For the first three weeks of the 2026 college football season, FOX’s Big Noon Saturday slate will showcase four top-25 teams and the sport’s last three national champions.
Ohio State and Indiana open the year with opportunities to test their depth ahead of what could become a College Football Playoff elimination game on Oct. 17. Michigan, meanwhile, draws at least two CFP teams from a year ago in Oklahoma and Ohio State, while the Hoosiers must prove another quarterback transition will not slow the defending national champions.
Here are the four Big Noon Saturday games that were announced on Wednesday and the top storylines to watch from each of them:
Sept. 5: North Texas at Indiana
This is not the 2025 version of the Mean Green. In fact, if you’re looking for that team, it made like the Baltimore Colts and picked up and moved in the middle of the night to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where it will henceforth be known as the Cowboys.
Eric Morris, who coached North Texas to a 12-2 record last season, is gone, along with starting quarterback Drew Mestemaker and running back Caleb Hawkins. Neal Brown takes over in Denton with a roster that returns just four combined starts from last year’s team.
Still, Brown does have a familiar name to work with in former Indiana and UCF quarterback Tayven Jackson, who returns to Bloomington seeing Indiana in a much different light than when he left — kind of like the rest of us after 2020.
For the Hoosiers, it’s a chance to prove a third straight change at quarterback can be just as fruitful as the last two. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan worked wonders with transfers Kurtis Rourke and 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. Now, the Hoosiers turn to former TCU star Josh Hoover, the school’s single-season passing-yardage record holder, to lead the defense of their national championship.
No team has beaten the Hoosiers in Bloomington since Purdue did so in 2023 — the final game before Cignetti arrived. Indiana’s first-half schedule is manageable enough that the Hoosiers could very well beat North Texas like it stole something and welcome Ohio State to Bloomington on Oct. 7 at 6-0.
Sept. 12: Oklahoma at Michigan
As I wrote last month, the Big Ten’s grip on college football has never been stronger, while the SEC is still sorting out what it means to be the sport’s second-best conference. That’s part of what makes this matchup one of the most anticipated non-conference games of 2026: a Michigan win would only add fuel to the argument against the league where it supposedly “just means more.”
Oklahoma has made more College Football Playoff appearances than Michigan, yet the Sooners still have not won a postseason game, even after earning the right to host one last December, when they lost to Alabama, an SEC opponent Oklahoma had beaten on the road the year before.
Michigan, meanwhile, enters a new era under its third head coach in four years while attempting to reaffirm itself as the program that first broke through among the Big Ten’s three consecutive national champions.
Kyle Whittingham speaks at a news conference introducing him as the new Michigan head football coach. (Photo by Dustin Markland/Getty Images)
Still, Oklahoma has never lost to Michigan, winning both previous meetings, and the Sooners have historically fared well against the Big Ten. No program in the conference owns a winning record against Oklahoma, while Brent Venables already notched victories over Nebraska and Michigan last season.
As the College Football Playoff selection committee continues placing greater emphasis on marquee non-conference games between Power 4 opponents, the winner of this game could gain an edge in the race for an at-large CFP berth.
Sept. 19: Kent State at Ohio State
The Buckeyes have not lost to an unranked opponent since Purdue stunned Ohio State 49-20 on Oct. 20, 2018. They also have not lost to a team outside the Power 4 since Air Force beat Ohio State 23-11 in the 1990 Liberty Bowl.
Kent State coach Mark Carney returns alongside quarterback Dru DeShields after a 5-7 campaign in 2025, but this hardly looks like the kind of roster capable of threatening an Ohio State team led by two Heisman Trophy front-runners in quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia must replace six starters and three first-round NFL Draft picks from last year’s defense, and the matchup comes immediately after the Buckeyes’ highly anticipated tilt with Texas. How many young players Ryan Day trusts, whether Tavien St. Clair gets the start to rest Sayin, and how quickly Chris Henry Jr. can emerge are all questions worth monitoring in this game.
Nov. 28: Michigan at Ohio State
I wrote earlier this month that The Game has featured a CFP participant in each of the last seven seasons, produced five of the last seven Big Ten champions and crowned two of the last three national champions. It has become appointment viewing not simply because of its history, but because of its annual impact on the national title race. I don’t expect that to change with Kyle Whittingham taking over at Michigan.
With new offensive coordinators at both programs — Arthur Smith at Ohio State and Jason Beck at Michigan — there could be some schematic shifts on both sides. But there will be no drop off in talent on the field. Both rosters feature legitimate Heisman Trophy contenders, and it would be surprising if at least one future finalist does not emerge from this matchup.
Is this the year Ohio State accomplishes something it has not done since 2014: win The Game, the Big Ten championship and the national title?
That question will begin to take shape in earnest on Nov. 28.
