Big Ten announces several 2026 Rutgers Football Kickoff Times
On Wednesday afternoon, the Big Ten Conference and their television partners announced several kickoff times for the upcoming 2026 college season, with several Rutgers Football home games announced.
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The Scarlet Knights will open up the 2026 season with a 6:00pm ET kickoff against the UMass Minutemen, as former Rutgers Football Defensive Coordinator Joe Harasymiak will make his return to the banks after taking over as the HC of UMass ahead of the 2025 season.
A week later, the Scarlet Knights will ship up to Boston to take on a former Big East for in the Boston College Eagles in a Friday night matchup at 7:30pm on ESPN2. Each program will pay tribute to the 25th anniversary of the attacks on September 11th.
After that, Rutgers will head back home as they will welcome USC to SHI Stadium for the first time ever and that matchup will be nationally televised on CBS with a 3:30pm kickoff.
The Scarlet Knights will be on short rest the week after that, as Howard comes to town for a Friday night matchup at 7:00pm on BTN the night of September 25th, 2026. This game will also the Walk to Believe game, you can read more about that event and how to participate here.
The week after that is Homecoming Weekend and the Scarlet Knights will play host to the Indiana Hoosiers for yet another night game, as kickoff is set for 8:00pm ET, with the television network still to be determined.
The last game to technically have a kickoff time announced is the Big Ten rivalry matchup against Maryland. The Big Ten didn’t announce a kickoff time just yet, but they did announce that this game will not start any later than 5:00pm ET.
The remainder of the games kickoff times / TV designations will be announced at a later.
| DATE | OPPONENT | KICKOFF TIME / TV |
| September 3rd, 2026 (Thursday Night) | vs. UMass Minutemen | 6:00pm / BTN |
| September 11th, 2026 (Friday Night) | @ Boston College Eagles | 7:30pm / ESPN2 |
| September 19th, 2026 | vs. USC Trojans | 3:30 / CBS |
| September 25th, 2026 (Friday Night) | vs. Howard Bison | 7:00pm / BTN |
| October 3rd, 2026 | vs. Indiana Hoosiers | 8:00pm / TBD |
| October 17th, 2026 | @ Maryland Terrapins | No later than 5:00pm / TBD |
| October 24th, 2026 | @ Northwestern Wildcats | TBD / TBD |
| October 31st, 2026 | vs. Michigan Wolverines | TBD / TBD |
| November 7th, 2026 | @ Wisconsin Badgers | TBD / TBD |
| November 14th, 2026 | vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers | TBD / TBD |
| November 21st, 2026 | @ Penn State Nittany Lions | TBD / TBD |
| November 28th, 2026 | vs. Michigan State Spartans | TBD / TBD |
- BOLD = HOME GAME
- Games to be played on Saturday unless listed otherwise
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