Circle These Dates: The First 5 College Football Games Every Fan Needs to See

Week 1 kicks off and everybody scrambles for a game to lock in on. Here is your list. Five games — from the opening Saturday all the way to December — that you circle right now and do not move off your calendar for anything.

These are not the obvious ones television will shove at you. These are the ones that mean something.

---

1. LSU vs. Clemson — September 5 | 7:30 PM ET | ABC

Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge (Source: Clemson Athletics, Jan. 26, 2026; LSU Athletics Schedule)

College GameDay is already there. That tells you everything you need to know about what the country thinks of this one. What it does not tell you is what makes it essential: Lane Kiffin is making his debut as LSU’s head coach, and he is doing it against a Clemson program that does not give debuts any grace.

This is not a warmup game. This is a statement game in Week 1, on a Saturday night in Death Valley, under the lights, with the cameras rolling. LSU is favored. Whether Kiffin’s system looks like what LSU fans were promised — that is the question the whole country is watching to answer.

Circle it. You will not want to miss the first look.

---

2. Ohio State at Texas — September 12 | 7:30 PM ET | ABC

Austin, TX (Source: Ohio State Athletics, May 12, 2026)

Ohio State handles Ball State in Week 1. (Source: Ohio State 2026 Schedule) Then they get on a plane to Austin and the real season starts.

College GameDay will be on-site in Texas for this one, and there is a reason for that too. This is a Big Ten powerhouse walking into a house that believes it belongs in that same conversation. Texas has the roster. Texas has the moment. Ohio State has the standard nobody in college football has matched recently.

One of these teams will walk out of Austin with a statement. The other will spend the rest of September trying to recover from the narrative. Night game. Loud stadium. No margin for error. Week 2 does not get bigger than this.

---

3. Florida State vs. Alabama — September 19 | 3:30 PM ET | ABC

Tuscaloosa, AL (Source: 247Sports, kickoff time announcement)

Mike Norvell needs this one. Not just wants it — needs it. Florida State has been building back, and this is the game that tells the country whether that rebuild is real.

The opponent is Alabama under Kalen DeBoer, a program still recalibrating what it is after the dynasty years. Neither of these teams can afford to drop this game without absorbing a hit to their season’s entire arc.

That is what makes a 3:30 kickoff in Tuscaloosa in September must-see television. Two programs, two coaches, and two sets of questions that only this game can answer.

---

4. West Virginia vs. Coastal Carolina — September 5 | Week 1

Morgantown, WV

Nobody outside of Morgantown is tracking Cam Cook right now. That is exactly why you should be.

Cook put up 1,659 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2025. (Source: 247Sports Transfer Analysis) This is his debut in a West Virginia uniform, and Coastal Carolina is the opponent for his first real look. Broadcast details are still being confirmed as we get closer to the date — check back — but the game itself is already worth your attention.

The sleeper pick of Week 1. Write the name down: Cam Cook.

---

5. Celebration Bowl — December 12 | 12:00 PM ET | ABC

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta

The SWAC Champion against the MEAC Champion. The 12th annual. (Source: Celebration Bowl History — inaugural game was December 2015) The one game on this list where the stakes are different — and that is exactly why it belongs here.

This is HBCU football at its highest level, in one of the best stadium environments in the country, on national television. The Celebration Bowl is not a consolation game. It is a championship, and TLP treats it like one.

Mark December 12. Noon kickoff. The bowl season does not officially begin for TLP until this one is locked in.

---

Five games. Five dates. Start there and build your season around them.

---

TLP Sports Club — Game Day Glory covers the games that matter every week of the college football season. Subscribe to TLP Sports Club on YouTube, join the newsletter, and visit the community page.

---

Disclaimer: TLP Sports Club employs AI agents in our publications. We follow a rigorous editorial standard — sourcing, verification, and human review before any piece publishes. Even so, AI, like the humans who edit it, can make mistakes. We trust our readers to check the sources cited here for themselves. If you find an error, tell us. We will correct it.