IRVING, Texas — The American Conference has announced its 111-game football schedule, including the 56-game conference schedule, for the 2026 season.
Each of the 14 teams in the American will play eight conference games in 2026. The top two teams in the final single-division regular-season standings will meet in the American Conference Football Championship, which will be played Saturday, Dec. 5.
UTSA will enter its fourth season as a member of the American Conference with four league games scheduled for home at the Alamodome and four road contests. The Roadrunners will host South Florida on Thursday, Oct. 8, Navy on Oct. 17, North Texas on Nov. 14 and Tulsa on Nov. 27 or 28. They will hit the road to face Rice on Oct. 3, Tulane on Oct. 24, Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Nov. 5, and UAB on Nov. 21.
The Roadrunners have four nonconference games already set for the seventh season under head coach Jeff Traylor. UTSA will open its 16th season of football at home against UTRGV on Saturday, Sept. 5, before embarking on short trips north on I-35 for back-to-back road matchups with Texas State on Sept. 12 and Texas on Sept. 19. The Roadrunners will close out the nonconference slate by hosting Colorado State on Sept. 26.
Season tickets are on sale by visiting utsa.pro/26FBSeasonTix or by calling the UTSA Ticket Office at 210-458-UTSA (8872) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays. Current UTSA football season-ticket holders may renew their tickets by logging into their UTSA Account Manager.
Traylor has led UTSA to unprecedented success during his tenure, guiding the Roadrunners to a 53-26 record in his first six years at the helm, the most wins and best winning percentage (.671) by a coach in program history. He also has helped turn the Alamodome into a true homefield advantage with a 33-5 (.868) home record, including a 25-1 (.962) mark against conference opponents, dating back to his first season in 2020.
During the Traylor era, UTSA has captured a pair of conference championships, earned six straight bowl berths with three consecutive bowl wins and made a combined 23 appearances in the three major national polls. He has coached 10 All-Americans, three national award finalists, 97 all-conference selections and a trio of NFL Draft picks.
The 2026 regular season schedule features nine games that will be played in the state of Texas, including six within the friendly confines of the Alamodome. In fact, the Roadrunners will not leave the Lone Star State until an Oct. 24 road date with defending conference champion Tulane.
The schedule also will pit UTSA against seven teams that played in a bowl game last season, six teams that won at least nine games and four teams that finished the 2025 season ranked in the top 25.
UTSA’s 2026 season will kick off on Sept. 5 with a home game versus UTRGV, which is coming off a successful inaugural season that saw the Vaqueros register a 9-3 record, including a 5-3 mark in the Southland Conference. UTRGV is coached by Travis Bush, who served as UTSA’s offensive coordinator for the inaugural campaign in 2011 as well as the 2010 practice season.
The Roadrunners will renew the I-35 Rivalry with Texas State the following Saturday in San Marcos. UTSA holds a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series, but the Bobcats have won the past two meetings, including a narrow 43-36 decision last season.
UTSA will then head to Austin to face Texas for the third time in the last five seasons. The Longhorns, who went 10-3 and were ranked 12th in the final AP Top 25 and 13th in the AFCA Coaches Poll last season, have come out on top in both previous matchups at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, 41-20 in 2022 and 56-7 in 2024.
The Roadrunners will welcome Colorado State to the Alamodome to conclude the nonconference docket on Sept. 26. UTSA collected its first win in the series last fall with a 17-16 victory in Fort Collins. The Rams won the previous two meetings, including a 33-31 decision in 2015 in the last matchup at the Alamodome.
UTSA will open the American slate on the road, facing Rice on Oct. 3 in Houston. The Roadrunners own a 9-4 advantage in 13 previous meetings, including a 61-13 home triumph last October. Rice eked out a 29-27 win two years ago in the last matchup at Rice Stadium.
