB at Louisiana UTSA at Texas East Texas A&M at Tulsa	Noon Noon 3 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 6 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 7 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m. 8 p.m.	ESPN2 USA CBS Sports Network ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ ESPN+ SEC Network+ ESPN+
Friday, Sep. 25	Army at Temple* Navy at UAB*	4 p.m. 7 p.m.	ESPN ESPN
Saturday, Sep. 26	NC Central at East Carolina Houston Christian at North Texas Rice at Fresno State	4 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 10 p.m.	ESPN+ ESPN+ CW
Thursday, Oct. 1	North Texas at Tulsa*	9 p.m.	ESPN
Saturday, Oct. 3	Navy at Air Force Texas Southern at Florida Atlantic Samford at UAB	Noon 6 p.m. TBD	CBS ESPN+ ESPN+
Thursday, Oct. 8	South Florida at UTSA*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN2
Saturday, Oct. 10	Tulane at Army* Tulsa at Navy*	Noon 3:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network
Thursday, Oct. 15	East Carolina at UAB*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN2
Friday, Oct. 16	Memphis at Tulane*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Saturday, Oct. 17	Florida Atlantic at Army*	Noon	CBS Sports Network
Thursday, Oct. 22	East Carolina at Memphis*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Friday, Oct. 23	Army at Tulsa*	8:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Saturday, Oct. 24	North Texas at Navy*	3:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network
Thursday, Oct. 29	Florida Atlantic at North Texas*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN2
Friday, Oct. 30	Tulane at Charlotte*	7 p.m.	ESPN2
Saturday, Oct. 31	Notre Dame at Navy	Noon	ABC/ESPN
Thursday, Nov. 5	UTSA at Florida Atlantic*	8 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN2
Friday, Nov. 6	South Florida at East Carolina*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Saturday, Nov. 7	Temple at Navy* Air Force at Army	3:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m.	CBS Sports Network CBS
Thursday, Nov. 12	Memphis at South Florida*	8 p.m.	ESPN/ESPN2
Thursday, Nov. 19	Rice at Temple*	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Saturday, Nov. 21	Memphis at Navy* East Carolina at Army*	Noon Noon	TBD CBS Sports Network
Friday, Nov. 27	TBD	Noon	ESPN
	Florida Atlantic at East Carolina or Temple at Memphis or Tulane at South Florida or Tulsa at UTSA *Friday/Saturday Flex* TBD Florida Atlantic at East Carolina or Temple at Memphis or Tulane at South Florida or Tulsa at UTSA *Friday/Saturday Flex*	3:30 p.m.	ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 5	American Football Championship presented by LLH Healthcare	8 p.m.	ABC
Saturday, Dec. 12	Army vs. Navy	3 p.m.	CBS