Kickoff Times Set for 4 Michigan State 2026 Games
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
Michigan State football now has kickoff times and TV assignments for four 2026 games: Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon. The Spartans open Friday, Sept. 4 against Toledo at 8 p.m. on FOX, host Eastern Michigan on Sept. 12 at 3:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network, visit Notre Dame on Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. on NBC, and host Oregon on Friday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. on FOX, as listed in the May 27 kickoff release.
Those windows put real structure around the front of the Michigan State football season and one late-November date. The schedule opens on a Friday night, gives the Spartans an extra day before the Sept. 12 home game, sends them to South Bend for a night kickoff on NBC, then brings them back to East Lansing for a Sept. 26 game against Nebraska that opens Big Ten play on the official 2026 schedule.
The opening month now has a defined cadence
Michigan State football’s first game lands before the full Saturday slate. The Sept. 4 opener against Toledo is set for Friday night at Spartan Stadium, a date that had already been shifted from Saturday earlier in May in a report on the Friday move.
Week 2 stays in East Lansing, but the timing changes. Eastern Michigan arrives for a 3:30 p.m. start on Sept. 12, giving Michigan State football a home afternoon game after the Friday opener and before the first road trip.
Notre Dame sits directly before Nebraska opens league play
The third game is the first road date, and it comes in prime time. Michigan State football plays at Notre Dame on Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. on NBC, then returns home to face Nebraska on Sept. 26, with that order confirmed on the full season listing.
Nebraska is Michigan State’s first Big Ten opponent on the calendar. That places the Notre Dame trip immediately before conference play begins, with no open week between the road game in South Bend and the Sept. 26 home date in East Lansing.
Oregon gives the late schedule another Friday night slot
The Nov. 27 home game against Oregon is also set for a Friday at 8 p.m. on FOX. Michigan State football’s kickoff release included that assignment along with the first three weeks, adding a second Friday game to the 2026 slate.
That Oregon date comes after the regular-season trip to Michigan on Nov. 21, which is listed on the team schedule. Instead of ending with the visit to Ann Arbor, Michigan State returns home six days later for a nationally televised Friday game.
Most of the schedule still does not have kickoff times
Michigan State football now has set times for Toledo, Eastern Michigan, Notre Dame and Oregon. Nebraska on Sept. 26 still does not have a kickoff time attached on the current schedule, and the rest of the Big Ten dates remain without final TV windows.
The next timing decision to watch is that Sept. 26 Nebraska game. It follows the NBC night trip to Notre Dame and starts conference play, but its kickoff slot has not been announced on the current schedule page.
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos