Grambling State Tigers Football Schedule 2026

HOUSTON -- Grambling State will open the 2026 football season with two home games against SIAC teams. After that, the Tigers will play at a Big 12 stadium, the Cotton Bowl, and the Caesars Superdome throughout their slate of games this fall.

Coach Mickey Joseph is heading into his third season with the Tigers. This year, the team will play five home games, four on the road, and two at neutral sites.

At SWAC Media Day, coaches and sports information directors picked Grambling State to finish second in the Western Division, giving them 93 points and two first-place votes.

Two SIAC openers precede the trip to Fort Worth

The Tigers open Aug. 29 against Clark Atlanta at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium with a 6 p.m. kickoff on SWAC TV. The programs last met during the 2017 season with GSU winning 31-20 against the Panthers at the Chicago Football Classic.

The Central State Marauders ride into Grambling for a Sept. 5 visit with a 6 p.m. kickoff. The series dates back to the 1948 Vulcan Bowl, with six contests in the all-time series. Grambling lost the last meeting against Central State, 20-7, in 1996.

The G-Men will play their only Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) game on Sept. 12 at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. This will mark the second time these teams have met, and the first since 2012.

The Tigers have a bye week on Sept. 19.

State Fair Classic opens conference play

Grambling State enters the SWAC gauntlet on Sept. 26 at the State Fair Classic, facing the reigning conference champions, Prairie View A&M. The Cotton Bowl will host the clash of Western Division powers.

Next, the Tigers return home for back-to-back games against SWAC teams from Mississippi, hosting Alcorn State for homecoming on Oct. 3 and Jackson State on Oct. 10.

The tilt against Jackson State is a rematch of the inaugural Las Vegas HBCU Classic, in which Grambling State upset the JSU Tigers, 26-24.

Grambling State will travel to meet Alabama A&M on Oct. 17, then have another bye week on Oct. 24, before a Halloween battle versus Texas Southern in Houston on Oct. 31.

Season closes in New Orleans

On Nov. 7, Grambling State will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff for Senior Day, Military Appreciation Day, and High School Day at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium. The Tigers hit the road to Daytona, Florida, meeting a dangerous Bethune-Cookman squad on Nov. 14, followed by a third bye week on Nov. 21.

The regular season wraps up on Nov. 28 when Grambling State and Southern meet again in the 53rd Bayou Classic at the Caesars Superdome, with kickoff at 1 p.m. Since Southern is a Western Division rival, this game will have division implications on the final Saturday of November. More than that, it gives the winner bragging rights in Louisiana for another year!

Grambling State 2026 Football Schedule

Aug. 29 -- Clark Atlanta | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Grambling, La. | 6 p.m. / SWAC TV
Sept. 5 -- Central State | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Grambling, La. | 6 p.m. / SWAC TV
Sept. 12 -- at TCU | Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas | 7 p.m.
Sept. 19 -- Open date
Sept. 26 -- Prairie View A&M (State Fair Classic) | Cotton Bowl, Dallas | 6 p.m.
Oct. 3 -- Alcorn State (Homecoming) | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Grambling, La. | 2 p.m. / SWAC TV
Oct. 10 -- Jackson State | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Grambling, La. | 4 p.m. / SWAC TV
Oct. 17 -- at Alabama A&M | Louis Crews Stadium, Huntsville, Ala. | 2 p.m. / SWAC TV
Oct. 24 -- Open date
Oct. 31 -- at Texas Southern | W.W. Thorne Stadium, Houston | TBD / SWAC TV
Nov. 7 -- Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Senior Day) | Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Grambling, La. | 2 p.m. / SWAC TV
Nov. 14 -- at Bethune-Cookman | Daytona Stadium, Daytona Beach, Fla. | TBD / SWAC TV
Nov. 21 -- Open date
Nov. 28 -- Southern (Bayou Classic) | Caesars Superdome, New Orleans | 1 p.m.

Kickoff times and network designations are subject to change. Times listed are Central.

Eligibility landscape

Alabama A&M, Florida A&M, and Mississippi Valley State cannot play in the postseason in 2026 because of NCAA Academic Progress Rate penalties. Since all three are in the Eastern Division, the Western Division teams remain eligible for the Pepsi SWAC Football Championship Game on December 5 on ESPN2.

With three bye weeks, Coach Joseph has built-in recovery periods for his team, and the Tigers will never play more than four weeks in a row. Whether this schedule helps them reach the title game will be decided at the Superdome against Coach Marshall Faulk and the Jaguars.

Projections for the Tigers

Mickey Joseph’s team projects to post a 7-4 record for the 2026 season. However, an additional victory over either Prairie View or Jackson State could give the Tigers an 8-3 mark…we shall see.

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