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Already circled your school’s homecoming weekend, or still waiting on the official announcement? Either way, the 2026 season around the corner, with North Carolina A&T’s 100th GHOE (“Greatest Homecoming On Earth”) anchoring a fall that runs from mid-September all the way to the Celebration Bowl in December. Real talk, if you’re trying to hit more than one homecoming this year, you need to be planning now… like this very minute. As a Howard alum (HUUUUU, you know), I already know where I’m going to be, but if you’re trying to figure out your own game plan, keep reading.
October 10 and October 17 are the two Saturdays to plan around, with more than a dozen schools playing homecoming on the 10th alone and another ten the following week. The DMV gets three of its own homecomings in a row that same stretch, with a different school pulling its alumni home each weekend: Morgan State plays its game October 10, Howard plays October 17, and Bowie State plays its game October 24.
Yardfest, the Howard concert that’s hosted everyone from Jay-Z to Drake to Nipsey Hussle over the years, lands the Friday before game day, closing out the week right into it. The 2026 lineup hasn’t dropped yet, but get your ‘fits ready either way.
A week later, North Carolina A&T closes out October with its centennial GHOE. The full week runs October 25 through November 1, with the Elon game landing on Halloween. Greensboro is already bracing for a bigger crowd than it’s ever handled for this one, if that’s even possible.
A&T isn’t the only program making history that week. Southern and Florida A&M are both debuting new head coaches at their homecoming games this year, with Marshall Faulk at Southern and Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. at FAMU. FAMU’s homecoming concert has its own reputation separate from the football, and they just dropped an all-star lineup. Get your coins ready because BellyGang Kushington, T.I., Summer Walker, and Gunna all on a bill is worth it if you ask me.
Once October wraps, the individual campuses make room for the classics: Magic City in Birmingham, the Florida Classic in Orlando, the Bayou Classic in New Orleans, and the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, closing the year in December.
A few CIAA and SIAC schools hadn’t locked in 2026 dates as of this writing. So it’s worth checking individual athletics departments as the season gets closer, since parade routes, concert lineups, and step show schedules tend to drop separately from the football date.
2026 HBCU Homecoming Dates
September
- Sept. 19 — Bethune-Cookman — Daytona Beach, FL
October
- Oct. 3 — Grambling State — Grambling, LA
- Oct. 3 — Southern University — Baton Rouge, LA
- Oct. 3 — Livingstone College — Salisbury, NC
- Oct. 3 — Miles College — Fairfield, AL
- Oct. 10 — Morgan State — Baltimore, MD
- Oct. 10 — North Carolina Central — Durham, NC
- Oct. 10 — Morehouse College — Atlanta, GA
- Oct. 10 — Alabama State — Montgomery, AL
- Oct. 10 — Delaware State — Dover, DE
- Oct. 10 — Alcorn State — Lorman, MS
- Oct. 10 — Texas Southern — Houston, TX
- Oct. 10 — Norfolk State — Norfolk, VA
- Oct. 10 — Albany State — Albany, GA
- Oct. 10 — Virginia State — Petersburg, VA
- Oct. 10 — Elizabeth City State — Elizabeth City, NC
- Oct. 10 — Kentucky State — Frankfort, KY
- Oct. 17 — Tennessee State — Nashville, TN
- Oct. 17 — Howard University — Washington, DC
- Oct. 17 — Jackson State — Jackson, MS
- Oct. 17 — Alabama A&M — Huntsville, AL
- Oct. 17 — Prairie View A&M — Prairie View, TX
- Oct. 17 — Johnson C. Smith University — Charlotte, NC
- Oct. 17 — Arkansas-Pine Bluff — Pine Bluff, AR
- Oct. 17 — Mississippi Valley State — Itta Bena, MS
- Oct. 17 — Clark Atlanta University — Atlanta, GA
- Oct. 17 — Fayetteville State — Fayetteville, NC
- Oct. 17 — Savannah State — Savannah, GA
- Oct. 24 — Hampton University — Hampton, VA
- Oct. 24 — South Carolina State — Orangeburg, SC
- Oct. 24 — Florida A&M — Tallahassee, FL
- Oct. 24 — Bowie State — Bowie, MD
- Oct. 24 — Fort Valley State — Fort Valley, GA
- Oct. 24 — Edward Waters University — Jacksonville, FL
- Oct. 31 — North Carolina A&T (100th/Centennial GHOE) — Greensboro, NC
- Oct. 31 — Lane College — Jackson, TN
November
- Nov. 7 — Winston-Salem State — Winston-Salem, NC
- Nov. 7 — Tuskegee University — Tuskegee, AL