College Football Schedule 2025-26
| MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
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JMU 52 , TXST 20 | Alonza Barnett III 264 | Alonza Barnett III 98 | Nick DeGennaro 101 | |
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KENNST 33 , UTEP 20 | Skyler Locklear 160 | Chase Belcher 113 | Javon Rogers 66 | |
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JACST 24 , MIDDTN 21 | Nicholas Vattiato 235 | Cam Cook 105 | Deondre Johnson 131 | |
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MOSTU 28 , FIU 21 | Jacob Clark 163 | Shomari Lawrence 104 | C'Quan Jnopierre 57 |
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DELST 27 , NOR 20 | Otto Kuhns 311 | James Jones 109 | JJ Evans 124 |
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TX-SA 48 , TULN 26 | Owen McCown 370 | Robert Henry Jr. 87 | David Amador II 113 |
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COASTC 44 , MARSH 27 | Samari Collier 196 | Antwan Roberts 134 | Malcolm Gillie 69 | |
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MEM 38 , RICE 14 | Brendon Lewis 225 | Brendon Lewis 87 | Cortez Braham Jr. 66 |
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PENN 28 , BROWN 21 | James Murphy 360 | Sean Williams Jr. 89 | Jared Richardson 104 |
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UNC 27 , SYR 10 | Gio Lopez 216 | Demon June 101 | Demon June 81 | |
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LATECH 55 , SAMHOU 14 | Blake Baker 221 | Elijah Green 191 | Chris Reed 79 | |
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IDAHO 35 , NOARI 32 | Ty Pennington 267 | Seth Cromwell 116 | Kolbe Katsis 98 |
| MATCHUP | RESULT | HI PASS | HI RUSH | HI REC | |
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ARMY 20 , AF 17 | Liam Szarka 161 | Cale Hellums 98 | Jonah Dawson 67 | |
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UNT 31 , NAVY 17 | Drew Mestemaker 234 | Caleb Hawkins 197 | Cameron Dorner 78 | |
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TEX 34 , VANDY 31 | Diego Pavia 365 | Quintrevion Wisner 75 | Eli Stowers 146 |
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BAYLOR 30 , UCF 3 | Sawyer Robertson 267 | Caden Knighten 104 | Michael Trigg 82 |
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WVU 45 , HOU 35 | Conner Weigman 309 | Diore Hubbard 108 | Amare Thomas 99 | |
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SMU 26 , MIA-FL 20 | Kevin Jennings 365 | Mark Fletcher Jr. 84 | Jordan Hudson 136 |
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ILL 35 , RUT 13 | Athan Kaliakmanis 253 | Luke Altmyer 88 | KJ Duff 93 |
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UCONN 38 , UAB 19 | Joe Fagnano 267 | Cam Edwards 62 | Skyler Bell 149 | |
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DUKE 46 , CLEM 45 | Cade Klubnik 375 | Adam Randall 89 | Antonio Williams 139 |
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OHIOST 38 , PSU 14 | Julian Sayin 316 | Bo Jackson 105 | Carnell Tate 124 | |
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BUFF 28 , BGSU 3 | Ta'Quan Roberson 136 | Al-Jay Henderson 119 | Nik McMillan 105 |
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TOWSON 62 , NCA&T 9 | Andrew Indorf 294 | Nelson Layne 66 | Jaceon Doss 108 |
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YALE 24 , COLUM 10 | Chase Goodwin 208 | Josh Pitsenberger 132 | Jaxton Santiago 92 |
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CENTCT 10 , LIU 7 | Brady Olson 200 | O'Shawn Ross Jr. 58 | Donovan Wadley 60 |
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WAGNER 23 , STF-PA 20 | Nick Whitfield Jr. 97 | Jordan Theodore 121 | Jordan Theodore 37 |
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LEHIGH 41 , GTOWN 0 | Hayden Johnson 178 | Luke Yoder 62 | Jimmy Kibble 99 |
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SHEART 35 , NEWHAV 20 | AJ Duffy 210 | Jalen Smith 102 | Dean Hangey 86 |
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ASU 24 , IAST 19 | Rocco Becht 186 | Jeff Sims 228 | Chase Sowell 85 | |
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TNTECH 27 , G-WEBB 21 | Kekoa Visperas 279 | Quasean Holmes 130 | Tre' Holloway 129 |
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DRAKE 24 , BUTLER 19 | Logan Inagawa 244 | Nick Herman 113 | Archie Cox 107 |
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MOR 28 , DAV 24 | Carter Cravens 278 | Isaac Stopke 115 | Ryan Upp 169 |
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PRESBY 43 , VALPO 14 | Collin Hurst 278 | Zach Switzer 47 | BJ Atkins 75 |
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RMOR 20 , STONEH 17 | Jack O'Connell 116 | Ethan Shine 122 | Chaz Middleton 57 |
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MONM 35 , BRYANT 7 | Frankie Weaver 218 | Rodney Nelson 244 | Josh Derry 78 |
