Wyoming football sets 2026 TV slate, three Friday games at home

Three Friday home games, two of them at War Memorial Stadium, will push Albany County fans to rethink the 2026 Cowboy football calendar long before kickoff. The University of Wyoming Athletics Department said the Cowboys will be on national television 10 times, with one game on the Mountain West’s new MW+ streaming platform and one on ESPN+, giving Laramie a schedule built around TV windows as much as Saturday traditions.

For local fans, the clearest planning issue is the stretch of home dates. Wyoming will host Northern Colorado on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m. on MW+, Hawaii on Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. on The CW, Northern Illinois on Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m., Air Force on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. on FS1, New Mexico on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. on FS1, and UConn on Nov. 28 on the Fox family of networks at a time still to be determined. The most disruptive nights are the two Friday home games against Air Force and New Mexico, which will change the usual workday-to-stadium routine for students, families, downtown businesses and tailgaters.

The schedule also gives Albany County a few more fan-friendly windows. The Sept. 12 home opener against Northern Colorado comes at 2 p.m., and the Sept. 26 meeting with Hawaii at 1 p.m. should make for easier day trips, earlier parking and a more traditional afternoon game-day flow. Wyoming’s Oct. 17 matchup with Northern Illinois also carries local pull, coming nearly 10 years after the 40-34 triple-overtime opener that turned Josh Allen into a national name and will be Northern Illinois’s first trip back to Laramie since then.

Road dates will shape travel planning as well. Wyoming opens at Colorado State on Sept. 5 at 4 p.m. on USA Network in the Border War, the rivalry that began in 1899 and will reach its 116th meeting in 2026. The Cowboys also play at Central Michigan on Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. on ESPN+, at North Dakota State on Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m. on The CW, at San Jose State on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, at UNLV on Nov. 7 at 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, and at UTEP on Nov. 14 with time and station still to be set.

The broader Mountain West picture explains the crowded TV calendar. The league announced a 62-game football package for 2026, with 41 games on national television and 21 on MW+, which is scheduled to launch in July as the conference’s exclusive streaming home for live events not on linear TV. The Mountain West also said it will have multiple national broadcasts in 11 of 14 weeks and six Fridays during the season.

War Memorial Stadium, home to Wyoming football since 1950, remains central to the experience even as the university’s renovation work pushes the venue toward a reduced capacity of 25,000. That makes the Friday home dates more than television appointments: they are set to steer traffic, parking, business traffic and the whole fall cadence in Laramie. The Mountain West championship game is set for Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. MT on FOX, extending the TV-heavy season to its final night.