take away 1 (Sac State) and add 2 (SUU and Utah Tech) makes 9 league games up from 8.

that is odd. unless its a season with 12 games, that only leaves 2 out of conference games. unless the long term plan is moving forward from the NCAA is that FCS will always have 12 games.

Per the accepted proposal, FCS games will be able to schedule 12 games per season beginning in 2026. Each regular season will begin 13 weeks before the FCS playoff selection date.

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-adopts-proposal-for-fcs-to-adopt-12-game-football-seasons-in-2026/#google_vignette

thank you!

As of today, it looks like we have 11 games set for 2026. Preseason of (at)San Diego, (at) SMU and home against the Mad Hatters of Stetson. Although, I guess the Sac State game that year won't be a Big Sky game.

Although, I guess the Sac State game that year won't be a Big Sky game. — DrMike

Who knows...Dr. Wood may not want not want to play us any more since we'll still be FCS in 2026 and that's only "JV football" according to him....

The language is a bit inexact in that 12 game schedules are not new in FCS. All big sky teams had a 12 game schedule in 2024 with the only exception being Cal Ploy (Portland State cancelled one scheduled game so only played 11). The exact situation is that 12 games schedules can be “permanent” instead of rotating between 11 and 12 game cycles although using the word permanent in college football these days is a bit comical.

permanent-ish?

I'm not a big fan of the idea of 'week 0' becoming the new week 1. Late August kickoff in Davis with no students -> that's a money making idea! 'Free Misting Fans to the first 2000 fans; free Icee's to the 5 students who decide to show up'

Are they moving week 1 or just eliminating the bye week unless there are 13 weekends between Labor Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend, inclusive?

this is what I’ve read:

https://fbschedules.com/ncaa-adopts-proposal-for-fcs-to-adopt-12-game-football-seasons-in-2026/amp/

A few articles mention the zero week start, but you might be correct that there may be years or ways to still start week one.

Thanks
According to that article week zero is dead, no more exceptions, week one is fixed at 13 weeks before the Saturday before Thanksgiving. So next season week 1 is where week 0 would have been. But if the rule was in effect this year, week 1 would be unchanged, Start of seasom no longer related to Labor Day.

I’m not sure about where week 1 lands. The brackets aren’t released until the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving (not Saturday historically to allow for the dust to clear on Saturday’s game. 13 weeks inclusive of the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving in 2026 is Aug 29 which is the same week as Aug. 27 the stated date when a game is allowed to be played. So it seems to me to be 13 weeks inclusive is the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving.

That is right, not thanksgiving weekend