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MAINE 28 , STNYBR 21 | Quinn Boyd 299 | Sincere Baines 86 | Dez Williams 129 |
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COR 20 , PRINCE 17 | Kai Colon 219 | Ethan Clark 89 | Roman Laurio 97 |
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LAF 21 , HOLYCR 13 | Dominic Campanile 127 | Kente Edwards 146 | Max Mosey 64 |
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COLG 23 , MERRIM 20 | Jake Stearney 246 | Galamama Mulbah 71 | Reed Swanson 134 |
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WOF 26 , SAM 16 | Quincy Crittendon 219 | Ihson Jackson-Anderson 85 | Calvin Jones 126 |
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MONTST 55 , NORCOL 7 | Justin Lamson 331 | Adam Jones 74 | Taco Dowler 138 |
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STTHMN 45 , MARIST 0 | Andy Peters 248 | Carter James 53 | Quentin Cobb-Butler 125 |
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CHSOU 23 , SEMO 17 | Zolten Osborne 302 | Hakeem Watters 48 | Jamil Bishop 99 |
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SOUDAK 26 , NORDAK 21 | Jerry Kaminski 177 | L.J. Phillips Jr. 106 | Larenzo Fenner 83 |
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ECU 45 , TEM 14 | Katin Houser 256 | London Montgomery 84 | Yannick Smith 100 | |
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RICH 17 , FORD 14 | Kyle Wickersham 193 | Aziz Foster-Powell 62 | Isaiah Dawson 76 |
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CIT 35 , VMI 24 | Collin Shannon 261 | Leo Boehling 149 | Jihad Marks 168 |
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MERC 52 , FURMAN 28 | Braden Atkinson 426 | CJ Miller 111 | Adonis McDaniel 139 |
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SCST 36 , MORGST 30 | William Atkins IV 363 | Tyler Smith 110 | Jordan Smith 107 |
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NM 40 , UNLV 35 | Anthony Colandrea 382 | James Laubstein 99 | Keagan Johnson 158 |
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MONT 38 , WEB 17 | Keali'i Ah Yat 296 | Eli Gillman 122 | Blake Bohannon 131 |
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ARK-PB 40 , SOU 21 | Christian Peters 231 | Jaylen Jennings 99 | Ellis Stewart 83 |
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INST 24 , SDAKST 12 | Keegan Patterson 188 | Josiah Johnson 75 | Alex Bullock 107 |
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TN-MAR 27 , EASTIL 20 | Jase Bauer 172 | Chris Franklin 79 | Landers Green 77 |
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ILLST 31 , UNI 16 | Tommy Rittenhouse 228 | Victor Dawson 101 | Luke Mailander 72 |
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INCWOR 24 , LAMAR 17 | Robert Coleman 182 | Timothy Carter 36 | Josh Lorick 90 |
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GRAM 13 , ALAA&M 10 | JD Davis II 123 | Ryan Morrow 41 | Donovan Payne 44 |
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ALST 31 , PVA&M 28 | Cameron Peters 189 | Jamarie Hostzclaw 127 | Rodny Ojo 60 |
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ALC 33 , TXSO 14 | KJ Cooper 298 | Reggie Davis 87 | Roriyon Richardson 101 |
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LOU 28 , VATECH 16 | Miller Moss 136 | Isaac Brown 126 | Chris Bell 56 |
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HARV 31 , DART 10 | Jaden Craig 322 | Xaviah Bascon 49 | Brady Blackburn 116 |
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B-C 42 , MSVL 34 | Josh Brown 418 | Khamani Robinson 55 | Cameron Nelson 124 |
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PITT 35 , STAN 20 | Mason Heintschel 304 | Ja'Kyrian Turner 127 | CJ Williams 122 |
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FRES 30 , BOISE 7 | Max Cutforth 106 | Rayshon Luke 88 | Chase Penry 44 |
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ODU 31 , UL-MON 6 | Colton Joseph 231 | Zach Palmer-Smith 96 | Tre' Brown III 83 |
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UL-LAF 31 , USA 22 | Lunch Winfield 232 | Keenan Phillips 75 | Shelton Sampson Jr. 138 |
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WESTKY 35 , NMST 16 | Rodney Tisdale Jr. 301 | La'Vell Wright 44 | K.D. Hutchinson 83 | |
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TTU 43 , KSU 20 | Behren Morton 249 | J'Koby Williams 135 | Caleb Douglas 82 |
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MINN 23 , MSU 20 | Alessio Milivojevic 311 | Elijah Tau-Tolliver 127 | Rodney Bullard Jr. 102 | |
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NDAKST 38 , YSU 30 | Beau Brungard 203 | Barika Kpeenu 74 | Bryce Lance 65 |
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LIB 59 , DEL 30 | Nick Minicucci 344 | Evan Dickens 217 | Sean Wilson 109 |
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UGA 24 , FLA 20 | Gunner Stockton 223 | Jadan Baugh 72 | Eugene Wilson III 121 |
