NEW ORLEANS — The Sun Belt Conference announced its 2026 football schedule Friday. The Sun Belt is coming off a 2025 season in which it earned its first-ever berth into the College Football Playoff (CFP) after having six teams listed in the CFP Selection Day Rankings over the past seven seasons. The Sun Belt also paced all non-autonomy conferences in Bowl Season representation for the fourth-straight year. For the eighth-straight season, the Sun Belt boasted multiple 10-win teams in Sun Belt champion and CFP participant James Madison and Old Dominion. The Sun Belt continues to lead all non-autonomy conferences with a .548 bowl winning percentage during the College Football Playoff era, trailing only the Big Ten and SEC. The 26th season of Sun Belt football will feature 56 league games. Each Sun Belt program will play eight conference games—six against divisional opponents and two against cross-divisional foes from the opposite division. With 14 member institutions in nine contiguous states, the Sun Belt remains committed to its identity as a regional conference with a divisional model. The Sun Belt East Division includes App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion. The Sun Belt West Division consists of Arkansas State, Louisiana, ULM, Louisiana Tech, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Troy. Thirteen Sun Belt programs will be prominently featured in the midweek portion of the conference schedule, with all games appearing on ESPN platforms. Thursday, Sept. 24 – Liberty at Coastal Carolina Tuesday, Oct. 6 – Southern Miss at Troy Thursday, Oct. 8 – South Alabama at Arkansas State Thursday, Oct. 15 – Georgia Southern at Old Dominion Friday, Oct. 16 – App State at Coastal Carolina Tuesday, Oct. 20 – South Alabama at Marshall Thursday, Oct. 22 – James Madison at App State Thursday, Oct. 29 – Troy at James Madison Thursday, Nov. 5 – James Madison at Southern Miss Thursday, Nov. 12 – Louisiana at ULM Thursday, Nov. 19; Friday, Nov. 20; or Saturday, Nov. 21 – Arkansas State at Louisiana Tech Kickoff times and networks for all midweek games and weekend games in the first three weeks of the season will be selected in late May, along with the date for the Arkansas State at Louisiana Tech game. All other games will fall into the traditional 12-day selection process. The 2026 season will be the 15th-consecutive season that every Sun Belt football home game will appear on an ESPN platform. TEAM-BY-TEAM SCHEDULES SUN BELT EAST DIVISION APP STATE 9/5 Maine 9/12 at East Carolina 9/19 Charlotte 9/26 at North Carolina State 10/10 Old Dominion* 10/16 at Coastal Carolina* 10/22 James Madison* 10/31 at Georgia Southern* 11/7 Georgia State* 11/14 at Marshall* 11/21 ULM* 11/28 at South Alabama*
COASTAL CAROLINA 9/5 at West Virginia 9/12 Fordham 9/19 at Delaware 9/24 Liberty 10/3 Georgia Southern* 10/10 at Marshall* 10/16 App State* 10/31 at Georgia State* 11/7 Old Dominion* 11/14 Arkansas State* 11/21 at Louisiana* 11/28 at James Madison*
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 9/5 Charleston Southern 9/12 at Clemson 9/19 at Jacksonville State 9/26 Houston 10/3 at Coastal Carolina* 10/10 James Madison* 10/15 at Old Dominion* 10/31 App State* 11/7 Marshall* 11/14 at Georgia State* 11/21 at Troy* 11/28 Louisiana Tech*
