September sports watch guide: NFL kickoff, Kiffin vs. Ole Miss, WNBA and MLB playoffs

" Summer has come and passed ." That's a bummer for just about everyone, save for pumpkin spice lobbyists and Richard Gere . Fear not, though — we're about to hit the coolest stretch of the sports calendar.

September is full of worthwhile watches. NFL and college football officially kick off. Men's and women's soccer leagues ramp up. MLB and the WNBA reach their respective playoffs. There's U.S. Open tennis and Presidents Cup golf; the chill of an NHL puck drop and the heat of the Spanish Grand Prix. "Chad Powers" is back under center, lest we forget.

This is The Athletic 's comprehensive guide to sports in September. For the sake of time and space, we weren't able to cover everything for the month to come. But we did our best to properly celebrate such a vast slate. All times are ET, and all channel listings are for U.S. viewers.

You can watch live sports on Fubo ( Stream Free Now ).

This latest installment of the "Untold" documentary series centers on Rachael Gunn, the Australian breakdancer who competed in her newly recognized Olympic sport. Memes and misnomers ensued.

Women's volleyball Big Ten/SEC Challenge

Sept. 1-6 on B1G+, Big Ten Network, ESPN2, Fox, FS1, SECN+, SEC Network

All 18 Big Ten and 16 SEC programs are in this inaugural interconference clash. The finale is a Fox doubleheader at Wrigley Field , with Kentucky facing Penn State and Nebraska playing Missouri.

Glen Powell is the titular catfish quarterback of the South Georgia Catfish. Eli Manning, producer and founder of the original bit , had a cameo in the first season. All six episodes drop simultaneously.

'On Campus: Game of the Week' series premiere

It's Netflix's spin on the "College GameDay" concept, with two students leading the camera across campus sites and tailgate shenanigans each week. Thankfully, there's no Pat McAfee in this one.

The season starts with the London City Lionesses hosting Manchester United. The league has expanded to 14 clubs after the promotion of Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace. Three-time WSL Golden Boot winner Khadija Shaw suits up for defending champion Manchester City, which welcomes Birmingham on Sept. 6.

The 20th FIBA Women's World Cup is commemorated in Berlin. Team USA is stacked with stars like Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The U.S. is going for a fifth straight championship; it starts group play with China, Czechia and Italy.

Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame (Shamrock Series)

Heisman Trophy hype machine CJ Carr leads the No. 4 Fighting Irish into historic Lambeau Field. The Badgers counter with fleet quarterback Colton Joseph, who transferred from Old Dominion. Wisconsin fans have the in-state advantage here, but Notre Dame always travels well.

This MLS and Liga MX crossover comes down to four Mexican clubs. The winners of Toluca versus León and América versus Monterrey play for the title. Each of the top three finishers qualify for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, and the victor goes straight into the round of 16.

Men's Champions League: League Phase Matchday 1

As always, the UCL field is loaded to the brim. French titan Paris Saint-Germain bids for a three-peat with Ousmane Dembélé. Declan Rice and EPL champion Arsenal embark on a redemption tour . Bundesliga club Bayern Munich has Harry Kane , and La Liga's Barcelona has Lamine Yamal. Soccer's great gauntlet never disappoints.

New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks

The NFL kicks off its new season with a rematch of last season's Super Bowl. Drake Maye and the Pats visit Sam Darnold and the 12s on "Sunday Night Football," which is on a Wednesday this time. Sure. New England arrives after the A.J. Brown trade and the Mike Vrabel saga ; Seattle raises a second banner as team ownership changes over.

All four WPBL teams — the Boston Hunters, Los Angeles Queens, New York Heights and San Francisco Firebells — make the first postseason. It's a best-of-three semifinals and a best-of-five championship series. Among the notable names are No. 1 pick Kelsie Whitmore and former Little League standout Mo'ne Davis.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams

Division rivals and Super Bowl aspirants begin their 2026 campaigns at Melbourne Cricket Ground. This Netflix exclusive marks the NFL's regular-season debut in Australia. New Rams pass rusher Myles Garrett pairs with the unretired Aaron Donald , while Niners running back Christian McCaffrey adds star wattage on the other sideline. Head coaches Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan are two of the league's top play callers .

Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands hosts this women's tourney between the U.S. and Europe. Angela Stanford captains the American side, while Swedish mainstay Anna Nordqvist leads the Europeans. The first two days are foursomes and four-ball matches; the third day shifts to singles.