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ND 25 , BC 10 | CJ Carr 299 | Jeremiyah Love 136 | Lewis Bond 92 |
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IU 55 , MD 10 | Malik Washington 242 | Kaelon Black 110 | Omar Cooper Jr. 86 |
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W&M 37 , ALBANY 7 | Tyler Hughes 245 | Rashad Raymond 76 | Jackson Blee 78 |
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NCCENT 35 , HOW 14 | Walker Harris 321 | Arthur Rodgers Jr. 126 | Chauncey Spikes 208 |
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UVA 31 , CAL 21 | Chandler Morris 263 | J'Mari Taylor 105 | Trond Grizzell 81 |
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SD 31 , DAYTON 13 | Drew VanVleet 220 | Adam Criter 82 | Cole Monach 116 |
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SAC 35 , EASTWA 13 | Jake Schakel 201 | Rodney Hammond Jr. 208 | Drew Carlson 57 |
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IDAST 38 , UCDAV 36 | Caden Pinnick 325 | Dason Brooks 219 | Tsion Nunnally 119 |
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UTAHTE 34 , NORTAL 33 | Bronson Barben 272 | Jayvian Allen 102 | Tanaka Scott 136 |
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MSST 38 , ARK 35 | Blake Shapen 242 | Mike Washington Jr. 109 | Raylen Sharpe 109 | |
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KU 38 , OKST 21 | Zane Flores 235 | Leshon Williams 77 | Gavin Freeman 78 |
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ABICHR 31 , TARLST 28 | Victor Gabalis 361 | E.J. Wilson 105 | Cody Jackson 134 |
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NICH 31 , HOUCHR 7 | Ean Rodrigue 174 | Ean Rodrigue 89 | Ja'Ryan Wallace 91 |
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WESTMI 24 , CMU 21 | Joe Labas 152 | Broc Lowry 81 | Langston Lewis 111 | |
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WCU 35 , CHAT 28 | Camden Orth 241 | Patrick Boyd Jr. 67 | Markell Quick 126 |
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LINDEN 35 , TENNST 13 | Nate Glantz 149 | Jared Rhodes 113 | Devaughn Slaughter 76 |
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PORST 40 , CALPLY 35 | John-Keawe Sagapolutele 252 | Delon Thompson 184 | Terence Loville 86 |
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EASTKY 34 , CENARK 13 | Myles Burkett 209 | Landen Chambers 116 | Marcus Calwise Jr. 106 |
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SIU 27 , MUR 7 | DJ Williams 171 | Edward Robinson 109 | Lem Wash 79 |
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SDSU 24 , WYO 7 | Jayden Denegal 194 | Lucky Sutton 158 | Donovan Brown 51 | |
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ARI 52 , CU 17 | Noah Fifita 213 | Ismail Mahdi 85 | Omarion Miller 91 |
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MISS 30 , SCAR 14 | LaNorris Sellers 180 | Kewan Lacy 173 | Nyck Harbor 69 |
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MCNE 50 , NWST 3 | Jake Strong 121 | Jake Strong 94 | Kody Finley 43 |
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SELA 59 , ETA&M 14 | Carson Camp 226 | Calvin Smith Jr. 38 | Jaylon Domingeaux 157 |
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SFA 41 , UTRGV 17 | Sam Vidlak 203 | Jerrell Wimbley 87 | Blaine Green 68 |
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MICH 21 , PUR 16 | Bryce Underwood 145 | Jordan Marshall 185 | Zack Marshall 58 |
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JKST 41 , FLAA&M 16 | RJ Johnson III 132 | Ahmad Miller 165 | Jordan Edwards 49 |
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ORST 10 , WSU 7 | Zevi Eckhaus 146 | Anthony Hankerson 132 | Joshua Meredith 44 | |
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UK 10 , AUBURN 3 | Cutter Boley 161 | Jeremiah Cobb 72 | Kendrick Law 49 |
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USC 21 , NEB 17 | Jayden Maiava 135 | Emmett Johnson 165 | Jaden Richardson 43 |
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OKLA 33 , TENN 27 | Joey Aguilar 393 | Xavier Robinson 115 | Mike Matthews 76 |
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FSU 42 , WAKE 7 | Tommy Castellanos 271 | Samuel Singleton Jr. 91 | Duce Robinson 148 | |
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NCSU 48 , GT 36 | Haynes King 408 | Jayden Scott 196 | Jordan Allen 110 | |
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ARKST 23 , TROY 10 | Jaylen Raynor 247 | Tae Meadows 48 | Hunter Summers 70 | |
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SOUT 33 , APSU 17 | Bronson Barron 184 | Joshua Dye 155 | Shane Carr 77 |
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UTAH 45 , CIN 14 | Brendan Sorsby 221 | Wayshawn Parker 104 | Cyrus Allen 133 |
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SJSU 45 , HAWAII 38 | Walker Eget 452 | Lamar Radcliffe 70 | Danny Scudero 215 | |
All times are in ET. Tap on each match's time to view it in your local timezone.
