Conferences · 2026 Season

The sport gets more interesting when leagues have identity.

Every league has its own shape — the powers at the top, the week-to-week gauntlet in the middle, and the teams quietly setting the pace. Explore all 39 conferences below.

39 Conferences
4 Divisions
11 FBS
13 FCS

Conference spotlight

Ranked by round-robin strength (RR50): the neutral-field rating a hypothetical team would need to go .500 through that conference’s schedule.

FBS #1
SEC
SEC carries real selection-room weight with 9 teams inside the top 25 and Georgia driving a legitimate national ceiling.
RR50 +11.4
Top team Georgia
Best resume Georgia
FBS #2
Big Ten
Big Ten carries real selection-room weight with 7 teams inside the top 25 and Ohio State driving a legitimate national ceiling.
RR50 +10.1
Top team Ohio State
Best resume Ohio State
FBS #3
Big 12
Big 12 looks stronger on team quality than on season resume, which makes it a dangerous future-facing league.
RR50 +8.3
Top team Texas Tech
Best resume Texas Tech
FBS #4
ACC
ACC carries real selection-room weight with 4 teams inside the top 25 and Miami driving a legitimate national ceiling.
RR50 +8.2
Top team Miami
Best resume Miami
FBS #5
Pac-12
Pac-12 is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 +5.3
Top team Boise State
Best resume Boise State
FBS #6
American Athletic
American Athletic is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 +5.3
Top team South Florida
Best resume South Florida
FBS #7
Mountain West
Mountain West is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 +4.0
Top team UNLV
Best resume UNLV
FBS #8
Sun Belt
Sun Belt is more top-heavy than deep. James Madison gives the league punch, but the middle tier falls away faster than the top leagues.
RR50 +3.7
Top team James Madison
Best resume James Madison
FBS #9
Conference USA
Conference USA is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 +3.6
Top team Liberty
Best resume Liberty
FBS #10
Mid-American
Mid-American is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 +3.1
Top team Toledo
Best resume Toledo
FCS #11
MVFC
MVFC reads like a weekly gauntlet. The middle of the league is strong enough that contenders do not get many breathers.
RR50 -1.7
Top team South Dakota State
Best resume South Dakota State
FCS #12
UAC
UAC is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.
RR50 -2.2
Top team Tarleton State
Best resume Tarleton State
Style fingerprints
Every conference has a personality
Six play-style dimensions mapped across all 11 FBS conferences. Click any card to see who they really are.
Head to head
The math doesn’t care about reputation
Pick two conferences. Win probability from SP+ distributions — not narratives, not recruiting stars.
Power × parity
Two axes. Every conference. Where do they live?
Median power vs. internal spread. The scatter that reveals what raw rankings hide.

All conferences

Sorted by RR50 strength within each division. Very small affiliations are lightly regressed toward their subdivision baseline so one-team groups do not break the board.

RR50
Round-robin rating — points a typical team would win or lose by against a neutral average opponent, simulated across a full league schedule. Higher is stronger.
Upper str
Upper strength — the rating of the conference’s top tier, so you can see how good its best teams really are.
Median
The middle team’s rating — how strong the league stays once you get past the contenders.
Resume pulse
A 0–100 score for quality wins and schedule strength accumulated across the conference.
Conference Teams RR50 Upper str Median Resume pulse Top team
FBS · Football Bowl Subdivision
SEC 16
5.47
9.68 5.61 89.3 Georgia
Big Ten 18
4.24
9.48 3.15 85.1 Ohio State
FBS Independents 2
3.50
9.85 3.55 87.4 Notre Dame
Big 12 16
2.45
6.46 3.29 81.9 Texas Tech
ACC 17
2.36
7.20 2.50 80.2 Miami
Pac-12 8
-0.55
3.29 0.01 69.5 Boise State
American Athletic 14
-0.59
3.75 0.67 68.8 South Florida
Mountain West 10
-1.92
2.19 -1.63 61.9 UNLV
Sun Belt 14
-2.16
1.57 -3.13 63.4 James Madison
Conference USA 10
-2.27
1.39 -1.95 61.2 Liberty
Mid-American 13
-2.77
1.27 -2.84 58.3 Toledo
FCS · Football Championship Subdivision
MVFC 9
-7.58
-5.50 -7.28 44.7 South Dakota State
UAC 8
-8.10
-5.29 -8.34 41.1 Tarleton State
Big Sky 13
-8.13
-5.33 -8.33 39.3 Montana State
SWAC 12
-8.34
-6.09 -8.59 38.0 Prairie View A&M
Southland 10
-8.55
-5.86 -8.49 36.2 Stephen F. Austin
Southern 10
-8.86
-6.69 -9.11 34.3 Tennessee Tech
MEAC 6
-8.91
-6.78 -9.37 32.6 South Carolina State
Patriot 10
-9.13
-7.26 -9.19 31.4 Villanova
CAA 13
-9.24
-7.26 -9.49 30.9 Rhode Island
FCS Independents 2
-9.26
-7.56 -9.45 23.7 Merrimack
Pioneer 11
-9.30
-7.41 -8.85 30.5 San Diego
Big South-OVC 8
-9.52
-7.85 -9.86 26.5 UT Martin
NEC 8
-9.53
-8.03 -9.63 26.7 Long Island University
DII · Division II
Lone Star 2
-20.87
-19.60 -21.00 10.4 Central Washington
CIAA 2
-22.05
-20.94 -22.18 7.8 Winston-Salem State
SIAC 9
-22.08
-20.53 -21.77 6.8 Albany State
Great Midwest Athletic 1
-22.20
-20.96 -22.35 6.9 Ohio Dominican
Northern Sun 1
-22.25
-21.01 -22.40 6.2 Winona State
Rocky Mountain 1
-22.27
-21.03 -22.42 5.5 South Dakota Mines
Northeast 10 2
-22.32
-20.95 -22.44 6.1 Franklin Pierce
GLIAC 1
-22.34
-21.10 -22.49 4.8 Roosevelt
Mountain East 4
-22.64
-21.37 -22.38 5.5 Fairmont State
South Atlantic 3
-22.79
-21.61 -22.90 3.7 Anderson (SC)
DIII · Division III
Northwest 2
-33.31
-32.11 -33.52 0.9 Lewis & Clark
Empire 8 1
-33.42
-32.62 -33.67 1.4 SUNY Morrisville
New Jersey 1
-33.52
-32.73 -33.78 1.0 Kean
NACC 1
-33.58
-32.79 -33.84 0.7 Rockford
Midwest 1
-33.65
-32.85 -33.91 0.3 Beloit