College Football Rivalry Week is played from Friday 27 November through Saturday 28 November 2026, with the Thanksgiving weekend traditionally delivering the regular season’s most storied matchups. Virtually every major conference schedules its biggest rivalry games during this final weekend before conference championship weekend, with College Football Playoff implications typically hanging on every result.
What is College Football Rivalry Week?
Rivalry Week is the final weekend of the college football regular season, during which nearly every FBS team plays a traditional in-state or conference rival. Games like Ohio State vs Michigan (“The Game”), Alabama vs Auburn (“The Iron Bowl”), Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State (“Bedlam”, when scheduled), USC vs UCLA, Florida vs Florida State, Georgia vs Georgia Tech, and Texas vs Texas A&M (renewed since 2024) headline the schedule. Many of these rivalries have been contested for more than a century, producing trophies such as the Little Brown Jug, the Iron Bowl’s intrastate bragging rights, and the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
Beyond tradition, Rivalry Week carries enormous postseason weight. Conference standings, College Football Playoff rankings and bowl destinations often turn on the results, and upsets are frequent. The 12-team College Football Playoff introduced in 2024 heightens the stakes further, as teams battle for automatic conference-championship berths and at-large spots that can be determined by a single Rivalry Week outcome.
When is Rivalry Week 2026?
The main Rivalry Week slate runs on Friday 27 November and Saturday 28 November 2026. Friday traditionally hosts a handful of national TV showcase games around Thanksgiving weekend, while Saturday features the bulk of the marquee rivalries. Kick-off times range from noon Eastern through evening primetime slots, with the ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN networks splitting the headline games across their afternoon and night windows.
Where are Rivalry Week games played?
Games are hosted at the designated home team’s campus stadium each year, with most rivalries rotating home fields annually. Ohio State vs Michigan alternates between Ohio Stadium in Columbus and Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. The Iron Bowl rotates between Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. Major neutral-site exceptions include Florida vs Georgia in Jacksonville (the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”) and Army vs Navy, though that fixture sits outside Rivalry Week in a dedicated December slot.
Key Contenders
Ohio State vs Michigan remains the single most consequential rivalry game in college football, regularly determining the Big Ten East title and a College Football Playoff berth. Alabama vs Auburn, Oklahoma vs LSU, Georgia vs Georgia Tech, Notre Dame vs Stanford and Florida State vs Florida all carry heavy playoff implications in most seasons. The renewed Texas vs Texas A&M rivalry, dormant from 2011 to 2023, now anchors the SEC slate on Rivalry Saturday night. Dark-horse playoff contenders frequently emerge from Rivalry Week results, with late-season upsets reshaping the CFP field almost every year.
How to Watch
In the United States, Rivalry Week games are spread across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, Fox, NBC, FS1, the SEC Network, the Big Ten Network, the ACC Network and ESPN+. Streaming options include ESPN+, Fox Sports, Paramount+, Peacock and the league-specific network apps. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Sports holds the primary college football rights package. Canadian viewers watch on TSN. International audiences can subscribe to ESPN Player in Europe or watch via the ESPN international feed on various territory-specific platforms.
History and Records
Ohio State and Michigan have met 120 times since 1897, with Michigan holding a narrow all-time edge. The Iron Bowl was first played in 1893 and has been contested annually since 1948. Minnesota and Wisconsin’s rivalry for the Paul Bunyan Axe dates to 1890, the oldest trophy game in FBS. Thanksgiving weekend became the traditional rivalry-week window as conferences consolidated their schedules during the 1990s. The 12-team playoff era has amplified Rivalry Week’s national importance, with playoff-ranked teams regularly being upset or securing their postseason place on the final Saturday of November.
Tickets and Attendance
Tickets for individual games are sold through each host school’s athletic department, with student allocations, season-ticket renewals and alumni priorities filling most venues long in advance. Secondary-market prices for headline rivalries can climb into four figures per seat when playoff stakes are high. Ohio State vs Michigan, the Iron Bowl and USC vs UCLA routinely attract capacity crowds of 90,000 or more.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is College Football Rivalry Week 2026?
Friday 27 November and Saturday 28 November 2026.
Which are the biggest Rivalry Week games?
Ohio State vs Michigan, Alabama vs Auburn (Iron Bowl), Texas vs Texas A&M, USC vs UCLA and Florida vs Florida State.
How can I watch Rivalry Week games?
ABC, ESPN, CBS, Fox, NBC and the conference networks in the US; Sky Sports in the UK; TSN in Canada; ESPN Player internationally.
What comes after Rivalry Week?
Conference championship weekend, scheduled for Friday 4 December and Saturday 5 December 2026.