College Football Schedule
Rose Bowl
The United States probably has the biggest following with respect to any college sport in the world. In fact, there are plenty of people in America who are not as gung ho about the professional sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. as they are about the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletics Association) sports. There could be several reasons for this but the one thing that stands out is the passion individuals have for their school and the respective college team.
The college football season typically starts from the end of August to the early part of January. Teams generally play anywhere between 8 to 12 games a year. They play an equal number of home and away games throughout the season but the scheduling process is quite complex to understand.
Understanding how the NCAA runs college football games can be quite confusing. The NCAA for instance does not control all aspects of college football games. It only has control over the rules and compliances on the field, apart from that everything else including the money and the tournaments is managed by the respective conferences of college football.
NCAA Football Conferences
The NCAA football constitutes first and foremost of four divisions which are Division 1 FBS, Division 1 FCS, Division 2, and Division 3. Most of the college football teams belong to either one of these divisions. Although not everything is set in stone, it is generally considered that playing college football for a Division 1 school will get you the maximum chance of going professional in the future.
We will check out only the Division 1 FBS in this article as it is the most important one and really the only one that matters. FBS stands for Football Bowl Subdivision and within this division, we have a total of 10 different conferences. The four teams of Notre Dame, Brigham Young University, Army, and Navy do not belong to any of the conferences despite being in the FBS.
Out of these ten, there are five conferences known as the Power Five Conferences, which are the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, Pac-12 Conference, and Southeastern Conference (SEC).
The remaining five conferences which are at times referred to as the Non-Power Five (Group of 5) Conferences are the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA Conference, Mid-American Conference (MAC), Mountain West Conference (MWC), and the Sun Belt Conference (SBC).
NCAA Football Schedule Process
This is where things start getting tricky because every conference in college football has its individual freedom. That means all conferences have the autonomy to create their own schedules, but it is not as simple as just assigning two teams to play each other within their own conference.
Every conference has its own set of rules and guidelines which they use to schedule games. In addition to that, some conferences have more pull than others thereby directly impacting which teams get to play the best games. To create one national schedule from this is one tough ask.
It may come as a surprise that in today's day and age when the simplest of simple things are done with the help of an algorithm run by software, that college football schedules are drawn up by speaking to one another and agreeing to terms. The conference officials and the athletic directors all must come together and work out a possible schedule that works for everyone and which also allots an equal number of home and away games to each team.
There are three main factors which go into consideration during the scheduling of college football games. They are conference scheduling, non-conference scheduling, and TV broadcasting.
Conference scheduling
Since each conference has its own method of scheduling games, the process remains unique to all conferences. Generally, all the schools will play the other schools within their conference at least once a year. The Power Five conferences also play a few cross-divisional games in addition to their conference games.
Non-conference scheduling
These are the games that each team needs to play outside of their own conference against other teams. As each team must figure out with whom they will play and when and where, this can get a bit complicated, especially for the smaller school.
Power Five teams will normally play one or two non-conference games with other Power Five conferences as well as one or two games with teams from Group of Five conferences. Since the reward is greater for Group of Five teams when they go up against the Power Five competition, teams from the former conferences will generally try to play more games with the latter. In doing so, Group of Five teams will get a significantly more amount of revenue.
TV Broadcasting
The third factor that goes into scheduling college football games is that of TV broadcasting. This is because all top networks want to show the best possible games at the best time slots on their respective networks. Therefore, many times the TV networks will also have a say in the scheduling matters and may request any changes or modifications as they see fit.
Power 5 and Group of 5 Conferences
Typically, the best of the best teams are all in the Power 5 conferences. They are the ones who receive the maximum media attention, the maximum revenue, and boast of the maximum fan following as well. The teams in these conferences have a long-standing history of winning and producing the best talent that will carry forward to the professional league.
Each conference in the Power Five has its own rules for scheduling and not all conferences play the same number of games within their own conference. For example, teams in the Big Ten conference will play nine conference games and three non-conference games, but the same is not the case with the SEC as they play only eight conference games and four non-conference games.
However, a lot of mixing up and shaking up of the conferences and their rules keep taking place and therefore not everything can be attributed to a permanent way of functioning. For instance, some teams are looking to jump from one conference to another while some conferences that are playing eight inter-conference games want to move to nine.
Therefore, for the various conferences to make their schedules, a lot of attention must be given to all the guidelines and a committee needs to monitor all the intricacies such as the competitive balance between the teams, broadcast terms and conditions, an equal number of home and away games, and more.
As for the Group of Five conferences, most of them will play eight inter-conference games and four non-conference games. The same level of thought process must go into making the schedule for these conferences as well. But one disadvantage for the Group of 5 teams is that they must strive harder to get a matchup with some of the Power 5 teams.
