ECU to Open 2026 Season at Alabama

East Carolina is heading to the big stage in 2026. The Pirates announced Tuesday they’ll open the season with a trip to Tuscaloosa, taking on Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 5.

The matchup fills ECU’s final non-conference opening for 2026, and it comes with plenty of perks. Per the contract, the Pirates will receive $1.5 million for making the trip, plus an allotment of 2,000 tickets to sell and 300 complimentary tickets. The SEC will also provide officials for the game.

The meeting will mark East Carolina’s first-ever visit to Bryant-Denny and only the second time the program has faced Alabama — the first came back in 1998 in Birmingham. Overall, it will be ECU’s 26th game against a current SEC member and the first since taking on South Carolina in 2021.

"We are excited for the opportunity to open our 2026 season against one of the premier programs in college football," ECU Director of Athletics Jon Gilbert said. "Alabama represents the highest level of competition, and it's a great chance for our football program to play on a national stage. It's also a tremendous experience for our fans and a unique opportunity to showcase East Carolina University."

Gilbert knows the matchup well — he spent 16 years at Alabama as a college administrator and was on the sidelines for that first-ever meeting with ECU back in 1998.

The Alabama game completes a strong non-conference slate for ECU in 2026:

• Sept. 5: at Alabama

• Sept. 12: Appalachian State (home)

• Sept. 19: at Old Dominion

• Sept. 26: N.C. Central (home)

The American has yet to release league pairings for 2026, but ECU has its full non-conference schedule locked in.

Looking ahead, the Pirates will continue their run of Power Four opponents with Northwestern (2027), Wake Forest (2027/28), NC State (2028), Clemson (2029) and South Carolina (2030).

This fall, ECU already gets a taste of that competition with a pair of P4 matchups. NC State on Aug. 28 in Raleigh and BYU at Dowdy-Ficklen on Sept. 20.

- ECU Media Relations contributed to this report.