The Roadrunners will have a short turnaround before hosting South Florida on Thursday, Oct. 8. UTSA and the Bulls have split the previous two matchups with the Roadrunners registering a 49-21 victory in 2023 in the last meeting at the Alamodome.
UTSA will stay home to host Navy on Oct. 17 in what will be the first meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. The Midshipmen are coming off an 11-2 season that saw them finish ranked 23rd in both the AP and coaches polls.
The Roadrunners will leave the state of Texas for the first time for an Oct. 24 road date in New Orleans, Louisiana, with defending American Conference champion Tulane, which earned a spot in the College Football Playoff and finished 2025 with an 11-3 record and No. 18 ranking in both major polls. UTSA knocked off the Green Wave in convincing fashion last season in a 48-26 home victory in front of a national television audience on ESPN. The Roadrunners own a 2-1 advantage in the series, but Tulane scored a 29-16 victory in 2023 in the only previous meeting at Yulman Stadium.
Following the lone open week of the season, UTSA will hit the road once again for a matchup against Florida Atlantic on Thursday, Nov. 5, in Boca Raton. The Owls lead the series, 3-2, but UTSA has won each of the past two meetings, including 36-10 in 2023 in what was the last meeting at what is now Flagler Credit Union Stadium.
The Roadrunners will return home to host North Texas on Nov. 14 in what will be the 15th meeting between the two schools. UTSA boasts an 8-6 lead in the most-played series in program history and has been victorious in the last four matchups held at the Alamodome. The Mean Green won the last meeting last October in Denton and finished the year with a 12-2 record and No. 24 ranking in the AP Top 25.
UTSA will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, for the first time since 2022 to face UAB when the two teams meet on Nov. 21 at Protective Stadium. The Roadrunners have won the last three meetings, including 44-38 in double overtime in 2022 and 41-20 at home in 2023, in a series that is knotted at 4-4.
The Roadrunners will wrap up the regular season at home against Tulsa in a game that will be played on either Friday, Nov. 27, or Saturday, Nov. 28. UTSA and the Golden Hurricane split the previous two meetings, both played in Tulsa, Oklahoma. UTSA’s regular season finale is part of the American’s flexible Week 13 schedule that also includes Florida Atlantic at East Carolina, Temple at Memphis and Tulane at South Florida. Those games will be played either on Black Friday (Nov. 27) or the following day (Nov. 28). Those selections will be made by Oct. 11.
The American Conference enjoyed a successful 2025 season, sending nine teams to Bowl Season, including Tulane earning a berth in the College Football Playoff as the 11 seed. Teams from the American scored bowl wins against opponents from the Big 12, ACC, Conference USA and Mountain West. The American was one of only four leagues (joining the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC) to have three teams finish with 11 wins last season. The American was the only conference to earn wins over the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and ACC in nonconference play.
Kickoff times and television designations for the first three weeks of the season, as well as the season-long weeknight games, will be finalized by June 1. The rest of the schedule will fall under the customary 12-day and six-day selection processes. All dates announced today are subject to change.
2026 UTSA Football Schedule
|
Sept. 5 |
UTRGV |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Sept. 12 |
at Texas State |
San Marcos, Texas |
|
Sept. 19 |
at Texas |
Austin, Texas |
|
Sept. 26 |
Colorado State |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Oct. 3 |
at Rice* |
Houston, Texas |
|
Oct. 8 |
South Florida* |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Oct. 17 |
Navy* |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Oct. 24 |
at Tulane* |
New Orleans, La. |
|
Nov. 5 |
at Florida Atlantic* |
Boca Raton, Fla. |
|
Nov. 14 |
North Texas* |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Nov. 21 |
at UAB* |
Birmingham, Ala. |
|
Nov. 27 or 28^ |
Tulsa* |
San Antonio, Texas |
|
Dec. 5 |
American Championship |
TBD |
* American Athletic Conference game
^ selection to be made by Oct. 11
All home games played at Alamodome
Schedule is subject to change
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