Several Rutgers football games for the 2026 season had their game times announced as part of a special run by the Big Ten conference and its television partners.
The Scarlet Knights will open up the 2026 season at home with a 6:00 pm ET kickoff against UMASS, which is coached by former Rutgers DC Joe Harasymiak. A week later, Rutgers will make the trip to Massachusetts itself to take on Boston College in a Friday night showdown at 7:30 pm. That game, known as the Red Bandana game for BC fans, will honor
the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Live coverage for it will be available on ESPN2.
The next week, Rutgers will start conference play at home vs USC. That game is slated for a 3:30 kick and will be televised nationally on CBS.
Rutgers will be on short rest for the game after, as they will play Howard in a Friday night matchup at 7:00 pm on BTN the night of September 25th, 2026.
The week after that is Homecoming Weekend, and the Scarlet Knights will play host to the national champion Indiana Hoosiers for their fourth night game of the season, with kickoff at 8 pm.
While not officially announcing a set-in-stone time for Rutgers vs Maryland, the Big Ten made it known that the game will not kick off any later than 5 pm.
