A fifth game was just added to the 2026 Week 0 slate.
The Memphis Tigers and UNLV Rebels agreed to a home-and-home series, where UNLV hosts a matchup on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, with a return trip to Memphis on Saturday, Sept. 15, 2029. The two teams, which both posted their winningest 3-year stretches in program history from 2023-25, have never squared off on the field before.
This 2026 Memphis at UNLV battle is one of five games currently slated for Week 0, along with Hawaii at Stanford, New Mexico
State at Florida State, North Carolina vs. TCU (in Dublin, Ireland), and NC State vs. Virginia (in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The upcoming game marks UNLV’s third home game in the history of Week 0 (the Rebels hosted FCS Idaho State in 2022 and 2025). It will be Memphis’ first Week 0 contest ever.
Memphis saw a vacancy arise on its 2026 schedule back in September when Arkansas axed its 2026 matchup vs. the Tigers in Fayetteville, due to the SEC’s move to a 9-game conference schedule. The Tigers completed the first leg of the home-and-home series back in September, defeating the Razorbacks 32-31, but the second leg was postponed to 2030. Thus, Memphis will not face former head coach Ryan Silverfield in his debut season with Arkansas. Meanwhile, UNLV — which will be a member of a refurbished 9-team Mountain West — had an opening on its 2026 non-conference slate, making this never-before-seen matchup work seamlessly on the schedule.
Memphis is coming off an 8-5 season where it started 7-1 and climbed as high as No. 22 in the AP Poll. The Tigers underwent a head coaching change between the end of the regular season and their Gasparilla Bowl defeat to NC State, as Silverfield left for Arkansas. Memphis responded by hiring former Marshall and Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff, who will make his debut in Las Vegas on Aug. 29.
UNLV posted a 10-4 record in 2024, earning the designation of Mountain West runner-up for the third year in a row. The Rebels just completed year one of the Dan Mullen era, and now they enter year two, looking for a stronger finish to the season after dropping the Mountain West Championship and Frisco Bowl. UNLV plays host at Allegiant Stadium where it posted a 14-5 record across the last three seasons.