GEORGIA STATE 9/5 North Carolina A&T 9/12 at Kennesaw State 9/19 at UCF 9/26 Northern Illinois 10/3 Old Dominion* 10/17 at James Madison* 10/24 at Arkansas State* 10/31 Coastal Carolina* 11/7 at App State* 11/14 Georgia Southern* 11/21 at Marshall* 11/28 Louisiana*
JAMES MADISON 9/5 Liberty 9/12 Wagner 9/19 at San Diego State 9/26 at Old Dominion* 10/3 Marshall* 10/10 at Georgia Southern* 10/17 Georgia State* 10/22 at App State* 10/29 Troy* 11/5 at Southern Miss* 11/14 at UConn 11/28 Coastal Carolina*
MARSHALL 9/5 at Penn State 9/12 Middle Tennessee 9/19 at Missouri State 9/26 Gardner-Webb 10/3 at James Madison* 10/10 Coastal Carolina* 10/20 South Alabama* 10/31 at Old Dominion* 11/7 at Georgia Southern* 11/14 App State* 11/21 Georgia State* 11/28 at ULM*
OLD DOMINION 9/5 Norfolk State 9/12 at Virginia Tech 9/19 East Carolina 9/26 James Madison* 10/3 at Georgia State* 10/10 at App State* 10/15 Georgia Southern* 10/24 at Louisiana Tech* 10/31 Marshall* 11/7 at Coastal Carolina* 11/21 at UConn 11/28 Southern Miss*
SUN BELT WEST DIVISION ARKANSAS STATE 9/5 at Memphis 9/12 West Georgia 9/19 at TCU 9/26 Kennesaw State 10/3 at Louisiana* 10/8 South Alabama* 10/17 at Southern Miss* 10/24 Georgia State* 11/7 ULM* 11/14 at Coastal Carolina* TBA^ at Louisiana Tech* 11/28 Troy*
LOUISIANA 9/5 Lamar 9/12 at USC 9/19 UAB 9/26 at Charlotte 10/3 Arkansas State* 10/10 at Louisiana Tech* 10/17 Troy* 10/24 at Southern Miss* 11/7 South Alabama* 11/12 at ULM* 11/21 Coastal Carolina* 11/28 at Georgia State*
ULM 9/5 at Mississippi State 9/12 at UAB 9/19 Southeastern Louisiana 9/26 Florida Atlantic 10/3 at South Alabama* 10/17 Louisiana Tech* 10/24 at Troy* 10/31 Southern Miss* 11/7 at Arkansas State* 11/12 Louisiana* 11/21 at App State* 11/28 Marshall*
LOUISIANA TECH 9/5 Northwestern State 9/12 at LSU 9/19 at Baylor 10/3 Army 10/10 Louisiana* 10/17 at ULM* 10/24 Old Dominion* 10/31 at South Alabama* 11/7 at Troy* 11/14 Southern Miss* TBA^ Arkansas State* 11/28 at Georgia Southern*
SOUTH ALABAMA 9/5 Southeastern Louisiana 9/12 at Tulane 9/19 Ohio 9/26 at Kentucky 10/3 ULM* 10/8 at Arkansas State* 10/20 at Marshall* 10/31 Louisiana Tech* 11/7 at Louisiana* 11/14 Troy* 11/21 at Southern Miss* 11/28 App State*
SOUTHERN MISS 9/5 Alcorn State 9/12 at Auburn 9/19 UConn 9/26 at Tulane 10/6 at Troy* 10/17 Arkansas State* 10/24 Louisiana* 10/31 at ULM* 11/5 James Madison* 11/14 at Louisiana Tech* 11/21 South Alabama* 11/28 at Old Dominion*
TROY 9/5 Sam Houston 9/12 Alabama State 9/19 at Missouri 9/26 at Utah State 10/6 Southern Miss* 10/17 at Louisiana* 10/24 ULM* 10/29 at James Madison* 11/7 Louisiana Tech* 11/14 at South Alabama* 11/21 Georgia Southern* 11/28 at Arkansas State*
* Sun Belt Conference Game ^ TBA as 11/19, 11/20 or 11/21OVERALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Saturday, Sept. 5 Maine at App State Arkansas State at Memphis Coastal Carolina at West Virginia Charleston Southern at Georgia Southern North Carolina A&T at Georgia State Liberty at James Madison Lamar at Louisiana ULM at Mississippi State Northwestern State at Louisiana Tech Marshall at Penn State Norfolk State at Old Dominion Southeastern Louisiana at South Alabama Alcorn State at Southern Miss Sam