What conference will each FBS program play in for the 2026 season?

[ASFN Admin]

College football has been no stranger to conference realignment over the past half-decade, and the major moves that shifted the sport's tectonic plates a few years ago are still having ripple effects today. There are now 138 teams that compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, and a number of them will have new conference homes for the 2026 season. In fact, there's no conference that hasn't been affected by the last five years of realignment.

There are 10 FBS conferences overall, plus two schools that don't belong to a conference and play as independent teams. The Power Four conferences are made up of the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, and the SEC, plus Notre Dame. That number totals 68 teams. The Group of Six conferences are made up of the American, Conference USA, the MAC, the Mountain West, the Pac-12, the Sun Belt, and UConn. That number totals 70 teams.

For the College Football Playoff this season, the third year of the 12-team version, the highest-ranked conference champion from the Group of Six will join the conference champions from each of the Power Four leagues as the five automatic-bid teams. The remainder of the CFP field will be filled out by the remaining highest-ranked teams; the seven at-large schools. Additionally, if Notre Dame is inside the top 12 on selection day, they will be guaranteed a spot in the bracket. The seeding protocol remains the same from last year.

It can be difficult to keep track of all of the changing conference affiliations, so we've packaged them all in one place for the upcoming season. Without further ado, here is which conference each of the 138 FBS teams will play in for the 2026 season.

American Conference​

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• Army Black Knights
• Charlotte 49ers
• East Carolina Pirates
• FAU Owls
• Memphis Tigers
• Navy Midshipmen
• North Texas Mean Green
• Rice Owls
• Temple Owls
• Tulane Green Wave
• Tulsa Golden Hurricane
• UAB Blazers
• USF Bulls
• UTSA Roadrunners

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)​

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• Boston College Eagles
• Cal Golden Bears
• Clemson Tigers
• Duke Blue Devils
• Florida State Seminoles
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
• Louisville Cardinals
• Miami Hurricanes
• North Carolina Tar Heels
• NC State Wolfpack
• Pittsburgh Panthers
• SMU Mustangs
• Stanford Cardinal
• Syracuse Orange
• Virginia Cavaliers
• Virginia Tech Hokies
• Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Big 12 Conference​

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• Arizona Wildcats
• Arizona State Sun Devils
• Baylor Bears
• BYU Cougars
• Cincinnati Bearcats
• Colorado Buffaloes
• Houston Cougars
• Iowa State Cyclones
• Kansas Jayhawks
• Kansas State Wildcats
• Oklahoma State Cowboys
• TCU Horned Frogs
• Texas Tech Red Raiders
• UCF Knights
• Utah Utes
• West Virginia Mountaineers

Big Ten Conference​

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• Illinois Fighting Illini
• Indiana Hoosiers
• Iowa Hawkeyes
• Maryland Terrapins
• Michigan Wolverines
• Michigan State Spartans
• Minnesota Golden Gophers
• Nebraska Cornhuskers
• Northwestern Wildcats
• Ohio State Buckeyes
• Oregon Ducks
• Penn State Nittany Lions
• Purdue Boilermakers
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• UCLA Bruins
• USC Trojans
• Washington Huskies
• Wisconsin Badgers

Conference USA (CUSA)​

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• Delaware Blue Hens
• FIU Panthers
• Jacksonville State Gamecocks
• Kennesaw State Owls
• Liberty Flames
• Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
• Missouri State Bears
• New Mexico State Aggies
• Sam Houston Bearkats
• Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Mid-American Conference (MAC)​

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• Akron Zips
• Ball State Cardinals
• Bowling Green Falcons
• Buffalo Bulls
• Central Michigan Chippewas
• Eastern Michigan Eagles
• Kent State Golden Flashes
• Miami (Ohio) RedHawks
• Ohio Bobcats
• Sacramento State Hornets
• Toledo Rockets
• UMass Minutemen
• Western Michigan Broncos

Mountain West Conference (MWC)​

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• Air Force Falcons
• Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
• Nevada Wolf Pack
• New Mexico Lobos
• North Dakota State Bison
• Northern Illinois Huskies
• San Jose State Spartans
• UNLV Rebels
• UTEP Miners
• Wyoming Cowboys

Pac-12 Conference​

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• Boise State Broncos
• Colorado State Rams
• Fresno State Bulldogs
• Oregon State Beavers
• San Diego State Aztecs
• Texas State Bobcats
• Utah State Aggies
• Washington State Cougars

Southeastern Conference (SEC)​

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• Alabama Crimson Tide
• Arkansas Razorbacks
• Auburn Tigers
• Florida Gators
• Georgia Bulldogs
• Kentucky Wildcats
• LSU Tigers
• Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Missouri Tigers
• Oklahoma Sooners
• Ole Miss Rebels
• South Carolina Gamecocks
• Tennessee Volunteers
• Texas Longhorns
• Texas A&M Aggies
• Vanderbilt Commodores

Sun Belt Conference (SBC)​

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East Division​

• Appalachian State Mountaineers
• Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
• Georgia Southern Eagles
• Georgia State Panthers
• James Madison Dukes
• Marshall Thundering Herd
• Old Dominion Monarchs

West Division​

• Arkansas State Red Wolves
• Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
• Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
• South Alabama Jaguars
• Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
• Troy Trojans
• ULM Warhawks

FBS Independents​

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• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• UConn Huskies

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: What conference will each FBS program play in for the 2026 season?

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