Kickoff time for the UNC football program's season opener against TCU in Dublin, Ireland, has officially been set, and it's one that Tar Heel fans are going to absolutely love to see.
UNC vs. TCU kickoff time set for week 0 in Dublin
Kickoff time is set for week 0 in Dublin! 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/k6CbbmKfBQ
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) May 12, 2026
The Tar Heels will kick-off season two of the Bill Belichick era on Saturday August 29 in Ireland, as the game is scheduled for noon eastern time. With a five-hour time difference between Ireland and North Carolina, the game time (in Dublin) is scheduled for 5:00 PM their time.
Now, why should Tar Heel fans be happy about this kickoff time? Well, there's two very good reasons.
For starters, we all will be extremely anxious to watch the UNC football program on the first Saturday of the college football season. Not having to wait all day long (like last year) is definitely beneficial, as the Tar Heels will be among the early slate of games that will be featured throughout the day.
The other reason, which essentially piggybacks off the "not having to wait all day" theory, is that it's not a nationally televised primetime game.
Sure, playing under the lights is cool and all, but last year, due in large part to the hype surrounding Belichick's arrival on campus, forced us to have to wait all the way until Monday night to see the new-look Tar Heels in action.
While that game started off extremely well, it took a quick turn for the worst, an embarrassment we definitely wouldn't want replicated again in the follow-up meeting between the two programs.
A noon start is awesome. Sure, North Carolina will draw plenty of attention while Belichick is at the helm, but an afternoon kickoff time takes some of the pressure off to start the 2026 season. Last year, everyone got a bit ahead of themselves thinking the Tar Heels would be instant contenders, but they quickly showed that it's very much a rebuilding process to get to that level the program aims to be at for many years to come.
Put it in your calendars and make sure you aren't busy between noon and approximately 4:00 PM EST on August 29, we all have some UNC football to watch on the opening Saturday of the college football regular season!
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