American Conference Announces Selected Television Designations, Kickoff Times For 2026 Football Schedule Including 10 Navy Games

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 is 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 at noon (ET), 10 AM (local time), 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 3 PM 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