2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season

On September 12, 2024, the Pac-12 announced that Mountain West Conference (MW) members Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, and San Diego State would join the Pac-12 in 2026. On September 24, 2024, the Pac-12 announced that another MW member, Utah State, would also join alongside the four aforementioned schools in 2026. Because Gonzaga, which also joins the Pac-12 in 2026, does not have a football team, this would have brought the number of Pac-12 football programs to being one short of the number needed to preserve its status as an FBS conference. This addition came later. On October 1, 2024, UTEP announced that it would join the Mountain West from Conference USA starting in 2026. This gave the MW seven full football-sponsoring members in the 2026 season; it had to add at least one more such member no later than 2028–29 to preserve its FBS status. The needed eighth member proved to be Hawaiʻi, which had been a football-only MW member since 2012. On October 14, Hawaii athletic director Craig Angelos confirmed outside reports that the school would upgrade to full MW membership in 2026. The MW officially announced this move the next day. On January 7, 2025, the Mountain West added a ninth member in Mid-American Conference member Northern Illinois joining as a football-only affiliate. In June 2025, it was reported that Texas State would announce its move to the Pac-12 on June 30, 2025, the last day before that school's exit fee from the Sun Belt Conference would have doubled from $5 million to $10 million. Texas State's arrival, announced that same day, marked the ninth full-time member for the Pac-12 and also the eighth and final football member required to preserve FBS status. On July 15, 2025, the Sun Belt announced its addition of Louisiana Tech for all sports no later than July 1, 2027. Louisiana Tech and Conference USA are in a pending legal battle over their early departure to the Sun Belt by July 1, 2026. February 2026 saw two conferences add football-only members—first the MW with 10-time FCS champion North Dakota State, and then the MAC with another FCS upgrader, Sacramento State. ==Rule changes==

The following playing rule changes were approved by the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee on March 19,2026: • The targeting penalty (referring to the "carryover penalty" of missing the first half of the next game) will be altered for a one-year trial: • Players disqualified for their first targeting penalty of the season (regardless of which half it occurs) will be permitted to play the entire next game with no carryover penalty. • The second targeting penalty by the same player in the same season will incur the carryover penalty unless overturned on appeal to the National Coordinator of Officials. The appeal can include both the first and second targeting penalties. • The third or subsequent targeting penalty by the same player in the same season will incur a one-game suspension unless overturned on appeal to the National Coordinator of Officials. • Adopt the Fair catch kick used by the NFL. • Also mirroring the NFL rule, offensive pass interference will become a 10 yard penalty, previously this was a 15 yard penalty. • On punts where jersey number exceptions are used (players not wearing 50-79), the snapper and two adjacent linemen on either side lined up in or touching the tackle box are ineligible receivers and become exceptions to the numbering rule when the snapper takes his position. • Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalties will focus more on taunting, interference with game administration, and celebrations found demeaning to the game or opponent. ==Notable headlines==

• March 5, 2026 – The University of Louisiana System filed suit against Conference USA (CUSA) on behalf of system member Louisiana Tech in the school's home of Lincoln Parish. The suit sought to allow the Bulldogs to leave CUSA for the Sun Belt Conference on the school's desired July 2026 schedule. • April 8, 2026 – Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported that the NCAA is considering a new athletic eligibility framework. Under the proposal, NCAA athletes would have five full years of eligibility, starting on their 19th birthday or high school graduation, whichever is sooner. No redshirting would be allowed, even for medical reasons. Existing eligibility waivers for military service, religious missions, or (for women) maternity leave, would not be affected. ==Stadiums==

• Northwestern will open the new Ryan Field on the site of the original Ryan Field, which had been the Wildcats' home from 1926 to 2023. The Wildcats' first game in the new stadium is scheduled for October 2, 2026 against Penn State. • This is planned to be the final season for South Florida at Raymond James Stadium. The university is building a new on-campus stadium and plans to open it for the 2027 season. ==Kickoff games==

Week 0 The Regular season will begin on Saturday August 29 with Week 0. Week 1 Week 3 ==Recap of the year==

Voters were divided in the first poll of the 2026 college football season. Regular season August-September October November December Postseason Conference championship games Bowl games/CFP playoff games ==Top 10 matchups==

Rankings through Week 8 reflect the AP poll. Rankings for Week 9 and beyond list College Football Playoff Rankings first and AP poll rankings second; teams that were not ranked in the top 10 of polls are noted. Regular season Notable rivalry games Postseason Conference championship games Bowl games/CFP playoff games ==No. 1 and No. 2 progress==

