The Harvard Crimson have announced their 2026 football schedule, which will mark the 153rd season of Harvard football.
The Crimson open the season on September 19 with a trip to New Hampshire, marking the program’s first meeting with the Wildcats since the 2022 campaign. Ivy League play begins the following week when Harvard travels to Brown on September 26.
The Crimson make their home debut at Harvard Stadium in Boston, Mass., on October 3 against Colgate before returning to the road for an October 10 conference matchup at Cornell. Harvard concludes non‑conference play on October 17, hosting Holy Cross in one of New England’s longest‑standing series.
The team then returns to Ivy League action on October 24 when Princeton visits Harvard Stadium.
Harvard closes the month on October 31 with a road game at Dartmouth, continuing a rivalry that has routinely influenced the conference standings.
The Crimson play their final home game on November 7 against Columbia before traveling to Penn on November 14 for their last Ivy League road contest of the season.
The regular season concludes on November 21 with the 142nd playing of The Game, as Harvard meets Yale at historic Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.
Below is Harvard’s complete schedule for the 2026 season, plus a link to their schedule page which will be updated with kickoff times and TV as they are announced:
2026 Harvard Football Schedule
09/19 – at New Hampshire
09/26 – at Brown*
10/03 – Colgate
10/10 – at Cornell*
10/17 – Holy Cross
10/24 – Princeton*
10/31 – at Dartmouth*
11/07 – Columbia*
11/14 – at Penn*
11/21 – Yale* (at Fenway Park)
* Ivy League contest.
Harvard is entering its third season under head coach Andrew Aurich, who has led the Crimson to consecutive Ivy League championships and an FCS Playoff berth in 2025.
I am still wondering if the Ivy league will permit an 11th regular season game. Playing more games could enhance their chances of getting an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs—-that said, in their first year being eligiblle, they got two teams in
Maybe 10 games is suffice.
What do y’all think?
I think every conference should play whatever number of games they choose. Same for conference games.
Drew,
I agree
I guess my question is do Ivies want to play more, or do the Presidents not allow it
There is so charm to the old school 10 gamer
Division 3 does it
I never understood 11. Just like I don’t understand 17 in the NFL
Check the Ivy League bylaws and read up on it more. I has nothing to do with the individual schools. They adjusted them to allow for post-season play, but they are specific about when their season starts.
We don’t need more Ivy League teams in the playoffs, Harvard proved very well that they did not deserve an at-large bid when Villanova boat raced them in the first round. Yale made a miraculous comeback at Youngstown and then slowed the game down and force a couple of turnovers to make the final score interesting at Montana State, but these teams aren’t built to play week after week against the Big Sky and MVFC.
I want Harvard-Yale to continue it’s traditional noon kickoff & have it be televised on OTA television with ABC.
Harvard-Yale has always been a noon kickoff because neither Harvard Stadium nor Yale Bowl has lights. It gets dark around 4:30 in New England in late November. With the game at Fenway, there could be a later start. Holy Cross-Georgetown on the Saturday before Thanksgiving was a 4:00 start in Fenway last year. There is ZERO chance the game will ever be televised by ABC.
Either ESPN2 or ESPNU would be excellent for Harvard-Yale at Fenway Park should they get a 3:30PM-4:00PM kickoff.
That is my educated guess, Gerry.