Bucknell Football Announces 2026 Schedule
1/2/2026 11:06:00 AM | Football
LEWISBURG, Pa. — The Bucknell football program released its 2026 slate of games on Friday. The Bison will be playing a 12-game schedule for the fifth time in program history, but this season's slate will feature a record-high nine Patriot League games with the conference's additions of William & Mary and Villanova in 2026.
With 75 percent of the schedule being Patriot League games in 2026, the Bison open the season with two difficult conference opponents right off the bat. First up, is a road contest with second-year Patriot League member Richmond on Saturday, Aug. 29. Richmond saw a 7-5 overall record in 2025. The Bison took a narrow 33-28 win over the Spiders at Christy in 2025 thanks to a late touchdown and game ending interception which earned them their first win over Richmond in the teams four game series. Next, Bucknell will host its home opener, one of four home games for the Bison, on Saturday, Sept. 5 against its new Patriot League opponent in Villanova. The Wildcats saw a highly productive 2025 season before switching conferences as they recorded a 12-3 overall record and finished the season as an FCS Playoff semifinalist. Villanova holds the series record over Bucknell 15-11-2 with the last contest in 2021 ending in a 55-3 victory for the Wildcats.
The Bison will then have a three-game non-conference slate which will start with VMI in week three for the sixth consecutive season. This year Bucknell will travel to Virginia for the contest. The Keydets went 1-11 in 2025 and have gone through a coaching change ahead of the 2026 season. The Bison defeated VMI 35-28 in last season's game at Christy. Bucknell will then host Penn on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Quakers went 6-4 in 2025 and had a winning 4-3 record in the Ivy League. Bucknell and Penn didn't see each other in 2025, but the Quakers hold a 33-5 all-time record over the Bison. The last time these two teams met was in 2024 where the Quakers won 31-21.
The final non-conference game will be a road contest against ACC opponent Pitt. The Panthers went 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the ACC in 2025. Between 1902 and 1945, the two teams met nine times with Pitt holding a 7-2 overall record over Bucknell. The last time these two teams met was in 1945 where the Panthers won 38-0, which was also the last time the Bison played against an ACC opponent.
After the non-conference slate, the Bison will have a bye week before they continue to conference play for the remainder of the season. After the bye, the Bison will have a road contest against Georgetown on Saturday, Oct 10. Georgetown saw a 6-6 (.500) season in 2025 with a 3-4 conference record with one of their Patriot League wins being a 31-24 victory over Bucknell. The Bison will then host Lafayette in Christy on Saturday, Oct. 17. Lafayette went 8-4 overall with a 6-1 Patriot League record last season and defeated Bucknell 62-24.
Next up for the Bison comes back-to-back road games against Holy Cross and Lehigh. Holy Cross is coming off of a 3-9 overall record, with all three wins coming in the Patriot League where the Crusaders went 3-4. Lehigh, the two-time defending Patriot League Champions, went 12-1 overall and were undefeated 7-0 in the Patriot League in 2025.
Bucknell will host Fordham on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Christy. Last season, the Bison defeated the Rams 37-19 on the road. Fordham went 1-11 overall and 1-6 in the Patriot League with its lone win coming against Holy Cross. After facing the Rams at home, the Bison will head back on the road to face new Patriot League opponent William & Mary. The Griffins enter the Patriot League off of an overall 7-5 record and going 6-2 in the CAA. The Bison have played the Griffins six times between 1986 and 2018 and William & Mary has won all six of the games.
The final regular season game of 2026 will be a home game for Bucknell as they play host to Colgate for the 74th time in a series that began in 1894 in the Patriot League's "Rivalry Week".
2026 season tickets will go on sale later this spring.
Bucknell will be entering its first season under the 28th Bob Odell Head Football Coach at Bucknell, Jeff Behrman. Behrman, a 30-year veteran in the college football coaching ranks who won more than 72 percent of his games as the head coach at John Caroll and Union, was hired as the Bison's new head coach on January 1, 2026.
2026 Bucknell Football Schedule
Week 0 (Aug. 29): at Richmond*
Week 1 (Sept. 5): Villanova*
Week 2 (Sept. 12): at VMI
Week 3 (Sept. 19): Penn
Week 4 (Sept. 26): at Pittsburgh
Week 5 (Oct. 3): Bye
Week 6 (Oct. 10): at Georgetown*
Week 7 (Oct. 17): Lafayette*
Week 8 (Oct. 24): at Holy Cross*
Week 9 (Oct. 31): at Lehigh*
Week 10 (Nov. 7): Fordham*
Week 11 (Nov. 14): at William & Mary*
Week 12 (Nov. 21): Colgate*