This section lists unranked teams defeating AP Poll-ranked during the season. FCS teams over FBS teams Regular season Conference championship games Postseason (Bowl games) ==Conference standings==

The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls Preseason polls CFB Playoff final rankings The College Football Playoff (CFP) selection committee announced its final rankings on December 6, 2026. The four Power Four conference champions plus the highest ranked Group of Six team, along with the seven highest ranked at-large teams, will be selected to compete in the College Football Playoff. This is a change from the 2025–26 season, when the five highest ranked conference champions earned an automatic bid regardless of what conference they were in. The top four ranked teams will receive a first-round bye. This is the first year that Notre Dame would receive an automatic bid if they were ranked in the top 12 during the final rankings. Final rankings ==Conference summaries==

Rankings in this section are based on CFP rankings released prior to the games (Week 13–December 1). Note: Clicking on a link in the Conference column will open an article about that conference's championship game, where applicable. Conference championship games Conference champions' bowl games For conference champions not part of the College Football Playoff. At-large bowl games ==Postseason==

College Football Playoff Playoff participants CFP bracket This will be the third year under the expanded College Football Playoff format. Under changes applied this year, the four power conference champions will receiver automatic bids, with the highest ranked Group of 5 team receiving an automatic bid as weel, regardless of whether or not they won their conference. The top four seeds will receive first-round byes, even if they are not conference champions. in Paradise, Nevada, the site of the College Football Playoff National Championship. College Football Playoff games Winners are listed in boldface. After the completion of the regular season and conference championship games, seven teams had secured CFP berths: TBD champion TBD, Big Ten champion TBD, Big 12 champion TBD, SEC champion TBD, and TBD champion TBD, who qualified as the highest-ranked CFP non-AQ conference champion. Bowl games Normally, a team is required to have a .500 minimum winning percentage during the regular season to become bowl-eligible (six wins for an 11- or 12-game schedule, and seven wins for a 13-game schedule). If there are not enough winning teams to fulfill all open bowl slots, teams with losing records may be chosen to fill available bowl slots. Additionally, on the rare occasion in which a conference champion does not meet eligibility requirements, they are usually still chosen for bowl games via tie-ins for their conference. Non-CFP bowl games Winners are listed in boldface. The 2026–27 bowl season will have two fewer games than the previous year, as the LA Bowl,GameAbove Sports Bowl and the Bahamas Bowl will no longer be played. New bowls Two new bowls had planned to debut during the 2026–27 bowl season, although only one was actually played. • The Puerto Rico Bowl (TBD) will be playing in December, for the first time. • The Poinsettia Bowl (TBD) will return to be playing in December after absence of ten years. Non-CFP bowl schedules The bowl games that are not part of the College Football Playoff are: Bowl Challenge Cup standings CFP bowl games are denoted in bold type. First-round CFP playoff games are included, and denoted as CFP1. Berths to be determined: Notes: • As the playoff progresses, additional CFP berths will be added to this table. All-star games Selection of teams The below lists of teams are based on team records as published by the NCAA and bowl eligibility criteria. Bowl-eligible teams • ACC (0): • American (0): • Big Ten (0): • Big 12 (0): • CUSA (0): • MAC (0): • Mountain West (0): • Pac-12 (0): • SEC (0): • SBC (0): • Independent (0): Number of postseason berths available: 0 Number of bowl-eligible teams: 0 Opt-outing bowl teams Bowl-ineligible teams • ACC (0): • American (0): • Big Ten (0): • Big 12 (0): • CUSA (0): • MAC (1): Sacramento State • Mountain West (1): North Dakota State • Pac-12 (0): • SEC (0): • SBC (0): Number of bowl-ineligible teams: 2 ==Awards and honors==

Source: Heisman Trophy voting ''The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player'' Major award winners Other major award winners All-Americans The following players were recognized as consensus All-Americans for 2026. Unanimous selections are followed by an asterisk (*). ==Milestones and records==

Preseason and in-season This is restricted to coaching changes taking place on or after May 1, 2026, and will include any changes announced after a team's last regularly scheduled game before it's bowl game. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2026, see 2025 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching coaches ==Television viewers and ratings==

Top 10 most watched regular season games Conference championship games Most watched non-CFP bowl games College Football Playoff games ==Television changes==