Michigan State moves 2026 season opener versus Toledo to Friday, Sept. 4, will play Oregon on Friday, Nov. 20
MSU continues the tradition of opening its football season during the Friday of Labor Day weekend. Meanwhile, senior night versus Oregon will be on a Friday.
The Michigan State football program will continue the tradition of beginning its season during the Friday of Labor Day weekend, as the Spartans announced that the 2026 regular-season opener against Toledo has been moved to Friday, Sept. 4 at Spartan Stadium. Kickoff time and TV network for the contest will be released at a later date. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5.
Meanwhile, FOX Sports announced MSU’s late-November contest against Big Ten foe Oregon has been moved to Friday, Nov. 20 as part of the FOX College Football Friday schedule. The game will begin at 8 p.m. Eastern Time and will be televised on FOX.
The Nov. 20 contest between the Spartans and Ducks is the last game scheduled at Spartan Stadium for the 2026 season. This most likely means that MSU will celebrate its senior class with a senior night on that date.
As for Michigan State’s game against Toledo, this will be the sixth-straight season in which MSU begins its campaign on a Friday. The last time the Spartans started on a Saturday was during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, which was a loss to Rutgers in head coach Mel Tucker's debut. Prior to that, Michigan State last started its season on a Saturday in 2017 with a victory over Bowling Green. Before that, the calendar goes all the way back to 2010 to find when MSU opened a campaign on a Saturday, which resulted in a win over Western Michigan.
This year's contest versus Toledo will also be the fifth consecutive season in which Michigan State starts its season in East Lansing. The last time the Spartans started a season on the road was a win at Northwestern in 2021. The opposing coach during the Spartans' 2021 game against the Wildcats was of course Pat Fitzgerald, who now leads MSU in 2026.
Overall, the 2026 season will be the 12th time in the past 16 years that MSU opens with a Friday night game in East Lansing. Additionally, it is the 14th time since 2011 that the Spartans begin the season on a Friday night. The Spartans have had a lot of success in season openers, as they are 11-0 in their previous home Friday night games to start the season and 13-0 overall in their Friday night season openers since 2011.
This game against Toledo marks the debut for Fitzgerald as head coach of Michigan State. He has a career coaching record of 110-101 in 17 seasons as head coach, all at Northwestern, and is the winningest coach in NU program history. It will also mark the first game for Mike Jacobs at the helm of Toledo. He has a career coaching career of 94-23 between Mercer, Lenoir-Rhyne and Notre Dame College (Ohio).
The 2026 matchup is just the second all-time meeting between Michigan State and Toledo, and the first in nearly 101 years. The Spartans defeated the Rockets by a final score of 58-0 way back on Nov. 8, 1925 in East Lansing.
While there is a new regime in 2026 at both MSU and Toledo, there is some familiarity between the programs in this year's matchup. Current Michigan State general manager Bryan Gasser spent eight total seasons with the Rockets, including as a graduate assistant coach in 2010 and 2012, as director of high school relations in 2013, as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in 2014 and 2015, as director of player personnel/recruiting coordinator in 2023 and 2024, and as general manager of player personnel in 2025. Additionally, Michigan State brought in Toledo transfer defensive tackle Carlos Hazelwood for the 2026 season, while former Spartan safety and fan favorite Armorion Smith is now playing for the Rockets.
As for the series with Oregon, the Ducks lead by an all-time tally of 5-3. Oregon’s most recent win came in 2024 by a final score of 31-10 in Eugene. It was the first matchup between the two programs as Big Ten opponents.
The Nov. 20 contest this coming fall will mark the first time the Ducks come to East Lansing since 2015. On Sept. 12, 2025 in a top-10 ranked matchup, No. 5 Michigan State defeated No. 7 Oregon by a final score of 31-28. MSU is undefeated against Oregon at home with a record of 3-0.
Oregon is led by head coach Dan Lanning.
In other recent non-conference scheduling news, Michigan State will play Notre Dame this coming season in primetime in South Bend at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Sept. 19. MSU also announced a 2027 matchup with FCS opponent Duquesne, and home-and-home series with Oklahoma State in 2028 and 2029 and Cincinnati in 2030 and 2031.