Conference Scheduling
Since all conferences have their unique ways of creating a schedule, not all teams will play each other from their respective conference on an annual basis. Such a case arises because there are a greater number of teams in conferences than the number of games a team can play. Therefore, each conference needs to resort to a rotation-based design to ensure that teams will play each other once every few years.
For example, if we look at the Big 12 conference, it has a total of ten teams. This conference plays 9 conference and 1 non-conference game throughout the season. Thus, as per the rotation policy, each team will play all other teams in the conference at least once in two years.
Taking the example of the SEC, which is probably the most popular conference today, it has fourteen teams within the conference and it is also subdivided into two divisions, namely: the East and the West. Each team will play a total of eight conference games out of which six are from their own division and the other two are from the other division. This conference also has 1 permanent rival for each team and it rotates the other seven conference games every year.
Non-Conference Scheduling
Scheduling the non-conference games does not require any rotational policy as teams are free to select their opponents mutually. However, teams will want to play games against top-quality opposition to ensure they remain at a high level when they play their conference games. Also, the Group of 5 conference teams can take this opportunity to not only see where they are in terms of performance with the top tier teams, but they can also generate much more income from these games as more media and revenue are associated with the Power 5 teams.
When it comes to non-conference scheduling, there are many teams that have created matchups with one another years in advance. This is done as careful planning is required to generate proper revenue for home games and to maintain steady competition. Teams will alternate between easy and difficult games every other year as a way of balancing out their schedules.
FBS Power 5 Conferences
ACC Scheduling
From 2023, the ACC will play their games with the newly introduced 3-5-5 format. That means that each team will play three of their rivals on a permanent basis which leaves ten teams. These ten teams will be separated into two groups of five and they will be flipped every other year. Therefore, within the conference the ACC will play eight teams and then they will play a further four teams outside of their conference as well.
As of 2023, the ACC consists of 14 schools in the conference which are as follows:
- Boston College Eagles
- Clemson Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- Florida State Seminoles
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
- Louisville Cardinals
- Miami Hurricanes
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- North Carolina State Wolfpack
- Pittsburgh Panthers
- Syracuse Orange
- Virginia Cavaliers
- Virginia Tech Hokies
- Wake Forest Demon Deacons
The permanent matchups for the ACC teams are as below:
| University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 | Rival 3 |
| Boston College | Miami | Pittsburgh | Syracuse |
| Clemson | Florida State | Georgia Tech | NC State |
| Duke | North Carolina | NC State | Wake Forest |
| Florida State | Clemson | Miami | Syracuse |
| Georgia Tech | Clemson | Louisville | Wake Forest |
| Louisville | Georgia Tech | Miami | Virginia |
| Miami | Boston College | Florida State | Louisville |
| North Carolina | Duke | NC State | Virginia |
| NC State | Clemson | Duke | North Carolina |
| Pittsburgh | Boston College | Syracuse | Virginia Tech |
| Syracuse | Boston College | Florida State | Pittsburgh |
| Virginia | Louisville | North Carolina | Virginia Tech |
| Virginia Tech | Pittsburgh | Virginia | Wake Forest |
| Wake Forest | Duke | Georgia Tech | Virginia Tech |
Big 10 Scheduling
The Big 10 which is divided into the East and West division follows a nine game conference schedule. Seven teams are placed in both divisions based upon their locality. The Big 10 schedules six divisional games and three cross divisional games. The Indiana and Perdue game is an annual cross division game which is a permanent fixture. Apart from this, each team will face three non-conference teams as well.
As of 2023, the Big Ten’s two divisions and their respective teams are as follows:
| East | West |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Minnesota Golden Gophers |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Iowa Hawkeyes |
| Maryland Terrapins | Wisconsin Badgers |
| Michigan Wolverines | Illinois Fighting Illini |
| Michigan St. Spartans | Purdue Boilermakers |
| Penn St. Nittany Lions | Northwestern Wildcats |
| Indiana Hoosiers | Nebraska Cornhuskers |
Big 12 Scheduling
The Big 12’s current scheduling system is a 14 team round robin event. Upon its conclusion, the top two teams in the conference will fight it out in the Championship game to declare the eventual winner of the conference.
The current teams playing in the Big 12 conference are:
- BYU Cougars
- Cincinnati Bearcats
- Houston Cougars
- Iowa State Cyclones
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Texas Longhorns
- UCF Knights
- Baylor Bears
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Texas Tech Red Raiders
- West Virginia Mountaineers
PAC-12 Scheduling
The PAC-12 which once followed divisions of two has done away with them and now hold a round robin system similar to that of the Big 12. Once the season comes to an end the top two teams in the conference will play the Championship game.
