North Carolina and TCU open 2026 season with Dublin rematch

North Carolina and TCU open the 2026 season Saturday at noon ET at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, a rematch of TCU's 48-14 win over the Tar Heels and the sport's official Week 0 kickoff. The Aer Lingus College Football Classic airs nationally on ESPN.

The teams arrive from opposite directions. TCU finished 9-4 in 2025; North Carolina went 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the ACC in a rough first season under Bill Belichick.

TCU will start Jaden Craig in place of Josh Hoover, who transferred to Indiana after throwing for 7,421 yards over the past two seasons. Craig arrives from Harvard, where he set single-season school records with 25 touchdown passes and 2,869 passing yards in 2025 and was a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist. TCU received the third-most votes among teams outside the preseason top 25 of the US LBM Coaches Poll.

North Carolina fired offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and hired Bobby Petrino after averaging 19.3 points per game last season — 120th among 136 FBS teams. The Tar Heels added 40 freshmen in a top-20 recruiting class but were still picked 15th of 17 teams in the ACC preseason poll.

Both programs get an easier follow-up Sept. 12 — North Carolina hosts East Tennessee State, TCU hosts Grambling. Dublin comes first, and it puts a new quarterback and a new play-caller on the clock before either program gets to find out what those hires are worth.