FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Southland

#16 overall#5 in FCSRR50 -2.7Upper strength +0.010 teamsTop 25 teams 0

HOPE-DOPING · 2026

McNeese Country

The Southland Conference lost several members to the newly formed United Athletic Conference in 2023, including Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, and Eastern Kentucky. The remaining core — Lamar, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls, Houston Baptist, and Northwestern State — rebuilt as a smaller, regional Gulf Coast conference. McNeese State has been the standard: four Southland titles in six years, consistent FCS playoff appearances, and a fan culture built around a genuinely beloved program in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

McNeese has the recruiting base to maintain its Southland dominance even after the conference shrank. But Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls have both made playoff appearances. Does anyone from the Gulf Coast corridor knock off the Cowboys, or does Lake Charles keep producing the automatic bid?

FCS10 teamsRace: FCS Playoff

Southland · Where They Stand · 2026

Power Map

FCS power landscape heading into 2026. Bracket implications begin Week 10.

Favorites
Stephen F. Austin+3.0—Incarnate Word+0.3—
Challengers
UT Rio Grande Valley-0.4—SE Louisiana-0.5—Lamar-1.0—
The Field
Nicholls-3.7—McNeese-4.4—East Texas A&M-5.5—
Rebuilding
Houston Christian-6.5—Northwestern State-7.0—

Southland · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The ProgramMcNeese State: Four Titles in Six Years

McNeese State has won four Southland Conference titles in six seasons and made the FCS bracket in each of them. Their program — based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, drawing from the same Cajun South recruiting pool as LSU's walk-on pipeline — has the most consistent winning culture in the Southland. Gary Goff's staff develops Gulf Coast athletes into FCS playoff performers year after year.

The Challenger

Southeastern Louisiana's Recurring Threat

Southeastern Louisiana made the FCS bracket three times in five seasons and beat a seeded program in the second round in 2023. Their Hammond, Louisiana program draws from the same New Orleans and north shore pipeline that LSU uses for its walk-ons. When their offense is healthy in November, they are the most dangerous team in the Southland and the most likely program to knock McNeese off the automatic bid.

Wild CardNicholls and the Gulf South Pipeline

Nicholls State in Thibodaux, Louisiana has made the FCS bracket and demonstrated they can compete with mid-major bracket programs. Their recruiting base — deep Louisiana, the bayou corridor south of Baton Rouge — produces linemen and skill players that FCS programs across the country try to reach. If Nicholls can maintain their 2024-25 talent level, they are a legitimate automatic bid challenger in 2026.

Conference Standings · Southland · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Stephen F. Austin0–00–0+3.0—
2Incarnate Word0–00–0+0.3—
3UT Rio Grande Valley0–00–0-0.4—
4SE Louisiana0–00–0-0.5—
5Lamar0–00–0-1.0—
6Nicholls0–00–0-3.7—
7McNeese0–00–0-4.4—
8East Texas A&M0–00–0-5.5—
9Houston Christian0–00–0-6.5—
10Northwestern State0–00–0-7.0—

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1MVFC
-1.7
—South Dakota State
2UAC
-2.2
—Tarleton State
3Big Sky
-2.2
—Montana State
4SWAC
-2.5
—Prairie View A&M
5SouthlandYou are here
-2.7
—Stephen F. Austin
6Southern
-3.0
—Tennessee Tech
7MEAC
-3.0
—South Carolina State
8Patriot
-3.3
—Villanova
9CAA
-3.4
—Rhode Island
10Pioneer
-3.4
—San Diego
11Big South-OVC
-3.6
—UT Martin
12NEC
-3.6
—Long Island University

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Southland's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

The Southland Conference lost several members to the newly formed United Athletic Conference in 2023, including Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, and Eastern Kentucky. The remaining core — Lamar, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls, Houston Baptist, and Northwestern State — rebuilt as a smaller, regional Gulf Coast conference. McNeese State has been the standard: four Southland titles in six years, consistent FCS playoff appearances, and a fan culture built around a genuinely beloved program in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Conference Snapshot

RR50-2.7
Upper Strength+0.0
Median Power-2.6
Resume Pulse36.2
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap5.4
Combined Record0-0

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

Southland Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#100 Stephen F. Austin 0-0 +3.0 66 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#135 Incarnate Word 0-0 +0.3 54 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#143 UT Rio Grande Valley 0-0 -0.4 51 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#144 SE Louisiana 0-0 -0.5 51 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#155 Lamar 0-0 -1.0 47 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#207 Nicholls 0-0 -3.7 29 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#226 McNeese 0-0 -4.4 22 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#240 East Texas A&M 0-0 -5.5 17 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#251 Houston Christian 0-0 -6.5 13 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#254 Northwestern State 0-0 -7.0 12 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.