North Carolina, TCU open 2026 season in Dublin rematch

North Carolina and TCU kick off the 2026 season Saturday at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, the first FBS game of the year and the first international game in Tar Heels history — and a rematch of the meeting that turned Bill Belichick's head-coaching debut into a rout a year ago.

Kickoff is noon ET, 5 p.m. local, on ESPN. North Carolina finished 4-8 last season, 2-6 in the ACC; TCU went 9-4 and 5-4 in the Big 12. The Tar Heels are 8.5-point underdogs on the same field where last year's opener started well before it didn't.

Billy Edwards Jr. gets the chance to answer North Carolina's quarterback question, though the program has not said whether he's officially the starter. Bobby Petrino now runs the offense that stalled out under Belichick a year ago, and Dublin is his first game calling it — against a team that beat North Carolina the last time these two met.

North Carolina leads the all-time series 3-1. The program is also without two key voices for now: defensive coordinator Steve Belichick has been out since Aug. 6 on medical leave and stayed home, and general manager Michael Lombardi is on administrative leave.

North Carolina's next game is Sept. 12 against East Tennessee State. First, though, comes the answer everyone in Chapel Hill has been waiting a year for — in Dublin, at noon Eastern.