College Sports Is Back: The 2026–27 Season Is Underway
Summary: College sports is officially back, and the 2026–27 season is already packed with storylines. From women’s soccer kicking off the year to men’s soccer, volleyball and field hockey preparing to begin, Lacey Weisenborn takes a look at the teams, championship contenders, rivalries and early-season matchups she’ll be following.
Women’s College Soccer Kicks Off a New Year
College sports is officially back, and I couldn’t be more ready for another academic year filled with amazing games, incredible atmospheres, rivalries, upsets, and championship moments. The wait is finally over, and the first sport to officially open the 2026-27 college sports season is women’s college soccer.
With 310 programs across 31 conferences, every team begins the season with the same goal: win a conference championship, earn an at-large bid, and ultimately make the 64-team NCAA Tournament. The journey has officially begun, and there are already plenty of teams and storylines to watch.
Florida State Begins Its National Championship Defense
The defending national champions, Florida State, have started the season exactly how a championship-caliber team should. The Seminoles opened the year with a dominant 4-0 road victory over Stetson before following it up with a 2-0 road win over FIU.
Florida State now gets to open its home schedule against FAU before traveling to Gainesville to face archrival Florida. The Seminoles have already shown that they are ready to defend their national championship, but the rivalry matchup against Florida should be an early test.
North Carolina Shows Its Championship Pedigree
The North Carolina Tar Heels also opened the season in dominant fashion. North Carolina is one of the most successful programs in NCAA history, with more than 20 national championships in women’s soccer.
For decades, the program was led by legendary head coach Anson Dorrance, who spent more than 40 years at North Carolina before retiring in 2024. Damon Nahas took over as interim head coach and led the Tar Heels to another national championship. He was subsequently named the permanent head coach.
North Carolina has wasted no time showing that it remains one of the nation’s elite programs. The Tar Heels opened with a 4-0 win over Fairfield before absolutely dominating Quinnipiac 8-0.
The schedule gets much tougher from here. North Carolina will travel to face SEC opponent Arkansas before returning home to take on a very good Michigan State team. Those two games should give us a much better idea of just how good this year’s Tar Heels are.
Texas A&M Begins on the Road
Texas A&M, one of the top programs in the SEC, began the season on the road and split its opening two games. The Aggies defeated Rice 2-1 before suffering a 2-1 loss to Baylor.
The road trip continues against Texas State before Texas A&M finally returns home to face Sam Houston and Air Force.
It will be great to see the Aggies back at home in front of their fans. Texas A&M has one of the loudest and most passionate fanbases in the SEC, regardless of the sport, and the atmosphere surrounding Aggie athletics is something special.
Missouri Looks to Make Its Mark
The Missouri Tigers also began the season away from home. Missouri opened with a scoreless 0-0 draw against Western Kentucky before bouncing back with a 3-1 win over Murray State.
The Tigers are looking to improve after last season, and they have plenty of opportunities to make a statement.
Missouri will return home to face St. Louis, one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 and a nationally respected team. That should be a very interesting matchup.
After that, Missouri travels to Springfield to face in-state rival Missouri State before returning home to take on Northern Illinois. The Tigers will then travel to face Creighton to close out August.
Illinois and Illinois State Start Their Campaigns
The Illinois Fighting Illini are looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, and they started their campaign against a very difficult opponent.
Illinois opened at home against SEC opponent Georgia, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
The Illini now have a chance to build momentum with three straight home games against Cincinnati, UIC, and St. Louis. That St. Louis matchup should be especially interesting given the quality of both programs.
Up in Bloomington, Illinois, the Illinois State Redbirds are looking to win the Missouri Valley Conference after coming up just short last season.
The Redbirds opened the season with an impressive 2-1 victory over Northern Illinois.
Illinois State will now travel to face Lindenwood before returning home to take on UT Martin. The Redbirds will then face back-to-back road challenges against Northwestern and Loyola Chicago to close out August.
This is a team that could be very interesting to follow throughout the season.
