Kickoff time revealed for East Carolina at Alabama in Week 1 of 2026 season

Oct 18, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Daniel Hill (4) runs with the ball in the second half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

The kickoff time for Alabama football’s first game of the upcoming season has been decided, per The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel.

The Crimson Tide will begin their 2026 season at home against the East Carolina Pirates, and the game will be at 11 a.m. CT on Sept. 5. The game will be on ABC, kicking off an intriguing ABC slate of SEC teams against non-conference opponents. Alabama’s rival Auburn will play at 2:30 p.m. CT against Baylor in Atlanta, and new LSU head coach Lane Kiffin makes his debut by hosting Clemson at 6:30 p.m. CT.

Alabama is coming off a 10-3 performance in the regular season including the loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship, and the Crimson Tide were able to make the College Football Playoff and capture a victory at Oklahoma in the opening round before suffering a big loss to Indiana in The Rose Bowl.

East Carolina finished 8-4 last season and picked up a win in the Military Bowl by defeating Pitt 23-17. However, the Pirates did not have much success against the power four teams they played in the 2025 regular season as they lost to NC State 24-17 and BYU 34-13.

Alabama will hope to have a better performance in the 2026 season opener than it did in 2025 as the Crimson Tide fell on the road against Florida State. This game against East Carolina will be a good game for new starters to get their feet wet, and whoever wins the quarterback battle between Austin Mack and Keelon Russell will start their first ball game for Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium.