After a two-year absence from the national picture, the Pac-12 is officially back for the 2026 college football season. Just two of the league's eight teams -- Oregon State and Washington State -- are holdovers from the conference's previous iteration, as five schools enter from the Mountain West and Texas State arrives from the Sun Belt.
The league cannot realistically be considered a "power" conference as it was before a disruptive wave of conference realignment, which splintered the majority of its membership in various directions. But the new Pac-12 features an intriguing collection of programs that can realistically aspire to be college football's best non-power conference.
Since the Pac-12 features just eight football teams as it reboots, the league got creative with its schedule. Once teams have played the other seven league foes, they will get a "flex" rematch against a TBD conference opponent in Week 13, their 12th and final regular-season game.
That final game will be considered a nonconference game and will not impact the league standings. The Pac-12 will finalize the flex matchups six days beforehand after evaluating "the best interests of the league, including College Football Playoff (CFP) considerations at that time."
It's an interesting concept that gives the conference some optionality as it seeks to increase its chances of sending a team to the CFP. As the season draws closer, we are taking a closer look at where the Pac-12 falls in the Group of Six conference hierarchy. Team rankings are from the post-spring CBS Sports 138, which is a collaborative poll from a collection of CBS Sports college football writers.
1. Pac-12
Top teams
33. Boise State
69. San Diego State
74. Fresno State
Sub-120 teams: none
The Pac-12 slots narrowly ahead of the American as the top Group of Six conference entering the 2026 season. Boise State is the class of the league, as the three-time reigning Mountain West champions will seek to rule over the Pac-12 with a similar level of dominance. The Broncos are the highest-ranked Group of Six team by a significant margin in the CBS Sports 138. They will get a chance to prove themselves early against a schedule that begins at Oregon and also includes September showdowns with quality Group of Six programs Memphis and Western Michigan. San Diego State and Fresno State each return their head coaches and some quality talent from 9-4 teams to give Boise State a couple of challengers.
Washington State, Oregon State and Colorado State are each under new coaches and could have low floors. But as things stand now, the bottom of this league is projected to be better than the bottom of the other Group of Six conferences, including the American.
2. American
Top teams
Sub-120 teams (2): Charlotte, UAB
The American is undergoing a coaching makeover among its top programs after Tulane, North Texas, South Florida and Memphis each saw their leaders poached by Power Five schools. That coaching turnover -- combined with the departure of significant production at Navy -- leaves the American up for grabs. By contrast, the Pac-12's top programs -- Boise State, San Diego State and Fresno State -- each have returning coaches with solid returning production from good teams.
The bottom of the league also projects to be worse than the bottom of the Pac-12. Programs like Charlotte, UAB, Tulsa, Rice and Temple have generally been anchors dragging down the collective strength of the American in recent years.
3. Mountain West
Top teams
46. UNLV
75. New Mexico
93. Hawaii
Sub-120 teams (4): Northern Illinois, San Jose State, Nevada, UTEP
The Pac-12 conducted a vicious raid, but the Mountain West survived and reloaded by adding FCS power North Dakota State, Conference USA's UTEP, and Northern Illinois from the MAC. Arguably, the league's biggest question is how smoothly North Dakota State's transition will go. The Bison won 10 FCS national titles between 2011 and 2024. They aren't your typical FBS newcomer. If the Bison are ready to hang, they will bring some immediate credibility to the retooled Mountain West.
At the top, UNLV is 21-7 over the past two seasons and poised to be a top Group of Five contender again in 2026 under second-year coach Dan Mullen, who is welcoming former Oklahoma and Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold. New Mexico could also be a force, as the Lobos welcome back significant production from a team that won nine games in coach Jason Eck's first season. The bottom of the league is where things get problematic.
4. Sun Belt
Top teams
81. Old Dominion
84. Georgia Southern
88. Marshall
Sub-120 teams (3): Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia State, Southern Miss
Appalachian State's recent struggles and Coastal Carolina's return to earth following the highs of the Jamey Chadwell era have left James Madison in charge of the Sun Belt. The only problem is that the Dukes keep sending their coaches to the Big Ten. As the 2026 season dawns, there is no single dominant program in the Sun Belt and certainly no obvious CFP contenders.
5. Conference USA
Top teams
86. Jacksonville State
87. Western Kentucky
97. Liberty
Sub-120 teams (4): Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston, Missouri State, New Mexico State
With coaching continuity at schools like Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, Western Kentucky and Liberty, the battle for league supremacy should be fierce. KSU is the reigning champion but will have its hands full with those other three, who are all on track to be in the hunt. But unless someone pulls a stunning upset (or two) in nonconference play and then runs the table, it's unlikely that Conference USA will factor into the playoff race.
6. MAC
Top teams
80. Toledo
82. Miami (Ohio)
91. Western Michigan
Sub-120 teams (6): UMass, Sacramento State, Ball State, Kent State, Bowling Green, Akron
The MAC is welcoming a new member for the second year in a row. Last season, UMass joined the league (for a second time). This year, it's Sacramento State, which is upending the MAC's geographical footprint and turning it into a bi-coastal conference that spans three time zones. UMass finished 0-12 in 2025, so the bar has been set as low as it can go for Sacramento State in its debut campaign. At the top, Toledo is rebooting under Mike Jacobs following Jason Candle's departure for UConn, and Ohio is undergoing another coaching change (although the new man, John Hauser, has been part of the program as an assistant). Those shakeups leave the door wide open for Western Michigan to claim a second straight conference title.
