The Southland Conference has announced its 2026 football schedule, which begins in Week Zero on Saturday, Aug. 29.
For the second consecutive season, the Southland Conference will include 10 football-playing members. Returning members include East Texas A&M, Houston Christian (HCU), Lamar, McNeese, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, Stephen F. Austin, Incarnate Word (UIW), and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).
Beginning in 2026, each Southland Conference team will play a nine-game conference schedule and up to three non-conference games for a total of 12 contests. 12-game schedules for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams will be the norm moving forward following an NCAA rule change last year.
Four previously unannounced non-conference matchups involving Southland teams were also revealed by the schedule release and are listed below:
Abilene Christian at Lamar – Aug. 29
UT Permian Basin at UTRGV – Aug. 29
Stephen F. Austin at Prairie View A&M – Sept. 19
Sacramento State at UTRGV – Sept. 26
Kickoff times and television designations will be announced at a later date.
2026 Southland Football Schedules
- 2026 HCU Football Schedule
- 2026 Lamar Football Schedule
- 2026 McNeese Football Schedule
- 2026 Nicholls Football Schedule
- 2026 Northwestern State Football Schedule
- 2026 Southeastern Louisiana Football Schedule
- 2026 Stephen F. Austin Football Schedule
- 2026 East Texas A&M Football Schedule
- 2026 UIW Football Schedule
- 2026 UTRGV Football Schedule
2026 Southland Conference Football Schedule
* Conference games only.
Saturday, Aug. 29 2026
HCU at Southeastern Louisiana
Stephen F. Austin at McNeese
Saturday, Sept. 5 2026
East Texas A&M at Stephen F. Austin
Saturday, Sept. 12 2026
Northwestern State at East Texas A&M
UTRGV at Nicholls
Saturday, Sept. 19 2026
HCU at UIW
McNeese at UTRGV
Saturday, Sept. 26 2026
East Texas A&M at McNeese
Lamar at Nicholls
Southeastern Louisiana at Northwestern State
Saturday, Oct. 3 2026
UIW at Stephen F. Austin
Nicholls at HCU
Northwestern State at Lamar
UTRGV at East Texas A&M
Saturday, Oct. 10 2026
UIW at Lamar
Southeastern Louisiana at UTRGV
Saturday, Oct. 17 2026
East Texas A&M at HCU
Lamar at Southeastern Louisiana
McNeese at Northwestern State
Stephen F. Austin at Nicholls
UTRGV at UIW
Saturday, Oct. 24 2026
HCU at Lamar
McNeese at UIW
Nicholls at Northwestern State
Southeastern Louisiana at Stephen F. Austin
Saturday, Oct. 31 2026
HCU at Stephen F. Austin
Lamar at UTRGV
Nicholls at McNeese
Northwestern State at UIW
Southeastern Louisiana at East Texas A&M
Saturday, Nov. 7 2026
East Texas A&M at Nicholls
UIW at Southeastern Louisiana
McNeese at HCU
Stephen F. Austin at Lamar
UTRGV at Northwestern State
Saturday, Nov. 14 2026
East Texas A&M at Lamar
HCU at Northwestern State
McNeese at Southeastern Louisiana
Nicholls at UIW
Stephen F. Austin at UTRGV
Saturday, Nov. 21 2026
UIW at East Texas A&M
Lamar at McNeese
Northwestern State at Stephen F. Austin
Southeastern Louisiana at Nicholls
UTRGV at HCU
2026 Southland Conference Football Schedule pic.twitter.com/J7nrfr0QwW
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) January 6, 2026
@Kevin Kelley: Why does the Pioneer League take so long to release their schedule, particularly Marist?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I am waiting very patiently for Big Ten to release its football schedule & I understand that they were waiting to see if Notre Dame-USC will be playing in which that long & storied rivalry is currently on pause plus I will give Big Ten plenty of time to figure schedule out.