We’re previewing key games and storylines each week during the 2026 college football season. Our FCS coverage is the home of the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards and much more.
It took all of one game last season – the first one, when Nicholls upset preseason No. 5 UIW – for FCS fans be reminded about the importance of tightening their seat belts.
What’s in store for this year’s wild ride?
Well, plenty – and it’s right from the start more than ever.
As opposed to the small handful of Week 0 games in previous seasons, there are 69 matchups involving FCS teams, including a two-night window of Division I exclusivity Thursday and Friday nights before the FBS has a limited Week 0 schedule on Saturday.
It’s time to kick off the FCS’ 49th season. Let’s span the nation heading into the Week 0 games.
FCS Football Week 0 Preview & Predictions
Game of the Week: Abilene Christian at Lamar
A rematch from the 2025 FCS playoffs is an excellent way to begin the new season. Two-time defending United Athletic Conference champion Abilene Christian won 38-20 at home in the first round, but this time, 20th-ranked Lamar from the Southland is hosting the No. 15 Wildcats.
The Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week is a playoff rematch: No. 15 Abilene Christian at No. 20 Lamar.Kendra Sheehan previews the Week 0 showdown. pic.twitter.com/6d97kcEm82
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) August 25, 2026Later this season, Abilene Christian will have another playoff rematch by hosting Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 12). There’s also Lehigh at Villanova (Oct. 24) and Montana at Montana State (Nov. 21) as rematches.
Second-and-10
1. The Big Sky Conference opens the season with the No. 1- (Montana State) and 2-ranked (Montana) teams in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. That’s happened previously only with the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2014 (No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 2 Illinois State), 2022 (No. 1 NDSU and No. 2 South Dakota State) and both 2023 and 2024 with No. 1 SDSU and No. 2 NDSU. In those four seasons, one of the two teams went on to win the FCS national title and the other one finished in the top five.
2. In addition to Abilene Christian at Lamar, there’s one other Top 25 matchup: No. 14 Tennessee Tech hosts No. 22 Monmouth in a first-time meeting that boasts FCS top-10 scoring offenses from a year ago. Monmouth quarterback Frankie Weaver passed for 11 touchdowns without an interception in the final three games. Coach Bobby Wilder has reworked TTU’s offensive skills positions, including transfer Jax Leatherwood (QB), MJ Flowers (running back) and Eric Weatherly (wide receiver).
3. Three FCS conferences – the Big Sky, Patriot and Southland – are shifting to nine-game conference schedules this season. All 10 PL teams are kicking off in league matchups, including at least one on each of the three Week 0 gamedays and with William Mary traveling to No. 7 Villanova after both programs joined from CAA Football on July 1.
4. Youngstown State signal-caller Beau Brungard will begin pursuit of a second consecutive Walter Payton Award when the No. 9 Penguins host Mercyhurst. The only previous two-time recipients of FCS Offensive Player of the Year were QBs Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State (2008 and ’09) and Jeremiah Briscoe of Sam Houston State (2016 and ’17).
5. Stony Brook was the FCS’s most-improved team in 2024 by both wins and winning percentage from a season earlier. Delaware State did the same thing last year from the 2024 season. They meet for the first time Thursday night at Del State.
6. “To be the best, you have to play the best” is what Prairie View A&M coach Tremaine Jackson is saying before the Panthers head to No. 5 Tarleton State. PVAMU claimed that distinction in the SWAC last season, and notably, it’s the only Week 0 matchup between reigning FCS conference champions (the Texans shared the UAC title).
7. Howard and Alabama A&M get an ABC spotlight at the MEAC-SWAC Challenge Saturday night in Atlanta. Each team is 0-1 in the Challenge, which the MEAC leads 12-7. Howard won the only previous meeting between the programs in 1992 (28-7) behind quarterback Jay Walker, who will do color commentary on the broadcast.
8. Twenty-two of the 24 new FCS head coaches (the Ivy League is the exception) will debut this week, including five with nationally ranked teams: No. 2 Montana (Bobby Kennedy) vs. Southern Utah; No. 12 South Dakota (Matt Vitzthum) vs. Central Connecticut State; No. 11 Lehigh (Richard Nagy) at Holy Cross; No. 21 Mercer (Joel Taylor) vs. East Texas A&M; and No. 22 Monmouth (Jeff Gallo) at No. 14 Tennessee Tech. Southern’s Marshall Faulk has the tough task of taking on Alabama State and quarterback Andrew Body.
9. The FCS’ 128 programs include two newcomers. West Florida, up from Division II in the UAC, jumps right into the deep end by hosting No. 16 Southern Illinois Thursday night, while Chicago State, an NEC member playing an inaugural independent schedule, will host a fellow Chicago school, Division II Roosevelt, on Saturday.
10. If you’re looking for all 13 FCS conference previews in one spot, find them right here.
FCS Football Week 0 – Top 25 Schedule
All times EST; Predicted winner in boldface
Last Season’s Record: 228-26 (.786)
No. 1 Montana State at Utah Tech, 10:05 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+/Scripps)
No. 2 Montana vs. Southern Utah, 9 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+/Scripps/MTN)
No. 3 South Dakota State vs. Stetson, 7 p.m. Saturday (Midco/KELOLAND/ESPN+)
No. 4 Illinois State vs. St. Francis (IL), 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 5 Tarleton State vs. Prairie View A&M, 9 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2)
No. 6 UC Davis vs. Portland State, 3 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 7 Rhode Island vs. Merrimack, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 8 Villanova vs. William & Mary, 6 p.m. Friday (ESPN+)
No. 9 Youngstown State vs. Mercyhurst, 6 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 10 North Dakota vs. LIU, 8 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 11 Lehigh at Holy Cross, 3:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 12 South Dakota vs. Central Connecticut State, 2 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+/Midco)
No. 13 Stephen F. Austin at McNeese, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 14 Tennessee Tech vs. No. 22 Monmouth, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 15 Abilene Christian at No. 20 Lamar, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 16 Southern Illinois at West Florida, 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 17 Austin Peay vs. Gardner-Webb, 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 18 Yale idle
No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana vs. HCU, 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 20 Lamar vs. No. 15 Abilene Christian, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 21 Mercer vs. East Texas A&M, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)
No. 22 Monmouth at No. 14 Tennessee Tech, 7 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 23 UT Martin vs. Central Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. Thursday (ESPN+)
No. 24 South Carolina State vs. Savannah State, 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
No. 25 Northern Arizona vs. Eastern Washington, 5 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+)
Top photo, from left, via Tennessee Tech, William & Mary, Montana State and Howard Athletics. For more FCS football coverage, follow at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
FCS Football Week 0 Preview & Predictions: The Season is Coming Right at You Opta Analyst.
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