• Texas Southern opens the 2026 season against North Carolina Central Saturday evening inside Thorne Stadium at 6 p.m.
• Saturday's contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM and will be shown live on HBCUGO.
• Due to recent changes by the NCAA, Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams are now allowed to begin its season on Week 0 without a waiver, which is the weekend before Labor Day. The Tigers immediately took advantage of the rule and will play their first Week 0 contest since 2017. Ironically, it was also their last contest against a team from the MEAC (Florida A&M).
• This marks the first meeting between both teams.
• A trio of TSU offensive starters earned 2026 Preseason All-SWAC Second Team honors in junior tight end Kordell Rodgers, sophomore offensive lineman Jayden Daniels and redshirt junior wideout Roriyon Richardson.
• Despite coming off a winning season for the first time since 2000, TSU was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC West by head coaches and sports information directors in the annual preseason poll. TSU returns six offensive starters and three on defense.
• Heading towards the final weeks of the regular season, running back Athean Renfro was the SWAC's leading rusher but saw limited action over the final two games due to an injury. As a result, Renfro fell 165 yards short of surpassing the 1,000yard mark which has served as motivation entering the 2026 season.
• Projected starting quarterback Cam'Ron McCoy opened the 2025 season at Southern University against N.C. Central in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge as the starter and will do so once again entering the 2026 season.
• The Tigers open the season with a new defensive coordinator in Scott Vestal.
• NCCU head coach Trei Oliver is familiar with the SWAC as former assistant coach at Grambling State and Southern.
• This marks the second consecutive year TSU will have six home contests as they'll also play on Week 0 for the first time since 2017. Unlike last year, the caveat to this year's schedule is that TSU will play in multiple locations in the Houston area due to scheduling conflicts with its primary stadium in Shell Energy. TSU will play five games inside Aldine ISD's Thorne Stadium (19 miles from campus) and one at Reliant Stadium (7 miles).
• Cris Dishman is the 19th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. Faced with a tough task due to the program's historical nature (29 winning seasons in 79 years of existence), Dishman has set out to reverse the trend after posting a winning record following his second season.
