17 Cities, 46 Double-Headers: The NFL and College Football Stack Map for 2026
We found 17 U.S. metros hosting both an NFL and a college football game on the same weekend in 2026. Here is the full breakdown.

Most football fans plan their fall travel around one game in one city. A schedule analysis covering the entire 2026 NFL season found something different: 46 same-city stacks, where an NFL game and a college football game are scheduled in the same metro on the same weekend, across 17 metros between August 28 and December 11. Of the 14 weekends where both leagues are active this fall, 13 feature at least one same-city stack. The double-header weekend is not a scheduling accident. It is a repeatable travel format that recurs through the fall, not a one-off.
Before you book: College and NFL tickets are separate purchases. Most of the college games in this guide are bookable now through SportCation's ticket partners; a few may not have inventory yet, so open the game to check. Dates can still shift with TV flex scheduling.
Los Angeles
City
Sep 11-13
Weekend
Chargers vs Cardinals
NFL Game
Sep 13
Date
Why One Trip Can Cover Both Games
The conventional approach to fall football travel assumes two separate itineraries: one weekend for the pros, another for college. Los Angeles has six overlap weekends in 2026, and Atlanta has four. In Los Angeles a single weekend can swing from the collegiate roar of UCLA at the Rose Bowl on Saturday to the high-tech gloss of SoFi Stadium on Sunday, two very different football experiences in one trip. For NFL-first planning, start with the team page (for example, the Los Angeles Chargers or Atlanta Falcons), then check whether a college game fits the same weekend.
NFL games cluster on Sundays. College football games overwhelmingly land on Saturdays. When an NFL franchise and a college program map to the same metro, those two rhythms make Saturday-Sunday overlaps common in some metros. The limiting factor is whether both teams land in the same mapped metro, not scheduling.
Table 1: Representative Double-Header Stacks in the Top 8 Metros
The examples below show one scheduled same-city, same-weekend pairing per metro (all dates 2026, subject to flex/broadcast changes).
| City | Weekend | NFL Game | Date | College Game | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Sep 11-13 | Chargers vs Cardinals | Sep 13 | UCLA vs San Diego State | Sep 12 |
| Atlanta | Sep 18-20 | Falcons vs Panthers | Sep 20 | Georgia Tech vs Mercer | Sep 19 |
| Houston | Sep 11-13 | Texans vs Bills | Sep 13 | Houston vs Southern | Sep 12 |
| Nashville | Sep 11-13 | Titans vs Jets | Sep 13 | Vanderbilt vs Delaware | Sep 12 |
| Pittsburgh | Sep 11-13 | Steelers vs Falcons | Sep 13 | Pittsburgh vs UCF | Sep 12 |
| Tampa | Sep 18-20 | Bucs vs Browns | Sep 20 | South Florida vs Delaware State | Sep 19 |
| Miami | Sep 25-27 | Dolphins vs Chiefs | Sep 27 | Miami vs Central Michigan | Sep 26 |
| Minneapolis | Sep 11-13 | Vikings vs Packers | Sep 13 | Minnesota vs Mississippi State | Sep 12 |
Of the eight representative stacks in the table above, five fall on the September 11-13 weekend: Los Angeles, Houston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Minneapolis. That window gives planners the most concentrated set of options in the sample, but hotels and tickets still need to be priced against the specific dates.

What Drives the Volume
The metros that recur most also tend to have more than one college program in the same metro as the NFL team. This analysis measures the overlap counts, not the cause, but the mechanism is simple: more college home games in a metro means more Saturdays that can land next to a pro Sunday. Treat that as the likely structural reason behind the higher counts, not a separately measured figure.
The list stops at 17 for a structural reason: markets without a college program mapped to the same metro as the NFL team do not produce stacks at all. Team locations are fixed, so the same metros tend to recur year to year, even though the exact number of overlap weekends shifts as schedules change.