Penn State Eyes Another NCAA Tournament Run
In University Park, Pennsylvania, the Penn State Nittany Lions are beginning another season with the same goal they’ve had so many times before: make another NCAA Tournament run.
Penn State began the season on the road with an impressive 2-2 draw against Notre Dame, one of the country’s top programs.
The Nittany Lions will continue their road trip against West Virginia before returning home for games against Bucknell and Brown.
St. Louis Faces an Early Gauntlet
St. Louis has a challenging schedule ahead after opening the season with a 2-1 loss to Alabama, a top SEC program.
The Billikens responded exactly how they needed to, however, dominating Lindenwood 5-0.
Now comes another difficult stretch. St. Louis will travel to face Missouri and Illinois before taking on Indiana to close out August.
There are plenty of opportunities here for the Billikens to build an impressive resume early in the season.
SIUE Looks to Build Momentum
And, of course, we have the SIUE Cougars.
The Cougars began their season in Alabama with a 2-1 victory over Alabama A&M before opening their home schedule with an impressive 2-2 draw against Valparaiso.
SIUE will now face Austin Peay and IU Indy before closing out August with a road trip to Drake.
It is always exciting to see SIUE competing, and the Cougars have plenty of opportunities ahead to build momentum as the season continues.
A Special Final Season at BYU
In Utah, the BYU Cougars have their sights set on something even bigger: winning it all.
This season is especially meaningful because legendary head coach Jen Rockwood is set to retire following the season after an incredible 32 years at the helm. She built the BYU program from the ground up and helped turn it into the nationally recognized program it is today.
And what a way to begin her final season.
BYU opened the year with a 2-1 victory over UCLA, one of the strongest programs in college athletics.
The Cougars will travel to face Wisconsin before returning home for games against USC and Minnesota.
BYU has intentionally put together a very difficult non-conference schedule, with every opponent coming from the Big Ten. This is exactly the kind of preparation the Cougars need before entering a tough Big 12 schedule.
UCLA Faces an Early Challenge
UCLA began the season with a difficult 2-1 loss to BYU, but the Bruins quickly bounced back with a 1-1 draw against another top program in Duke.
UCLA will stay home to face San Diego before traveling to face rival Stanford. The Bruins will then close August on the road against Santa Clara.
There is plenty of time for UCLA to find its rhythm, and this schedule should provide some excellent tests.
Men’s College Soccer Is Up Next
The men’s college soccer season hasn’t started just yet. The season officially begins on August 20, and several of the teams I follow have some very difficult non-conference schedules ahead.
SIUE has one of the toughest non-conference schedules of the teams I’m watching.
The Cougars begin on the road against UMKC before facing two massive tests against Michigan State and Michigan, both on the road.
That is an incredibly difficult stretch, but it also gives SIUE a chance to make a statement against some of the nation’s biggest programs.
St. Louis will begin the season with two consecutive home games against Seattle and SMU, before closing August with a major test against Notre Dame.
Facing a top ACC program like Notre Dame will be a huge challenge, but it is also exactly the type of game that can prepare a team for postseason play.
Penn State begins at home against Mercyhurst before traveling to face Missouri State.
The Nittany Lions then return home for games against Pittsburgh and Westminster.
There is plenty of opportunity for Penn State to build confidence before conference play begins.
North Carolina begins the season on the road against Georgetown and Memphis before returning home to face VCU to close out August.
The Tar Heels will be looking to establish themselves early, and these games should provide a good opening test.
UCLA begins its season on the road at Virginia before returning home to face CSU Bakersfield and Denver.
Like the other programs mentioned, the Bruins have a challenging non-conference schedule that should help prepare them for the season ahead.
College Volleyball Returns With a Major Showcase
College volleyball is back as well, and the season is already starting with a massive event.
The AVCA First Serve Showcase takes place this weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring eight of the top programs in the country.
Texas A&M, the defending national champions, will be joined by Texas, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Louisville, SMU, and Arizona State.
