Home Conferences FBS 2026 season

Pac-12

Two Conferences in One

Can Oregon translate a 13-2 season into a Pac-12 title and a CFP deep run? And does the conference's bottom tier — Colorado, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon State all combining for 12-37 in 2025 — drag down the conference's standing when it matters most?

Pac-12 is outperforming its raw power profile. The league body of work is stronger than the market would expect.

#6overall

#6in FBS

+5.3RR50

+9.2upper strength

8teams

0top-25 teams

Pac-12, at a glance.

Top 10 by power rating — last season final records.

Team Power Record RR50

Boise State

0-0 +9.7

Texas State

0-0 +7.7

Fresno State

0-0 +6.9

San Diego State

0-0 +6.8

Utah State

0-0 +4.1

Washington State

0-0 +3.1

Oregon State

0-0 -0.3

Colorado State

0-0 -1.0

Power snapshot Projected 2026 standing

Two Conferences in One

Oregon went 13-2 in 2025 and holds the Pac-12's highest SP+ rating (#6 nationally) entering 2026. Meanwhile, Colorado went 3-9 with a recruiting class ranked #37 — the conference's largest coaching gap (-76). UCLA finished 3-9 with a #46 class (-73 gap). The Pac-12 has a genuine national title contender at the top and a credibility crisis at the bottom, with almost nothing in between.

0 top-25 teams.

The depth argument for this conference rests on how many credible opponents are clustered behind the leader. The gap between the top and bottom is narrow — a sign of genuine parity.

The question heading into 2026.

Tools Matchup Simulator Compare Teams Playoff Forecast Style map Head to head Power map

The Contender

Oregon Is the Pac-12's Case for National Relevance

Oregon went 13-2 in 2025 with a recruiting class ranked #5 nationally — the only Pac-12 program that can claim elite talent AND elite results. Their SP+ rating of #6 puts them in the conversation with Georgia, Ohio State, and the conference's strongest programs nationally. If the Pac-12 is going to earn CFP credibility, Oregon is the argument. Whether the conference's bottom tier holds them back in the committee room is the one thing they can't control.

Why it matters →

The Coaching Story

Utah Went 11-2 With the 40th Recruiting Class

Utah's coaching premium is +31: a #40 recruiting class produced an 11-2 season and an SP+ ranking of #9 nationally. Kyle Whittingham's program has operated this way for a decade — winning more games than their talent should allow, competing in January, and never landing a top-20 recruiting class. If Utah beats Oregon in 2026, they become the Pac-12's most interesting program.

Why it matters →

The Question

Colorado Recruited at #37. They Went 3-9.

Colorado's coaching gap is -76: a #37 recruiting class produced a 3-9 season and an SP+ ranking of #113. That's the Pac-12's worst ratio of talent to results — and among the worst in FBS. UCLA runs a similar problem (-73 gap, 3-9). Stanford went 4-8 with a #56 class (-48). The Pac-12's bottom tier is recruiting Power Four talent and losing like a Group of Five program, which is its own kind of crisis.

Why it matters →

Active arcs our read

Active6mo ago

Washington State vs. Kansas State (Sep 12, 2026) Live Score - ESPN

How will Colorado State perform against Boise State in their upcoming matchup?

Texas StateColorado State

Developing4wk ago

Former Iowa State and Washington State coach Jim Walden dies at 88

How will both programs honor his legacy?

Washington State

Developing3wk ago

Previewing Every Big Ten Starting Quarterback on USC Trojans Schedule - Sports I

How will USC and Oregon State's quarterback situations shape their Big Ten performances?

Oregon State

Developing5wk ago

Three-star quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher commits to Oregon State

How will Thatcher's commitment impact Oregon State's quarterback depth in the future?

Oregon State

Developing5wk ago

Boise State unveils bronze statue honoring Kellen Moore at Albertsons Stadium

What impact will the new statue have on Boise State's legacy and fan culture?

Boise State

All arcs →

Fan pulse Last 30 days · 732 mentions

17% positive 56% neutral 27% negative

Washington State

165

↓ negative

Boise State

142

↓ negative

Oregon State

137

↓ negative

San Diego State

→ neutral

Texas State

→ neutral

Fresno State

↓ negative

Fan confidence — FBS percentile

Where each Pac-12 program stands nationally in fan sentiment (100th = most positive in FBS, 0 = least). Conference median: 56th percentile.