Tennis takes Queens, N.Y., for the last Grand Slam of the season. Defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz returns from a wrist injury and now seeks his fourth major championship in two years. On the women's side, Aryna Sabalenka tries to conquer the tournament for a third consecutive time. The women's final on Sept. 12 starts at 4 p.m. on ESPN, while the men's final is the following day at 2 p.m. on ABC.

We've got a top-five powerhouse headliner, with "College GameDay" on campus in Austin. Quarterbacks Julian Sayin and Arch Manning are Heisman hopefuls. Wideouts Jeremiah Smith and Cam Coleman look like NFL Draft gems. This has game-of-the-year potential .

Sept. 12, 8 p.m. on Paramount+ (main card)

A long lineage of Las Vegas boxing spectacles continues with Garcia, who holds the WBC welterweight title, and Benn, his mandatory challenger. Benn's father, Nigel, won the belt as a super middleweight in 1992.

Madring's maiden F1 race offers the longest banked turn on the circuit. McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished first and second in last year's run, which was held in Barcelona.

Sept. 13, 11:30 a.m. on NBC, NBCSN/Peacock or USA

City's Erling Haaland and United's Bruno Fernandes stand atop The Athletic 's Premier League rankings . Old Trafford is the " Theatre of Dreams ." The derby paints heroes and villains in reds and blues, with enough natural pageantry to demand a worldwide audience.

A new kind of booing might be invented at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Lane Kiffin guided Ole Miss to its most promising year in several lifetimes, then left to coach fellow SEC member LSU without any love lost . Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels certainly want to show out against Kiffin's remade Tigers. It's another "College GameDay" special as well.

The chase is on. Denny Hamlin enters the 10-race playoff atop the points table, with a No. 1 seed to boost his odds at a first career NASCAR Cup Series title. Others in the field of 16 include No. 2 Ryan Blaney, No. 3 Tyler Reddick and No. 4 Ty Gibbs. The playoffs run through Nov. 8, but few tracks can match the pull of Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kevin Hart's 'Cold as Balls' Season 13 premiere

Fresh episodes of the ice bath interview show feature Novak Djokovic, Cooper Flagg, Rob Gronkowski, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Serena Williams. Yes, Hart is shorter than all of his guests.

Women's Champions League: League Phase Matchday 1

Barcelona has been a force, winning three of the last four UEFA titles. It still has midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, a three-time Ballon d'Or recipient. But pressure builds from the likes of OL Lyonnes, which adds forward Salma Paralluelo from Barca, and 2025 champion Arsenal.

At his peak, Jackson was one of the NFL's most magnetic talents, a vertical game-breaker with swagger to spare. This documentary uses footage from his brother, Byron, tracing the receiver's journey from Pop Warner to the pros.

Sept. 24-27 on Golf Channel, NBC and Peacock

Led by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and team captain Brandt Snedeker, the U.S. tries to get back on top of intercontinental golf and avenge its 2025 Ryder Cup loss. The Americans have claimed 10 straight Presidents Cups since a tie in 2003. The international team (sans Europe) stars South Korean Si Woo Kim and is captained by Australian Geoff Ogilvy. All four days are at Chicago's Medinah Country Club.

The NFL's international schedule is bigger than ever this year, with nine matchups spread across seven different countries. This one brings the Ravens and Cowboys to Rio de Janeiro. Points should come wholesale between Baltimore's ground game (Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry) and Dallas' air attack (Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb).

Sept. 27 on Disney networks (ABC, ESPN), Prime Video and USA

The bracket teems with hype and hope. A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces are the incumbent champs. Olivia Miles leads the Minnesota Lynx in pursuit of the franchise's fifth title. There are also the 3-and-D Golden State Valkyries, the star-laden New York Liberty, Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever and Paige Bueckers' Dallas Wings. The playoffs run into October.

From South Central to Beverly Hills, "All American" dramatizes the culture clashes of Los Angeles high school football. The show, based on the life of former NFL linebacker and Super Bowl champ Spencer Paysinger, is wrapping up its eight-season arc.

Hockey is back, and it bumps up to an 84-game regular-season schedule. ESPN gets things going with a national TV three-piece. First, the Carolina Hurricanes raise their championship banner before hosting the Florida Panthers. Later on, the New York Rangers take the ice against the rival Boston Bruins, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks at the Vegas Golden Knights.

Playoff baseball brings on a distinct, rarified tension. The air thins and the game slows. Though there's still much to settle in the standings, 2026 wild cards could go to tentpoles like the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. All four best-of-three series are on NBC Sports.

From there, we shuffle into October — where the World Series and the almighty sports equinox await us.

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