RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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After capturing two consecutive conference championships and earning back-to-back trips to the FCS Playoffs, Abilene Christian football will look to keep building upon its recent gridiron success when the Wildcats kick off their 2026 campaign.
No. 15 Abilene Christian will take on the No. 20 Lamar Cardinals to kick off the first week of the 2026 college football season at noon on Saturday, Aug. 29, at Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont.
The battle between the Wildcats and Cardinals will be one of two Week 0 matchups featuring ranked FCS squads clashing against one another.
ACU’s matchup with Lamar also represents a rematch of a first-round game in the 2025 FCS Playoffs that the Wildcats won 38-20 in Abilene last November.
In their most recent matchup in last year’s FCS Playoffs, the Wildcats racked up 455 yards of total offense as ACU raced ahead to secure a 24-0 first-half lead.
Abilene Christian and Lamar have met on the football field 24 times in a series that dates back to 1953.
Lamar holds a 13-11 edge in the all-time series history between the two schools on the gridiron, but ACU has won four games in a row against the Cardinals.
The Wildcats and Cardinals have split the eight meetings since the series resumed after Abilene Christian’s move up from NCAA Division II to the FCS following a 42-year pause.
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Lamar will travel to face Abilene Christian at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium next year to kick off the 2027 college football season as part of a four-game home-and-home series agreement between the two schools.
The 15th-ranked Wildcats boast an 8-4 record against ranked FCS opponents since 2024.
Here’s how to catch Saturday’s ACU football game against the Lamar Cardinals in the Wildcats’ first game of the 2026 college football season:
How to Watch No. 15 Abilene Christian vs No. 20 Lamar football
When: 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29
Where: Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas
TV: ESPN+
Listen: Abilene Christian All-Access
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene Christian vs Lamar football TV channel, start time for Week 0
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