Houston at Troy Saturday, Sept. 12 App State at East Carolina West Georgia at Arkansas State Fordham at Coastal Carolina Georgia Southern at Clemson Georgia State at Kennesaw State Wagner at James Madison Louisiana at USC ULM at UAB Louisiana Tech at LSU Middle Tennessee at Marshall Old Dominion at Virginia Tech South Alabama at Tulane Southern Miss at Auburn Alabama State at Troy Saturday, Sept. 19 Charlotte at App State Arkansas State at TCU Coastal Carolina at Delaware Georgia Southern at Jacksonville State Georgia State at UCF James Madison at San Diego State UAB at Louisiana Southeastern Louisiana at ULM Louisiana Tech at Baylor Marshall at Missouri State East Carolina at Old Dominion Ohio at South Alabama UConn at Southern Miss Troy at Missouri Thursday, Sept. 24 Liberty at Coastal Carolina Saturday, Sept. 26 App State at North Carolina State Kennesaw State at Arkansas State Houston at Georgia Southern Northern Illinois at Georgia State Louisiana at Charlotte Florida Atlantic at ULM Gardner-Webb at Marshall James Madison at Old Dominion* South Alabama at Kentucky Southern Miss at Tulane Troy at Utah State Saturday, Oct. 3 Georgia Southern at Coastal Carolina* Old Dominion at Georgia State* Marshall at James Madison* Arkansas State at Louisiana* Army at Louisiana Tech ULM at South Alabama* Tuesday, Oct. 6 Southern Miss at Troy* Thursday, Oct. 8 South Alabama at Arkansas State* Saturday, Oct. 10 Old Dominion at App State* James Madison at Georgia Southern* Louisiana at Louisiana Tech* Coastal Carolina at Marshall* Thursday, Oct. 15 Georgia Southern at Old Dominion* Friday, Oct. 16 App State at Coastal Carolina* Saturday, Oct. 17 Georgia State at James Madison* Troy at Louisiana* Louisiana Tech at ULM* Arkansas State at Southern Miss* Tuesday, Oct. 20 South Alabama at Marshall* Thursday, Oct. 22 James Madison at App State* Saturday, Oct. 24 Georgia State at Arkansas State* Old Dominion at Louisiana Tech* Louisiana at Southern Miss* ULM at Troy* Thursday, Oct. 29 Troy at James Madison* Saturday, Oct. 31 App State at Georgia Southern* Coastal Carolina at Georgia State* Southern Miss at ULM* Marshall at Old Dominion* Louisiana Tech at South Alabama* Thursday, Nov. 5 James Madison at Southern Miss* Saturday, Nov. 7 Georgia State at App State* ULM at Arkansas State* Old Dominion at Coastal Carolina* Marshall at Georgia Southern* South Alabama at Louisiana* Louisiana Tech at Troy* Thursday, Nov. 12 Louisiana at ULM* Saturday, Nov. 14 Arkansas State at Coastal Carolina* Georgia Southern at Georgia State* James Madison at UConn Southern Miss at Louisiana Tech* App State at Marshall* Troy at South Alabama* Thursday, Nov. 19; Friday, Nov. 20; or Saturday, Nov. 21 Arkansas State at Louisiana Tech* Saturday, Nov. 21 ULM at App State* Coastal Carolina at Louisiana* Georgia State at Marshall* Old Dominion at UConn South Alabama at Southern Miss* Georgia Southern at Troy* Saturday, Nov. 28 Troy at Arkansas State* Louisiana Tech at Georgia Southern* Louisiana at Georgia State* Coastal Carolina at James Madison* Marshall at ULM* Southern Miss at Old Dominion* App State at South Alabama* Friday, Dec. 4 Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship presented by Visit Pensacola * Sun Belt Conference Game