Ranking Every College Football Conference After the 2025-26 Season
A couple of years ago, the debate raged over whether the SEC or Big Ten was the nation's top conference. Years of SEC dominance were finally snapped at the very top, but even with the new powers rising up North, the South still boasted the deeper pool of quality teams.
Now, though, there's no question which league is the best.
After Indiana beat Miami for the national title Monday night, the Big Ten now has won the natty the past three years—and it's three separate teams (Michigan in 2023, Ohio State last year and the Hoosiers this year).
The Big Ten's best is not only better; the conference is deeper. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey may have spent the past few years crowing about how good his league is, but it's screaming into the void right now. It's all just noise.
If you're arguing the SEC is better, your bias is showing. You're also simply wrong. As a matter of fact, it's closer to third than first. But where do the other FBS leagues fall in our rankings?
Let's take a look at which leagues are the best—and worst—now that the season is done.
10. Pac-12
1 of 10
If you were grading the 2025 college football season for the FBS's worst conference, it would be more of an "incomplete" than an F.
The Pac-12 is in transition. Just a couple seasons ago, the proud league crumbled with member institutions scattering to the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. The only two programs left—Oregon State and Washington State—stuck around to rebuild.
Now, the league will rise from the ashes in 2026 with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, and Utah State joining the Cougars and Beavers. Things are about to get much better.
This year was rough, though.
The Cougars weren't awful, finishing 7-6 and scaring No. 4 Ole Miss (24-21 loss), No. 18 Virginia (22-20 loss) and beating Toledo 28-7 in consecutive weeks. Coach Jimmy Rogers left for Iowa State, though, giving way to Kirby Moore.
The Beavers, however, were brutal at 2-10. In a bizarre twist, they actually beat the Cougars 10-7 at home, and when they played again at the end of the year due to the odd conference realignment deal, they lost 32-8.
Normalcy returns in a big way next season.
9. Mid-American Conference
2 of 10
Without sufficient NIL avenues, the MAC is always going to fall victim to its best players bolting for greener pastures unless something changes with the current system.
This league, again, consistently displayed the worst brand of football week-in and week-out, and while it's a fun league to follow with competitive games and normally a strong level of parity, it's a rung lower than most other FBS football.
This year was a little different, though, with Western Michigan finishing 10-2 and whipping Conference USA champion Kennesaw State 41-6 in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. Because of that, you'd think the conference may get an edge and slide into eighth. But the rest of the league just wasn't that good.
Consider the other team that made the MAC title game—Miami (Ohio)—finished 7-7. The second- and third-best teams in the league weren't the RedHawks, though. Ohio finished 9-4, and Toledo went 8-5. Only five teams finished the regular season with winning records, and the league went 2-3 in the postseason.
8. Conference USA
3 of 10
This was a year of excitement and some new faces mixed with a couple of old contenders in Conference USA football.
What a year for Kennesaw State, which won the league with new coach Jerry Mack in the first season they were eligible to after transitioning from FCS. Yes, the Owls laid a big, fat egg in the bowl game, but it was still a banner season.
Behind them, perennial conference contenders Jacksonville State (9-5) and Western Kentucky (9-4) went 7-1 and 6-2 in league play, respectively. After that, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, Florida International and Delaware all finished with winning records, too.
It's exciting that new programs like Kennesaw State, Delaware and Missouri State are injecting life in what's becoming a fun conference to follow. That was a good thing, too, considering Liberty was one of the nation's most disappointing teams, finishing 4-8.
This feels like a league on an upward trajectory, and 2025 was a strong step forward. Conference reps made some very good additions to outfit the league following realignment, and they were a respectable 4-3 in bowl season.
7. Sun Belt
4 of 10
A small argument could be made that the Sun Belt was the second-best Group of Five conference in the nation.
The conference features a mid-major powerhouse in the No. 12-ranked James Madison Dukes, which finished 12-2 and lost in the first round of the College Football Playoff to Oregon. No matter if Curt Cignetti or Bob Chesney is coaching, they've been among the best.
