College football is fun because of the diversity of teams that we get to watch. This isn’t the NFL, and there’s a certain charm there. It’s not just the fact that teams represent areas no major professional team would ever try to represent, it’s also the fact that we get different kinds of football. From the option teams of the service academies to the pass-heavy offenses of Hawaii, there’s so much football to watch. Unfortunately, that large variety leads to a lot of confusion when it comes to watching the games. This is a 2026 guide on the best way to watch as much as possible.

Best TV Provider: YouTube TV (Sports Plan)

This year, there’s only one provider that I would recommend, and that’s YouTube TV. If you’re mostly looking for football, go with the Sports Plan. New customers pay $54.99/month for the first year, and it includes every network you need to watch games and comes with ESPN Unlimited included. YouTube TV is supposed to add ESPN Unlimited integration into the platform by the end of August, so you may not have to use the terrible ESPN app anymore. The only network you don’t get through that package is The CW, but ESPN bought the streaming rights to their sports broadcasts. Those are part of ESPN Unlimited, as is all of ESPN+.

A reminder for everything going forward: TV rights are owned by the home team.

Power Four TV rights

First, the power conferences. The SEC is the easiest conference to find when looking for games because every game is on an ESPN-owned network. Non-conference games against cupcakes are sometimes put on SECN+, but that’s as simple as using the app.

The ACC is almost as easy. All games are streamed in the ESPN app, and most games are televised on ESPN networks, but The CW gets one game each week.

Notre Dame has its own contract with NBC, and most games are broadcast there. Peacock gets one or two games a year. Peacock games aren’t always exclusive to the streaming platform because some games are put on the YTTV-exclusive NBCSN.

The Big 12 and Big 10 are messy. The Big 10 has games on Fox/FS1, CBS, NBC, Peacock and the Big 10 Network. The Big 12 has games on Fox/FS1, ESPN networks and TNT.

Group of Six TV rights

Welcome to the nightmare zone. First, the easiest one: ESPN owns full rights to the Sun Belt. Almost every game is on ESPN+, but midweek games and occasional Saturday games get on their cable networks. UConn is second easiest because almost every game is on CBSSN. The only exception is their Week 1 opener vs FCS Lafayette. That game will be carried on local TV in Connecticut and streamed online.

Then we have the MAC and CUSA. The majority of these conferences’ games are on ESPN+. ESPN and CBSSN hold the rights to broadcast games. Network broadcasts are rare outside of the midweek games. CUSA does midweek games in October, while midweek MACtion is limited to November.

The Pac-12 is where things start to get more varied. CBS, The CW and USA own their rights. One good thing about their deal is that they are always on TV. You don’t need to worry there.

Oh boy, The American is a doozy. The vast majority of The American’s broadcast rights are ESPN’s, but they have the added bonus of being able to play on ABC that the other G6 conferences don’t. Most games are on ESPN+, but they get a midweek ESPN network game every week thanks to a deal that dates back to the old Big East contract. That’s true for every team except two: Army and Navy. Their conference games go on CBSSN as part of a deal made before they joined as affiliate members of The American, and their games in the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series are always on CBS.

Then we have the Mountain West. Strap in, because these rights belong to CBS, Fox/FS1 and The CW. If it’s not on those networks, you will need a separate subscription and separate app to watch. The fee for MW+ is $10.99 a month or $79.99 for a full year. With Hawaii joining as a full MWC member, this includes Hawaii games. Plan your tests accordingly.

Additional information for non-FBS

ESPN owns the streaming/broadcast rights to almost every FCS game. ESPN has a deal to broadcast a handful of Big Sky games on TV, and it has put MVFC games on there, too. The Bayou Classic is an NBC game since individual classics sell broadcast rights separately to the teams themselves. Additionally, HBCU Go streams most of the SWAC games I’ve looked for each weekend. The only exception to ESPN’s near-monopoly of FCS streaming is that some NEC games are on the conference-owned NEC Front Row (free) and CAA games are on FloSports like many non-D1 conferences.

Below D1, check each team. Of the non-D1 teams in Louisiana, D3 Centenary is stuck behind the FloSports paywall, and NAIA Louisiana Christian broadcasts their games on their athletics website. If you’re a true sicko looking for games at that level, go to team websites and look there.

Football season is upon us. Now it’s time to get ready for Week 0 which is…next week?!