Two Idaho football games to air on ESPN

May 27-Idaho's football team will be featured twice on ESPN in 2026, according to a release from the network Wednesday. Previously, only one Vandals regular-season game in program history had aired on ESPN's main channel.

ESPN, which has a broadcast deal with the Big Sky Conference, selected two Idaho games for Friday night slots.

Idaho's season opener at Cal Poly, set to kick off at 7 p.m. Aug. 28, will be broadcast by ESPN, which will also air the Vandals' Oct. 2 tilt in the Kibbie Dome against reigning national champion Montana State. The game against the Bobcats - the first Friday night game at the Kibbie Dome since Idaho hosted Boise State in 2010 - will start at 7:30 p.m.

The Vandals' second game of the season will also be played in front of a national audience. ESPNU will air Idaho's Sept. 3 road game against Big 12 opponent Utah, which will kick off at 6 p.m. Idaho hasn't played three or more regular-season games on a linear ESPN network since 2009.

ESPN networks aired two Vandals games last season - Idaho's 35-32 overtime win on Halloween at Northern Arizona and the Vandals' 41-30 loss at Montana on Sept. 27 were both broadcast by ESPN2.

Eastern Washington will play its first nationally televised Big Sky game in five years at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3, when ESPN2 airs the Eagles' road game against UC Davis. EWU's most recent conference matchup on national TV came in 2021 when ESPN2 aired the Eagles' win over Montana in Cheney.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 7:08 PM.