Now, ousted Florida coach Billy Napier will try to keep that train rolling after Chesney left for UCLA.
In 2025, the league also had some quality programs like Old Dominion, which surprisingly finished 10-3 behind a recharged offense that featured quarterback Colton Joseph (who transferred to Wisconsin) and running back Trequan Jones (who is in the portal).
Beyond those two, though, there wasn't much substance; just a whole bunch of mid.
Ten teams made bowl games (finishing 4-6 in the postseason), but the records weren't great. Troy made the CUSA title game but went 8-6. Southern Miss, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State and Texas State went 7-6, while Coastal Carolina and Louisiana finished 6-7.
There were glimmers of goodness, but it wasn't enough to make any real upward movement.
6. Mountain West
5 of 10
A year ago, Boise State sat atop the Mountain West standings and outfitted itself extremely well in the College Football Playoff. This season, injuries and inconsistency made sure coach Spencer Danielson's team didn't return.
But they still won the conference title, finishing at 9-5.
There weren't any powerhouses in the league this year, but this was a very strong, top-heavy conference that featured competitive games each week.
First-year coach Dan Mullen kept the momentum Barry Odom built at UNLV going with a 10-4 record, and the Runnin' Rebels simply couldn't solve the Broncos, losing twice to them including in the title game.
Another coach in his inaugural season—Jason Eck at New Mexico—had a brilliant season, leading the Lobos to a 9-4 record, and fellow first-year coach Matt Entz had the same record at Fresno State, showing that he has a chance to thrive like when he led North Dakota State to two FCS national titles.
Sean Lewis (San Diego State) and Timmy Chang (Hawaii) also had 9-4 seasons, giving the MWC an impressive six teams that had nine-plus wins. Utah State was the only other bowl participant, losing to Washington State.
It was a rough close to the year for the conference, though, finishing 2-5 in bowls.
5. AAC
6 of 10
The King of the Little Guys once again is the American Athletic Conference.
From the outset of the season when South Florida upset Boise State to start things off, then stunned Florida in Gainesville before falling off, this was obviously the best Group of Five league out there.
The conference championship wound up a closely contested Tulane win over North Texas to get a bid to the College Football Playoff as the highest-rated non-Power Four team. The Green Wave ran into an Ole Miss buzzsaw and lost to the Rebels like they did in the regular season, but it was a banner year for them again, as well as the league.
Tulane finished 11-3, North Texas 12-2 and Navy 11-2. USF and East Carolina wound up with 9-4 seasons, and Army, Memphis and UTSA also had winning records.
Just how good was the league? It had a barrage of coaches take big-time jobs after the season.
Tulane's Jon Sumrall got the best gig, replacing Billy Napier at Florida. Alex Golesh left South Florida for Auburn, Ryan Silverfield bolted Memphis for Arkansas, and Eric Morris will now take his high-octane offensive attack from North Texas to Oklahoma State.
Next year will be very intriguing in a season full of new faces and transition.
4. ACC
7 of 10
I went back and forth with the fourth vs. fifth decision, and I'm still not 100 percent settled.
On one hand, the Big 12 looked all year like its top-tier teams far outclassed the ACC's. In the end, independently of Miami's underdog run through the playoffs, the ACC was mediocre, even if it had a bunch of decent teams.
Remember, the league could have faced the embarrassing situation where none of its teams finished ranked high enough to make the College Football Playoff after conference title game winner Duke went 9-5 and was unranked.
But once the committee put the Hurricanes in the playoffs, they looked like a defensive juggernaut, whirling all the way to a close national title game loss to Indiana.
Virginia narrowly lost to the Blue Devils in the league championship, ending its quest for the playoffs in heartbreaking fashion. But the Hoos beat Mizzou to finish 11-3.
