Central Arkansas Bears Football TV Schedule, Channels, Times
How to watch live stream Central Arkansas Bears football game today, tonight, or tomorrow? What channel & time?
The Central Arkansas Bears compete in the United Athletic Conference, and nearly the entire 2026 schedule streams on ESPN+ — all seven UAC games plus the four non-conference dates against fellow FCS and Division II opposition. The exception is the September 26 trip to Florida State, which falls under the ACC's television deal and will land somewhere in the ESPN or ACC Network family once kickoff windows are assigned. Nathan Brown enters his ninth season in Conway with a 46-44 record at the school, looking to rebound from a 3-9 finish that included a 2-6 mark in league play. Home games are played on the distinctive purple-and-gray striped turf at Estes Stadium, and the Bears have a genuinely front-loaded slate this year, with four of their first five on consecutive weekends before the only open date arrives in early October.
| Central Arkansas Bears TV Schedule 2026 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Game | Time ET | TV |
| Week 1 (Thu, Aug. 27) | @ UT Martin | 7:30 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 2 (Sat, Sept. 5) | vs West Florida * (Home Opener) | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 3 (Sat, Sept. 12) | vs Central Oklahoma | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 4 (Sat, Sept. 19) | @ Southeast Missouri State | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 5 (Sat, Sept. 26) | @ Florida State | TBD | ACC Network Family |
| Week 6 (Sat, Oct. 3) | BYE WEEK | — | — |
| Week 7 (Sat, Oct. 10) | @ Abilene Christian * | 8:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 8 (Sat, Oct. 17) | @ Tarleton State * | 7:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 9 (Sat, Oct. 24) | vs UTRGV (Hall of Fame Weekend) | 5:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 10 (Sat, Oct. 31) | vs North Alabama * (Homecoming) | 5:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 11 (Sat, Nov. 7) | vs West Georgia * | 5:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 12 (Sat, Nov. 14) | @ Eastern Kentucky * | 2:00 PM | ESPN+ |
| Week 13 (Sat, Nov. 21) | vs Austin Peay * (Senior Day) | 5:00 PM | ESPN+ |
* United Athletic Conference game. Home games are played at Estes Stadium in Conway, Arkansas.
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Which Central Arkansas Bears games are worth watching in 2026?
The September 26 trip to Tallahassee is the obvious circle. Doak Campbell Stadium holds close to 80,000, and it is the only game all year that will get a real television window rather than a stream. It also closes an unusually demanding opening month in which the Bears face UT Martin on the road on a Thursday night, then play three more games in as many weekends before finally getting a break. The other newcomer worth watching arrives early: West Florida makes its United Athletic Conference debut at Estes Stadium on September 5, bringing with it one of the strongest recent Division II résumés in the country as it steps up a level.
The league race likely runs through a brutal back-to-back in mid-October, when Central Arkansas travels to Abilene Christian and then Tarleton State on consecutive Saturdays — two of the UAC's steadiest programs, both in Texas, both at night. From there the schedule turns friendly: four of the final five are in Conway, including Homecoming against North Alabama on Halloween and Senior Day against Austin Peay to close the regular season. UTRGV also visits on October 24 for Hall of Fame Weekend, a rare non-conference date this deep into the fall and a look at one of the newest programs in FCS football.