What This Means for Trip Planning
Cities with more overlap weekends give you scheduling insurance. If a specific matchup moves or disappoints, a city with several overlap weekends still leaves you another window in the same market, where a single-shot city does not. Six overlap weekends is a far more resilient booking than one. That matters because NFL flexing, college kickoff times, and hotel spikes can all make a specific pairing less attractive after schedules are released.
Every Same-City Stack
Every NFL + college-football same-city stack the analysis found, grouped by weekend. Open the list below. Every row links to a one-click trip plan.
Show all 46 NFL + college-football same-city stacks across 13 weekends. Tap to expand; every row opens a one-click trip plan (2026 SportCation schedule analysis).
| Weekend (Fri) | Metro | NFL game | College game | Plan the trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | Cincinnati | Cincinnati Bengals vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2026-09-13) | Cincinnati vs Western Carolina (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Houston | Houston Texans vs Buffalo Bills (2026-09-13) | Houston vs Southern (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Chargers vs Arizona Cardinals (2026-09-13) | UCLA vs San Diego State (2026-09-12) USC vs Louisiana (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Minneapolis | Minnesota Vikings vs Green Bay Packers (2026-09-13) | Minnesota vs Mississippi State (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Nashville | Tennessee Titans vs New York Jets (2026-09-13) | Vanderbilt vs Delaware (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Philadelphia | Philadelphia Eagles vs Washington Commanders (2026-09-13) | Temple vs Penn State (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-11 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Atlanta Falcons (2026-09-13) | Pittsburgh vs UCF (2026-09-12) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-18 | Atlanta | Atlanta Falcons vs Carolina Panthers (2026-09-20) | Georgia Tech vs Mercer (2026-09-19) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-18 | Houston | Houston Texans vs Cincinnati Bengals (2026-09-20) | Rice vs Western Michigan (2026-09-19) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-18 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Chargers vs Las Vegas Raiders (2026-09-20) | UCLA vs Purdue (2026-09-19) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-18 | Nashville | Tennessee Titans vs Philadelphia Eagles (2026-09-20) | Vanderbilt vs NC State (2026-09-19) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-18 | Tampa | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Cleveland Browns (2026-09-20) | South Florida vs Delaware State (2026-09-19) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-25 | Buffalo | Buffalo Bills vs Los Angeles Chargers (2026-09-27) | Buffalo vs Robert Morris (2026-09-26) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-25 | Miami | Miami Dolphins vs Kansas City Chiefs (2026-09-27) | Florida International vs Long Island University (2026-09-26) Miami vs Central Michigan (2026-09-26) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-25 | New Orleans | New Orleans Saints vs Las Vegas Raiders (2026-09-27) | Tulane vs Southern Miss (2026-09-26) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-09-25 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals (2026-09-27) | Pittsburgh vs Bucknell (2026-09-26) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Buffalo | Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots (2026-10-04) | Buffalo vs Western Michigan (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Charlotte | Carolina Panthers vs Detroit Lions (2026-10-04) | Charlotte vs Memphis (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Houston | Houston Texans vs Dallas Cowboys (2026-10-04) | Houston vs UCF (2026-10-03) Rice vs UTSA (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Las Vegas | Las Vegas Raiders vs Kansas City Chiefs (2026-10-04) | UNLV vs California (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Minneapolis | Minnesota Vikings vs Miami Dolphins (2026-10-04) | Minnesota vs Michigan (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-02 | Tampa | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Green Bay Packers (2026-10-04) | South Florida vs Temple (2026-10-03) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-09 | Atlanta | Atlanta Falcons vs Baltimore Ravens (2026-10-11) | Georgia Tech vs Duke (2026-10-10) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-09 | Nashville | Tennessee Titans vs Houston Texans (2026-10-11) | Vanderbilt vs Ole Miss (2026-10-10) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-09 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts (2026-10-11) | Pittsburgh vs North Carolina (2026-10-10) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-09 | Seattle | Seattle Seahawks vs San Francisco 49ers (2026-10-11) | Washington vs Iowa (2026-10-10) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-16 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Rams vs Arizona Cardinals (2026-10-18) | UCLA vs Wisconsin (2026-10-17) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-16 | Philadelphia | Philadelphia Eagles vs Carolina Panthers (2026-10-18) | Temple vs Charlotte (2026-10-17) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-16 | Tampa | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Pittsburgh Steelers (2026-10-18) | South Florida vs Kent State (2026-10-17) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-23 | Atlanta | Atlanta Falcons vs San Francisco 49ers (2026-10-25) | Georgia Tech vs Boston College (2026-10-24) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-23 | Minneapolis | Minnesota Vikings vs Indianapolis Colts (2026-10-25) | Minnesota vs Iowa (2026-10-24) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-30 | Cincinnati | Cincinnati Bengals vs Tennessee Titans (2026-11-01) | Cincinnati vs Utah (2026-10-31) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-30 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Rams vs Los Angeles Chargers (2026-11-01) | UCLA vs Nevada (2026-10-31) USC vs Ohio State (2026-10-31) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-30 | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh Steelers vs Cleveland Browns (2026-11-01) | Pittsburgh vs Georgia Tech (2026-10-31) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-10-30 | Tampa | Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Atlanta Falcons (2026-11-01) | South Florida vs UAB (2026-10-31) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-06 | Miami | Miami Dolphins vs Detroit Lions (2026-11-08) | Florida International vs Missouri State (2026-11-07) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-06 | New Orleans | New Orleans Saints vs Cleveland Browns (2026-11-08) | Tulane vs Tulsa (2026-11-07) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-06 | Seattle | Seattle Seahawks vs Arizona Cardinals (2026-11-08) | Washington vs Penn State (2026-11-07) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-13 | Atlanta | Atlanta Falcons vs Kansas City Chiefs (2026-11-15) | Georgia State vs Georgia Southern (2026-11-14) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-13 | Dallas | Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers (2026-11-15) | SMU vs Wake Forest (2026-11-14) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-13 | Nashville | Tennessee Titans vs Jacksonville Jaguars (2026-11-15) | Vanderbilt vs Alabama (2026-11-14) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-20 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Chargers vs New York Jets (2026-11-22) | USC vs Maryland (2026-11-21) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-27 | Houston | Houston Texans vs Baltimore Ravens (2026-11-29) | Houston vs Baylor (2026-11-28) Rice vs Army (2026-11-28) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-27 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles Chargers vs New England Patriots (2026-11-29) | UCLA vs USC (2026-11-28) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-11-27 | Miami | Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets (2026-11-29) | Florida International vs Sam Houston (2026-11-28) Miami vs Boston College (2026-11-28) | Plan this trip |
| 2026-12-11 | New York | New York Jets vs Denver Broncos (2026-12-13) | Army vs Navy (2026-12-12) | Plan this trip |
Methodology
We counted every Friday-to-Sunday window between August 28 and December 11, 2026 where at least one NFL game and at least one college football game were both scheduled in the same metro. Counting is on a unique-weekend, unique-metro basis. A weekend where two college games share a city with one NFL game still counts as one stack, not two. The representative examples in Table 1 show one pairing per metro; additional games may be scheduled in the same city during the same window.
The 46-stack total should be read as a conservative count from SportCation's current schedule feeds. College tickets are a separate purchase from NFL tickets; most of these college games are bookable through SportCation's ticket partners, though a few may not have inventory yet. College kickoff times and NFL flex scheduling can still move a specific game after schedules are released.
Bottom line: if you follow both levels, a metro with three or more overlap weekends (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Miami, or Minneapolis) gives you the most room to build a trip around one of its overlap weekends, with time to book lodging before dates tighten. The single-overlap cities (Charlotte, Dallas, Las Vegas, New York) work when that one weekend already fits your plans, with no fallback if it does not. Explore all 46 NFL + college football stacks to see every same-city weekend and pick the one that fits your schedule.
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