The PAC-12 football conference is made up of the following teams:
- USC Trojans
- Arizona Wildcats
- Arizona State Sun Devils
- California Golden Bears
- Colorado Buffaloes
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon State Beavers
- Stanford Cardinal
- UCLA Bruins
- Utah Utes
- Washington Huskies
- Washington State Cougars
SEC Scheduling
Considered by many to be the best conference in college football at least since the past few years, the SEC operates in a division format with two divisions of seven teams each. However, with more teams joining next year, it is expected that the current system will undergo a change to better accommodate the expansion of the conference. At present though, each team within the conference plays eight conference games.
From the division itself, each team plays all the other six teams every year. Then, each team has a permanent cross division rival for the seventh game and the eighth game is a cross divisional rotation.
The SECs permanent cross-divisional matchups are:
- Alabama vs. Tennessee
- Arkansas vs. Missouri
- Auburn vs. Georgia
- LSU vs. Florida
- Mississippi State vs. Kentucky
- Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
- Texas A&M vs. South Carolina.
The teams participating in the SEC conference as of 2023 are:
| East | West |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | Alabama Crimson Tide |
| Georgia Bulldogs | Arkansas Razorbacks |
| Kentucky Wildcats | Auburn Tigers |
| Missouri Tigers | Ole Miss Rebels |
| Tennessee Volunteers | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| Florida Gators | TexasA&M Aggies |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | LSU Tigers |
FBS Group of Five Conferences
AAC Scheduling
The AAC scheduling system has just recently undergone a change which is expected to be continued till 2026. Featuring a conference of 14 teams, each team is set to play 8 conference games. As per this schedule, each team within the conference will face every other team twice in a period of four years getting one home game and one away game respectively. The ACC has also included six annual matchups which are as follows:
- North Texas vs. SMU
- UAB vs. Memphis
- Rice vs. UTSA
- Charlotte vs. East Carolina
- Florida Atlantic vs. South Florida
- Navy vs. Temple
The 14 members of the AAC are as follows:
- Memphis Tigers
- Charlotte 49ers
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Navy Midshipmen
- Rice Owls
- SMU Mustangs
- South Florida Bulls
- Temple Owls
- Tulane Green Wave
- Tulsa Golden Hurricane
- UAB Blazers
- UTSA Roadrunners
- East Carolina Pirates
- North Texas Mean Green
C-USA Scheduling
This conference has been quite unstable since its formation. Several teams have left to join different conferences while new teams are making their way to the C-USA. This conference is set to expand further by next year making it one of the most unpredictable conferences in college football. As a result, the current schedule is in place only for the 2023 season and is expected to undergo some type of modification before the 2024 season. As for now, all nine teams from the conference will play each other in a round robin format.
The nine teams which make up the C-USA conference are:
- Liberty Flames
- Jacksonville State Gamecocks
- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
- Sam Houston Bearkats
- FIU Panthers
- New Mexico State Aggies
- UTEP Miners
MAC Scheduling
The MAC conference is quite simple as it is divided into divisions featuring six teams each. Teams in this conference are set to play eight conference games which includes five divisional games and three cross divisional games.
The divisions of the MAC are as below:
| East | West | |
| Ohio Bobcats | Central Michigan Chippewas | |
| Akron Zips | Eastern Michigan Eagles | |
| Bowling Green Falcons | Northern Illinois Huskies | |
| Miami (OH) RedHawks | Toledo Rockets | |
| Buffalo Bulls | Western Michigan Broncos | |
| Kent State Golden Flashes | Ball State Cardinals |
MWC Scheduling
The MWC has made a change from 2023 onwards. Earlier this conference had a divisional system but now that has been scrapped. The twelve-team conference will play a 2-6 format wherein the 2 games will be against fixed opponents every year. The remaining six games will be rotation based and will be flipped every other year.
The teams making up the Mountain West Conference are:
- Air Force Falcons
- Fresno State Bulldogs
- Wyoming Cowboys
- San Diego State Aztecs
- New Mexico Lobos
- UNLV Rebels
- Utah State Aggies
- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
- San Jose State Spartans
- Colorado State Rams
- Boise State Broncos
- Nevada Wolf Pack
The two permanent fixtures per team are as below:
| University | Rival 1 | Rival 2 |
| Air Force | Colorado State | Wyoming |
| Boise State | New Mexico | Utah State |
| Colorado State | Air Force | Wyoming |
| Fresno State | Nevada | San Jose State |
| Hawaii | San Diego State | UNLV |
| Nevada | Fresno State | UNLV |
| New Mexico | Boise State | San Jose State |
| San Diego State | Hawaii | Utah State |
| San Jose State | Fresno State | New Mexico |
| UNLV | Hawaii | Nevada |
| Utah State | Boise State | San Diego State |
| Wyoming | Air Force | Colorado State |
SBC Scheduling
The SBC conference is another one divided into two divisions of seven teams each. According to their scheduling, each team will play two cross divisional games, one at home and one away. Furthermore, each team will play against all six divisional opponents every year for a total of eight conference games.