Even though this is technically an exhibition, this is a huge deal for college volleyball. These are some of the best teams in the country coming together for a weekend of high-level volleyball, and it should give fans an early look at some of the teams that could be competing for a national championship later this year.
The regular season officially begins August 28.
BYU will begin the season at a tournament featuring Florida State and FGCU.
The Cougars are once again looking to establish themselves as one of the country’s top programs and will have plenty of opportunities to do that throughout the season.
Illinois begins against Cincinnati and Syracuse.
The Fighting Illini will be looking to get off to a strong start and build momentum early.
Illinois State opens the season against Seton Hall and NJIT.
The Redbirds will be looking to make an impact right from the beginning.
Missouri opens against Western Illinois, Towson, and Idaho.
Three early games provide the Tigers with a chance to build confidence and find their identity before the schedule becomes more difficult.
Nebraska Takes Volleyball to AT&T Stadium
The Nebraska Cornhuskers are once again one of the favorites to win the national championship, and their season begins with one of the biggest events in college volleyball.
Nebraska will participate in Spike Under the Lights at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, where they will face Florida and then play the winner of Penn State and SMU.
This could be a massive moment for college volleyball. Having tens of thousands of fans pack a football stadium to watch volleyball would be an incredible sight and another sign of just how popular the sport has become.
Penn State will participate in Spike Under the Lights against SMU before continuing its opening stretch with games against UConn, High Point, and Hofstra.
That is a challenging opening for one of the most successful programs in the history of the sport.
St. Louis and SIUE Prepare for Volleyball Season
The Billikens open the season at home with a tournament featuring Buffalo, UIC, and Lindenwood.
St. Louis will be looking to build on its strong recent history and establish itself as one of the top programs in the Atlantic 10 once again.
SIUE begins the season at a tournament hosted by Arkansas.
The Cougars will face Arkansas, UT Arlington, and UTSA.
Playing at a tournament hosted by an SEC opponent is a great opportunity for SIUE to test itself early in the season.
The Defending Champions Begin Their Run
The defending national champions will begin with the AVCA First Serve Showcase, where they will face Louisville and SMU.
After that, the regular season officially begins with a home tournament against Grand Canyon, Arkansas State, and Cal Poly.
The Aggies will enter the season with the target firmly on their backs, but they have the talent and experience to make another championship run.
UCLA will begin the season with a unique challenge against rival Long Beach State.
The Bruins will play Long Beach State on the road and then host them at home, giving UCLA an unusual early-season home-and-home rivalry matchup.
It should be a fun way to begin the season for one of the most historic programs in college volleyball.
Field Hockey Is Almost Back
College field hockey is almost back as well, and several of the programs I follow have some difficult schedules ahead.
North Carolina, Iowa, St. Louis, and Penn State will all have challenging opening games.
North Carolina begins against two Big Ten opponents, Michigan and Iowa. That is a brutal way to begin the season, but it will immediately test the Tar Heels against some of the best competition in the country.
St. Louis begins against Michigan State before facing Ohio.
Penn State opens at home against Virginia and Lock Haven.
Iowa begins on the road at Wake Forest before facing North Carolina.
These games should provide some fantastic early-season matchups.
College Sports Is Back
And just like that, another academic year of college sports is here.
Women’s soccer has already provided dominant performances, dramatic draws, difficult tests, and some huge storylines. Men’s soccer is right around the corner. Volleyball is preparing for a massive opening weekend, including the AVCA First Serve Showcase and the historic Spike Under the Lights event at AT&T Stadium. Field hockey is almost here as well.
There are national champions looking to defend their titles, legendary coaches entering their final seasons, programs trying to return to the NCAA Tournament, rivalries ready to reignite, and teams hoping to make the leap from contender to champion.
There will be upsets. There will be heartbreak. There will be incredible atmospheres. There will be players who become stars seemingly overnight. There will be moments nobody sees coming.
Most importantly, there will be another year of what makes college sports so special.
College sports is back, and I am absolutely ready for it.