Bullish+5

Bullish-8

Leaning-9

Leaning–

Mixed-26

Mixed-17

Mixed-14

Souring-19

The coaching premium

Recruiting class rank vs. SP+ performance — where coaches add or subtract value

Above line = coaching premium

Below line = underperforming

Gap = recruiting rank minus SP+ rank

Positive gap means the coaching staff won more than the recruiting class predicted. Data: Pac-12 teams, 8 programs.

Standings

2026 final — sorted by power rating. Stature tag = interim Zeitgeist calibration (medium confidence).

#	Team	Record	RR50	Resume
1	Boise State Power Program III#25	0-0	+9.7	+86.2
2	Texas State Regional Program III#101	0-0	+7.7	+80.6
3	Fresno State National Program III#62	0-0	+6.9	+77.5
4	San Diego State Regional Program I#77	0-0	+6.8	+77.2
5	Utah State Regional Program III#102	0-0	+4.1	+69.9
6	Washington State Regional Program I#80	0-0	+3.1	+66.1
7	Oregon State Regional Program I#85	0-0	-0.3	+51.2
8	Colorado State Regional Program IV#120	0-0	-1.0	+47.4

Projected Standings · Pac-12 · 2026

Win Projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.

#	Team	W–L	PWR	AVG	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Boise State	5–2	+5.1	4.5	4	21	51	78	94	99	✓
2	Texas State	4–3	+3.0	4.1	2	13	39	69	90	98	✓
Challengers
3	San Diego State	4–3	+2.2	4.0	2	11	35	65	87	97	✓
4	Fresno State	4–3	+2.3	3.8	1	9	31	61	85	97	✓
The Field
5	Utah State	3–4	-0.6	3.3		4	18	45	74	93	99
6	Washington State	3–4	-1.5	3.2		3	15	40	69	91	99
Rebuilding
7	Oregon State	3–4	-5.0	2.7		1	7	25	54	82	97
8	Colorado State	2–5	-5.6	2.4		1	5	19	46	77	95

How they play

Six advanced-stat dimensions per team, ranked against all 134 FBS programs, 2025 season. Every column reads higher-is-better. Click a column to sort.

ScoringConvertsBig playsDefensePacePass rate

Team	Scoring	Converts	Big plays	Defense	Pace	Pass rate	Identity
Boise State	+0.19	41.0%	+1.32	-0.09	73.0	46.2%	Balanced
Texas State	+0.32	46.7%	+1.36	-0.16	70.7	39.3%	Big-play offense
Fresno State	+0.10	39.4%	+1.26	-0.07	65.8	43.6%	Balanced
San Diego State	+0.11	41.1%	+1.19	+0.03	64.1	34.8%	Lockdown defense
Utah State	+0.20	40.7%	+1.36	-0.19	65.2	47.5%	Big-play offense
Washington State	+0.12	41.4%	+1.11	-0.10	64.8	48.3%	No explosive plays
Oregon State	+0.05	41.7%	+1.09	-0.17	69.8	51.4%	No explosive plays
Colorado State	+0.14	40.0%	+1.25	-0.23	63.1	52.0%	Defense is the problem

Identity is the single dimension where a team is most above or below the FBS average (pace, defense, big plays, or converting drives) — "Balanced" means nothing stands out either way. CFBD 2025 advanced stats, excludes garbage time.

Top players

Pac-12's highest CFB Index Scores, 2025 season.

#	Player	Team	National
1	Caleb FranclLB	Washington State	#61 of 583
2	Bryson LambIDL	Washington State	#62 of 330
3	Trent WalkerWR	Oregon State	#75 of 485
4	Parker McKennaLB	Washington State	#135 of 583
5	Jaheim PattersonS	Oregon State	#114 of 544
6	Isaac TerrellEDGE	Washington State	#110 of 420
7	Josh MeredithWR	Washington State	#96 of 485
8	Skyler ThomasS	Oregon State	#125 of 544
9	Colby HumphreyCB	Washington State	#142 of 364
10	Tucker LargeS	Washington State	#203 of 544

Where Pac-12 stands nationally

Conference strength by RR50 (round-robin adjusted power).

1 SEC SEC

+11.4

2 B10 Big Ten

+10.1

3 IND FBS Independents

+9.4

4 B12 Big 12

+8.3

5 ACC ACC

+8.2

6 P12 Pac-12

+5.3

7 AAC American Athletic

+5.3

8 MW Mountain West

+4.0

9 SB Sun Belt

+3.7

10 CUSA Conference USA

+3.6