College football scheduling needs to change for non-playoff reasons

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College football scheduling reform has many different forms and flavors. There is a real need to change college football scheduling based on the College Football Playoff timetable. The sport needs to move up its schedule into mid-August so that the early rounds of the playoff don't compete against the NFL, and to also end the season in early January instead of just before the Super Bowl.

College football scheduling needs to change also in terms of having fewer cupcake games and making sure every Power Four team plays at least one Power Four opponent in the nonconference schedule. These are not new conversations, but they reinforce the simple point that college football scheduling has to adjust with the times.

Now, after the first full Saturday of the 2026 college football season, it is clear that the sport needs to amend its scheduling process in a different way. This has nothing to do with the playoff or Power Four opponents. This new aspect of scheduling reform has to deal with something else: extreme heat.

Football was not made for 100-degree heat

The padding, the equipment, the physical punishment of the sport – nothing about football is designed for extreme heat, but that's what we saw around the country on Saturday. If we value the safety of players and fans, the sport will change its Week 1 and Week 2 scheduling practices.

Texas Longhorns (Austin)

Indiana Hoosiers (Bloomington)

Across the country

In South Carolina, Arkansas, and other SEC states, fans and journalists similarly commented on how brutal the heat was. If you were watching SEC Network, you could see that virtually no one was sitting in the east stands for the second half of Arkansas' season opener. The sun was blasting those seats. Fans moved to the west side of the stadium which was in shade. This is simply not a good plan for early-season games. It shouldn't be a survival test.

The USC conversation

People ripped USC fans for not showing up against San Jose State on August 29, but as Trojan fans tried to tell everyone, it was really hot in Los Angeles that day, and the LA Coliseum has no overhangs or covered structures which offer relief from the sun. It's an open bowl with no sun protection. SEC fans are more used to constantly hot and humid weather. In LA, really hot days are not quite as common. There is no glory or honor in subjecting yourself or your family to extreme heat. Staying home makes sense. Fun, not suffering, is the purpose of attending a live sports event.

College football's needed change

What college football scheduling needs is a complete rethink of the first two weeks of the season. The sport can't be playing games in the middle of the day and subjecting players and fans to extreme heat. Here's the pivot: In the first two weeks of the season, have night games every weeknight and into Saturday and Sunday (before the NFL starts). The smaller conferences play Monday through Friday. The bigger conferences start Wednesday and continue with night games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and for Labor Day weekend, on the holiday Monday as well.

New math

Instead of having a usual Saturday slate with 50-ish games, meaning a ton of day games in the noon and 3:30 Eastern time windows, those games will migrate to weeknights and Sunday nights for the first two weeks of the season. Day games will basically be eliminated except for neutral-site dome games. No fan will have to step into a sweltering inferno with no sun protection. It's time to not subject fans to that pain in late August and very early September. Once we get to Week 3 in mid-September, we can go back to normal, but not in the first two weeks of the season.

Saturday day games

In the first two weeks of the season, domed neutral-site games should be played in the noon and 3:30 windows. Then the night window (7-7:30-8) can be stuffed with games. Once again: Fun, not suffering, should be the goal of attending a live sporting event. It's time for college football to adjust to the times … and the temperatures.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: College football scheduling needs to change for non-playoff reasons

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