Washington players take the field to warm up before a college football game against Michigan, Oct. 18, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Nick Wagner / The Seattle Times)
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By
Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Washington released its preliminary 2026 football schedule on Tuesday, following the Big Ten’s conference schedule announcement. Kickoff times will be announced at a later date.
Additionally, every game except matchups against USC on Oct. 3 and Nebraska on Oct. 31 could be shifted to Friday, though those potential changes haven’t been revealed.
Washington will open the season with the 118th Apple Cup against Washington State, looking to win consecutive games against their cross-state rivals for the first time during coach Jedd Fisch’s tenure. The 2026 Apple Cup will also be the earliest game in the matchup’s century-long history.
UW will host Utah State and FCS Eastern Washington to round out its nonconference schedule. Washington is one of five Big Ten teams — along with Indiana, Nebraska, USC and Penn State — that does not have a Power Four team scheduled for nonconference play, though Washington State was a Power Five team when the scheduling agreement to maintain the Apple Cup was made in 2023.
Washington will open Big Ten play on Sept. 26, when it welcomes Minnesota to Seattle. The Golden Gophers are one of three conference opponents the Huskies will face in 2026 that UW hasn’t played as a Big Ten rival since joining the conference before the 2024 season. Nebraska and Michigan State are the other two. Washington and Minnesota haven’t faced off since 1977.
UW will embark on their first road trip on Oct. 3, when the Huskies travel to play USC in Los Angeles. The Huskies haven’t lost against the Trojans since 2016, and enter 2026 riding a three-game win streak against USC. Iowa’s visit to Seattle on Oct. 10 — the Hawkeyes’ first since 1963 — rounds out the first half of UW’s schedule.
Fisch and his team won’t leave the Pacific time zone until Oct. 17, when they travel to Purdue. The Huskies defeated the Boilermakers 49-13 in 2025. It was defensive coordinator Ryan Walters’ first game against his former team since being fired by Purdue at the end of the 2024 season.
Washington gets its lone bye week on Oct. 24 before heading to Nebraska on Oct. 31. The Cornhuskers will also be coming off a bye week, but are the only opponent who will face the Huskies after a week off on UW’s 2026 schedule.
UW faced five teams coming off bye weeks in 2025. They went 3-2 in those games with wins against Illinois, Maryland and Rutgers and losses against Ohio State and Wisconsin — a game where Washington also enjoyed a bye before traveling to Madison, Wis.
UW wraps up its 2026 schedule with a visit from Penn State, its first since 1921, on Nov. 7 and a road trip to Michigan State on Nov. 14. East Lansing, Mich. is the farthest east the Huskies will travel during the regular season, and one of two games UW will play in the Eastern time zone, along with the road trip to Purdue.
UW will host its penultimate game of the season against Indiana on Nov. 21. Washington has hosted the reigning national champions in three consecutive seasons after facing Ohio State in 2025 and Michigan in 2024. The Huskies are 1-1 in those games, losing to the Buckeyes but beating the Wolverines. Washington ends its 2026 regular season with a trip south to play Oregon in Eugene, Ore., on Nov. 28.
The Big Ten championship game will be played Dec. 5 in Indianapolis. Conference media days are scheduled to begin on July 28 in Chicago.
Here’s Washington’s full 2026 schedule:
Sept. 5 vs. Washington State
Sept. 12 vs. Utah State
Sept. 19 vs. Eastern Washington
Sept. 26 vs. Minnesota
Oct. 3 at USC
Oct. 10 vs. Iowa
Oct. 17 at Purdue
Oct. 24 BYE
Oct. 31 at Nebraska
Nov. 7 vs. Penn State
Nov. 14 at Michigan State
Nov. 21 vs. Indiana
Nov. 28 at Oregon
Andy Yamashita: ayamashita@seattletimes.com. Andy Yamashita is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, primarily covering Washington Huskies football.