The divisions of the SBC conference are as below:
| East | West |
| Old Dominion Monarchs | Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks |
| Georgia Southern Eagles | South Alabama Jaguars |
| Georgia State Panthers | Southern Miss Golden Eagles |
| James Madison Dukes | Texas State Bobcats |
| Marshall Thundering Herd | Troy Trojans |
| Appalachian State Mountaineers | Arkansas State Red Wolves |
| Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns |
Independents (FBS) Scheduling
The Independent programs in college football are very few today with only four of them left. Most of the independent schools from earlier have joined other conferences as they can then earn revenue from television broadcasting. In addition to that, joining a conference makes their scheduling worries easier. However, the independent schools do get more flexibility to schedule their matchups as they are not conference bound. This gives them added advantage in having interesting games throughout the year.
The four independent football schools that are remaining are:
- Army West Point Black Knights
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Connecticut Huskies
- Massachusetts Minutemen
The Army has fixed annual games against the Navy and Air Force. They also have a rivalry game with Notre Dame but it is not on an annual basis and is scheduled quite randomly. As for Notre Dame, they have many long-standing rivalry matchups throughout the year and they also have a deal with the ACC which gives them five games every year.
UConn was earlier part of the AAC but their other sports faced some issues due to which they had to leave the conference in 2020. Nowadays, as their football program is not so strong, many FBS schools play against them in order to fill out their schedules.
FCS Conferences
The conferences in the FCS division of college football are undergoing regular changes with new conferences coming up and teams leaving and joining every passing year. As a result of which the scheduling format for these conferences keep on changing and information pertaining to the same is scantily available.
Big Sky Scheduling
The Big Sky Conference consists of twelve teams currently. Their schedule from 2022 to 2024 is set at eight league games which comprises two fixed annual opponents and six rotating ones. This new format was put into action to make sure that teams would get to play other teams in the conference more frequently than earlier. Teams have also been afforded the flexibility to choose at least one of their permanent opponents.
The Big Sky’s twelve-member conference is as follows:
- Idaho Vandals
- Montana Grizzlies
- Sacramento State Hornets
- Weber State Wildcats
- Cal Poly Mustangs
- Montana State Bobcats
- UC Davis Aggies
- Eastern Washington Eagles
- Idaho State Bengals
- Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
- Northern Colorado Bears
- Portland State Vikings
Big South Scheduling
The Big South Conference is one of the newest conferences in college football. Initially starting out with nine teams, it has quickly been reduced to only four at present. This conference has decided to merge with the Ohio Valley Conference in 2026 as both conferences do not have sufficient teams. Due to so many ongoing changes, the exact scheduling format for the Big South Conference is not available.
The four teams in the Big South Conference are as below:
- Bryant Bulldogs
- Charleston Southern Buccaneers
- Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs
- Robert Morris Colonials
Coastal Athletic Association Conference Scheduling
The CAA conference which consists of fifteen teams has each team playing eight games in the conference. Moreover, each team has been allotted two permanent rivals annually while the remaining six games are on rotation basis. This means each team will play every other team at home and away at least once in eight years.
The fifteen members of the CAA conference are:
- William & Mary Tribe
- Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
- Monmouth Hawks
- Rhode Island Rams
- Villanova Wildcats
- Hampton Pirates
- New Hampshire Wildcats
- Albany Great Danes
- Elon Phoenix
- Maine Black Bears
- North Carolina A&T Aggies
- Richmond Spiders
- Campbell Fighting Camels
- Towson Tigers
- Stony Brook Seawolves
Independents (FCS) Conference Scheduling
In the FCS division of college football, the Kennesaw State Owls are the only team which are playing as an independent conference. The Owls are slowly beginning their transition from the FCS to the FBS as they are moving to Conference USA football conference in 2024.
Ivy League Conference Scheduling
There are a total of eight Ivy League Schools featuring in the college football program. The Ivy League Conference usually starts a little later than the other conferences, mostly near mid-September. These schools play ten games each which include a complete round-robin system where each team plays all the other seven teams. The remaining three games are scheduled against non-conference teams.
Ivy League Conference teams include:
- Dartmouth Big Green
- Harvard Crimson
- Columbia Lions
- Princeton Tigers
- Cornell Big Red
- Penn Quakers
- Yale Bulldogs
- Brown Bears
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The MEAC is a conference consisting of six football teams. As per their schedule for the 2023 season, teams will play non-conference games at the start and the end of the season with conference games being sandwiched in between.
The six participating teams in MEAC are”
- North Carolina Central Eagles
- Howard Bison
- Morgan State Bears
- Norfolk State Spartans
- Delaware State Hornets
- South Carolina State Bulldogs
Missouri Valley Conference Scheduling
The Missouri Valley Conference is one of those which has somewhat of a complex history. It has undergone a couple of name changes over the years as well. This conference uses a simple round robin system to decide the eventual conference champion. The first three weeks are usually reserved for non-conference matchups while the remaining nine weeks are for conference games. Teams are also allowed to make changes to their schedule provided both teams have a written agreement in place.
