East Carolina, Alabama agree to 2026 football game

by | Aug 26, 2025

East Carolina has announced a 2026 football game will be played at Alabama.

Below are more details from ECU Sports Information.

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Photo illustration: (ECU Sports Information)

By ECU Sports Information

East Carolina and Alabama have agreed to play a non-conference football game on Sept. 5, 2026 on Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium according to a joint announcement by both institutions.

The meeting will mark ECU’s second visit to Alabama and the Pirates’ 26th contest against a current member of the Southeastern Conference with the last versus South Carolina in 2021. The announcement is the fourth non-conference game for ECU in 2026 as the Pirates are scheduled to play to host Appalachian State (Sept. 12) and N.C. Central (Sept. 26) inside Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium and will travel to Old Dominion (Sept. 19).

“We are excited for the opportunity to open our 2026 season against one of the premier programs in college football,” ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said. “Alabama represents the highest level of competition, and it’s a great chance for our football program to play on a national stage. It’s also a tremendous experience for our fans and a unique opportunity to showcase East Carolina University.”

The contest against Alabama will maintain the continuity of Power Conference opponents on East Carolina’s future schedules that includes games against Northwestern (2027/away), Wake Forest (2027/home, 2028/away), NC State (2028/home), Clemson (2029/away) and South Carolina (2030/away). This season, ECU will play a pair of P4 members in NC State (Aug. 28/away) and BYU (Sept. 20/home).

 

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