Conference rankings are one of the great irrational debates in college football. And since the realignment wave of 2024 reshaped the landscape, there has been plenty to argue about. Which conference is actually the best? How big is the gap between the Power Four?Those questions are becoming more important, too. With the College Football Playoff destined for further expansion, automatic qualifiers, strength of schedule and overall conference strength will become increasingly important to the sport’s future.Conference commissioners certainly can’t help themselves. They’ll cite anything that supports their league. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has been particularly vocal about why he believes the SEC remains the gold standard. The Big Ten, meanwhile, hasn’t needed quite as loud a megaphone. Three consecutive national championships — by three different schools, no less — make a pretty compelling case on their own.But what about the ACC and Big 12? Has the gap between them and the top two changed? Meanwhile, the Group of Six underwent its own realignment this offseason with the Pac-12’s resurgence.
Here’s how all 10 FBS conferences stack up entering the 2026 season.Power Four1. Big TenThe only conference that has truly backed up its claim to being the best. Three different Big Ten teams have won national championships in the past three seasons, and the conference has been just as dominant beyond the title games.Since the Power Four realignment shuffle, the Big Ten owns the best postseason record, including a 9-3 mark (.750) against other conferences in the CFP (three times as many CFP wins as the next-best). It’s also the only conference in the country with a .500 or better record against all nine other conferences over the past two seasons.The SEC will argue that it’s better top-to-bottom, and, sure, that’s defensible. The average SEC team ranks higher in our CBS Sports 138. But at some point, that has to show up in the win column.
Over the past two seasons, the Big Ten is 10-7 overall against the SEC and 8-2 in the postseason. The résumé speaks for itself. If the Big Ten wins a fourth straight national championship, SEC diehards will crash out if they haven’t already.Big Ten records (2024-25)Non-ConPostseasonvs. ACCvs. Big 12vs. SECvs. Group of Six84-34 (.712)20-9 (.690)9-6 (.600)6-6 (.500)10-7 (.588)53-5 (.914)2. SECThe SEC may have lost its spot on the throne, but it’s still a clear No. 2 in these conference rankings. As previously noted, the SEC has an average ranking of 23.5 in our CBS Sports 138, with four teams in the top 10 and seven in the top 15. That’s an absurd level of depth.The SEC also remains college football’s top producer of NFL talent, leading all conferences in draft picks for the 20th consecutive year. It set a new record in 2026 with 87 players selected. And while the Big Ten has owned the postseason, the SEC has dominated the regular season outside the league, going 95-36 (.725) against nonconference FBS opponents over the past two seasons.But here’s the problem: The SEC has the second-worst postseason record of any FBS conference over that span.If only all the other accolades mentioned translated into a national championship. The SEC enters 2026 facing its longest title drought since the turn of the century.SEC records (2024-25)Non-ConPostseasonvs. ACCvs. Big 12vs. Big Tenvs. Group of Six95-36 (.725)10-15 (.400)17-11 (.607)8-3 (.727)7-10 (.412)55-5 (.917)3. Big 12It hasn’t closed the gap on the so-called “Power Two,” but the Big 12 holds its spot from last year in the conference rankings. The emergence of Texas Tech as a CFP contender has helped keep the league afloat following the departures of Oklahoma and Texas.Unfortunately, the Big 12’s struggles in the CFP haven’t changed much, with TCU’s run to the national championship game in 2022 still accounting for the league’s lone win.The Big 12 is just 1-8 in CFP games since the format began in 2014, and that lack of postseason success is difficult to overlook. So what does the Big 12 have going for it to keep it above the ACC? Well, a 10-6 record in head-to-head games against the ACC over the past two seasons is one thing.
Big 12 records (2024-25)Non-ConPostseasonvs. ACCvs. Big Tenvs. SECvs. Group of Six53-33 (.616)7-8 (.467)10-6 (.625)6-6 (.500)3-8 (.273)29-8 (.784)4. ACCMiami’s run to College Football Playoff National Championship runner-up wasn’t enough to move the ACC up the rankings. (That’s one more appearance in the final than the SEC has managed in three years, for those keeping score.)Mario Cristobal has “The U” back in the national conversation, but the regression of Clemson and Florida State has left the conference without enough strength at the top to match the Big 12.The bigger problem might be what’s happening at the bottom. Three of the four lowest-ranked Power Four teams in our CBS Sports 138 are from the ACC: No. 70 Syracuse, No. 74 Stanford and No. 76 Boston College. That lack of depth shows up in the conference’s results, too.The ACC has a losing record against each of the other three Power Four conferences and owns the lowest winning percentage against the Group of Six. Nine (!!) different ACC teams suffered at least one G6 loss over the past two seasons. That’s a lot of evidence that the conference’s floor is dragging down its ceiling.ACC records (2024-25)Non-ConPostseasonvs. Big 12vs. Big Tenvs. SECvs. Group of Six69-64 (.519)11-16 (.407)6-10 (.375)6-9 (.400)11-17 (.393)39-13 (.750)Group of Six1. Pac-12The Pac-12 lives! After being reduced to a two-team league with Oregon State and Washington State following the exodus, the conference has been rebuilt with six new members in 2026: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State and Utah State.Boise State enters 2026 as the highest-ranked Group of Six team in our CBS Sports 138. The Pac-12 also has just one team outside the top 100, compared to at least five for every other G6 league.2. AmericanNo Group of Six league has more wins against the Power Four (12) over the past two seasons, which also owns the second-best postseason record (11-6) of any FBS conference.
Tulane’s run to the CFP gave the league another major boost, but there’s a catch. Jon Sumrall is one of four American coaches who left for a Power Four job in 2026. That’s a lot of coaching talent to replace.3. Mountain WestLosing Boise State and four other members to the Pac-12 hurts, and adding Northern Illinois and UTEP doesn’t exactly move the needle. But the Mountain West has one intriguing wild card in North Dakota State. If the former FCS powerhouse can make a smooth transition to the FBS and contend for a CFP berth, the Mountain West suddenly has a path to move up in these rankings in 2027.Remember, the Bison went 9-5 (.643) against FBS opponents, including six wins over power-conference teams.4. Sun BeltThe Sun Belt backed up its No. 2 spot in these rankings last year when James Madison reached the CFP, but the league could be in for a significant regression in 2026. The Dukes remain the highest-ranked Sun Belt team in our CBS Sports 138, but they don’t crack the top half of the FBS.5. MACThe MAC has won at least one game against a Power Four opponent in five consecutive seasons. Maybe that deserves more respect in these rankings. But it’s hard to overlook the bad, too. Three of the seven lowest-ranked teams in our CBS Sports 138 are from the MAC, and the conference has the lowest average ranking of any FBS league. Still, its teams have made a habit of ruining someone’s Saturday.6. Conference USAC-USA has the lowest ceiling of any FBS league entering 2026. It’s the only conference without a win against a Power Four opponent over the past two seasons and doesn’t have a winning record against any other Group of Six league in that span.
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