- Teams participating in this conference currently are:
- Illinois State Redbirds
- North Dakota Fighting Hawks
- North Dakota State Bison
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits
- Southern Illinois Salukis
- Murray State Racers
- South Dakota Coyotes
- Youngstown State Penguins
- Indiana State Sycamores
- Missouri State Bears
- UNI Panthers
- Western Illinois Leathernecks
Northeast Conference Scheduling
The Northeast Conference features eight teams which will all play each other. Each team will get four home games and three away games in the conference. Each team will also play three away non-conference games for the 2023 season.
The eight teams making up the Northeast Conference are:
- Stonehill Skyhawks
- Duquesne Dukes
- LIU Sharks
- Merrimack Warriors
- Sacred Heart Pioneers
- Saint Francis U Red Flash
- Wagner Seahawks
- Central Connecticut State Blue Devils
Ohio Valley Conference Scheduling
The Ohio Valley Conference has joined forces with the Big South Conference as both conferences had lost several teams. Now the two conferences together have a total of ten teams and will play a schedule consisting of six conference games. As prior commitments with teams are still prevalent, more conference games cannot be played currently.
The Ohio Valley Conference teams are:
- Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
- Eastern Illinois Panthers
- Tennessee State Tigers
- UT Martin Skyhawks
- Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
- Lindenwood Lions
Patriot League Conference Scheduling
The Patriot League Conference features seven teams which are as follows:
- Georgetown Hoyas
- Fordham Rams
- Bucknell Bison
- Holy Cross Crusaders
- Lafayette Leopards
- Lehigh Mountain Hawks
- Colgate Raiders
Pioneer League Conference Scheduling
This conference is truly a one-of-a-kind conference given the fact that it has teams from both coasts and many more through the heart of the country. The eleven team conference boasts teams such as:
- Stetson Hatters
- Butler Bulldogs
- Dayton Flyers
- Morehead State Eagles
- Presbyterian Blue Hose
- St. Thomas (MN) Tommies
- Marist Red Foxes
- Davidson Wildcats
- Drake Bulldogs
- San Diego Toreros
- Valparaiso Beacons
Southern Conference Scheduling
The Southern Conference is a nine-team conference which is comprised of the following teams:
- Western Carolina Catamounts
- Mercer Bears
- Chattanooga Mocs
- ETSU Buccaneers
- Furman Paladins
- VMI Keydets
- Citadel Bulldogs
- Wofford Terriers
- Samford Bulldogs
Southland Conference Scheduling
With eight teams featuring in the Southland Conference, each team will play against the other teams in a round-robin format in 2023. This is the first time since 2013 that the round-robin format has been implemented. Apart from these seven games, teams will also play non-conference games.
The Southland Conference is made up of the following eight teams:
- Houston Christian Huskies
- UIW Cardinals
- Lamar Cardinals
- McNeese Cowboys
- Nicholls Colonels
- Northwestern State Demons
- Southeastern Louisiana Lions
- Texas A&M-Commerce Lions
Southwestern Athletic Conference Scheduling
The SWAC has been divided into two divisions and since 2021, it has implemented the following schedule to its football program. Each team will play five divisional and three non-divisional games. Three teams from the other division will be rotated every two years. The team with the best record in the conference will get the chance to host the Championship game.
The two divisions of the SWAC are as follows:
| EAST | WEST |
| Florida A&M Rattlers | Prairie View A&M Panthers |
| Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils | Alcorn State Braves |
| Alabama A&M Bulldogs | Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions |
| Alabama State Hornets | Grambling State Tigers |
| Bethune-Cookman Wildcats | Southern University Jaguars |
| Jackson State Tigers | Texas Southern Tigers |
United Athletic Conference Scheduling
The United Athletic Conference is a newly formed conference with the merger of two previously independent conferences, namely, the ASUN Conference and the Western Athletic Conference. Having nine teams currently as part of its membership, the UAC will be limited to six conference games for the 2023 season before it switches to a full round-robin system in 2024.
The UAC teams at present include:
- Tarleton State Texans
- Abilene Christian Wildcats
- Central Arkansas Bears
- Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
- Austin Peay Governors
- Eastern Kentucky Colonels
- Southern Utah Thunderbirds
- Utah Tech Trailblazers
- North Alabama Lions
Conclusion
In short, college football scheduling is not the same for each team as it has more flexibility. This is the case because the NCAA does not have a say in scheduling matters which is being handled by the respective conferences. Furthermore, each conference has its own set of rules that it follows to prepare its unique schedule taking into consideration various factors such as home and away games, conference, and non-conference games, and of course the broadcasting terms and conditions.
Sometimes, another issue which crops up during scheduling is the lack of availability of a stadium due to various factors beyond the team’s control. Considering all these factors, the committee members of each conference come out with a schedule which is then overseen by the NCAA.