Miami will begin their 2026 season at Stanford Stadium with a Friday night ACC matchup 

The Miami Hurricanes are officially set to kick off their 2026 season on road, as they will travel across the country to California to face off against the Stanford Cardinal, in a week one ACC matchup. The game is set to kickoff at 10:30 PM EST on September 4th, with broadcast still TBD.  

What was once a rare nonconference trip for both schools is now just another chapter of this newly looked bizarre ACC, and for Miami, it’s a chance to start the season off undefeated in conference play.  

The two programs faced off for the first time in 2025, where Miami dominated, 42-7. The Hurricanes out gained the Cardinal in yards 404 to 144, and returning senior running back Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 106 yards and 3 touchdowns. Stanford managed to get off to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, but it was all Miami after that point.  

The Friday night kickoff adds an interesting look to this matchup, as those weekday night kickoffs can sometimes give simple matchups that “trap game” feel to it. The Hurricanes know that feeling all too well from the past few years.  

Despite this, this slate being a week one matchup might be a blessing in disguise for Mario Cristobal and his team heading into 2026, as it’s an opportunity to get the long-distance travel and yearly weekday game out of the way early.  

With a long offseason ahead for the Canes, the opener will serve as a first real look of what we can expect to see all season long. Where we currently stand, there is many questions to be answered as the offseason just freshly started, but this game will be able to offer an early glimpse of everything coming together following long months of hard work ahead at Greentree.  

As we enter Year 5 of the Mario Cristobal era in Coral Gables, the Hurricanes will look to continue their upward trend that has been forming the past couple seasons, and Friday night in September will mark the first step moving forward.