SMU, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Wake Forest all had nine wins. Pittsburgh, North Carolina State, California and the disappointing Clemson Tigers all had winning records, too.
In the end, the ACC had depth. It had a quality postseason (9-5), and it wound up having a team with juggernaut talent that got hot at the right time. So, you could argue it belongs over the Big 12.
But you simply can't throw out the regular season.
3. Big 12
8 of 10
The end of the year was demoralizing for a league that limped into this spot. If you were going off recency bias, thanks to Miami, the ACC would be here.
But looking at the season as a whole, the Big 12 was simply better, and that's really not even in question.
Beginning with Texas Tech, this conference stayed in the national spotlight. Even though the Red Raiders were the only team to make it to the College Football Playoff, a couple more were right in the mix.
Without a doubt, Texas Tech was the class of the conference, using an aggressive portal presence to buy a bunch of quality players to go along with a roster coach Joey McGuire recruited. Unfortunately, the Red Raiders didn't have an answer for Oregon in the second round of the playoffs.
BYU (12-2) had an argument for making the playoffs, but it couldn't solve Texas Tech in either matchup, and those two losses were enough to keep them out.
An 11-2 Utah team was one of the nation's most dangerous at the end of the year, and 2026 could be special in Salt Lake City, even without Kyle Whittingham.
Rounding out a strong top four, Houston finished ranked 22nd nationally, and second-year coach Willie Fritz quietly led one of the nation's best turnarounds.
Arizona and TCU had nine wins, and Arizona State added eight-win seasons, while Cincinnati wound up 7-6. This year was an entertaining one, and they gave us plenty of reasons to watch each week.
2. SEC
9 of 10
What's it going to take for the SEC to get its mojo back?
All you hear is how conference play down South is a gauntlet, and these outstanding, talented teams just beat up on themselves each and every week because…well, trust us. But, it kinda sounds like lip service.
The Big Ten was just better again, for a third year in a row.
All is not lost. The SEC is still winning recruiting battles, so the talent is there. They're throwing around big money in the portal, and there will still be high-water teams like Georgia and Ole Miss in 2026—both of which could have won the title.
Alabama and Texas A&M also made the playoffs but fell flat against Indiana and Miami, respectively. Oklahoma lost to the Tide in the first round. Those teams aren't going anywhere in the future, either.
But in 2025, the league fell flat when it mattered most, going 4-10 in the postseason and failing to make the national championship game.
Still, don't cry for the SEC. The league had seven double-digit winners (Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas A&M, Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt), eight-game winners Tennessee and Missouri and a seven-win LSU team.
They just need somebody to get back to the top.
1. Big Ten
10 of 10
The power struggle, for the time being, is firmly in the hands of the powerhouse above the Mason-Dixon Line, wedged firmly beside the figurative trophy case that has held the national title for the past three seasons.
Every year, it seems, the Big Ten has a powerhouse that is the class of the country.
First in 2023, it was Jim Harbaugh's Michigan Wolverines. Then, he left for the NFL, and Ryan Day got over the hump with his first national title. This year, Curt Cignetti cemented the greatest two-year turnaround in college football history by leading Indiana to a natty and a 16-0 record.
Who's next in 2026? The Oregon Ducks could be next in line. After all, they joined the Buckeyes and Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff this year and showed they belong in that national title conversation.
As for this season, the SEC finished with five College Football Playoff teams to the Big Ten's three, but the Big Ten's three were all considered major national title contenders. They simply beat up on opponents in the postseason, going 11-5 overall.
The Hoosiers (1), Buckeyes (2) and Ducks (5) all finished in the top five. USC, Michigan, Iowa, Washington and Illinois were nine-win teams, and the Trojans, Wolverines and Huskies were at least mentioned as playoff contenders into the last quadrant of the season.
Nebraska, Northwestern and even a Penn State team that fired its coach all had winning records.
The SEC wound up with more ranked teams, but when it came down to the biggest moments, the Big Ten ruled the roost once again.
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