By: Pac-12 Conference
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The Pac-12 Conference this evening, or rather, “After Dark,” announced its 2026 football schedule in conjunction with its membership. Set to officially kick off on Saturday, Sept. 5, the new league’s eight-team football membership will see Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State and Utah State join Oregon State and Washington State.
“We can’t wait to kick off the new era of Pac-12 football,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould. “Today’s schedule release is a major milestone on our path to launch, and the creativity behind our 2026 format reflects the strategic vision for what this conference will become. With national coverage across CBS Sports, USA Network and The CW, the new Pac-12 will debut on a national stage from day one.”
Over a 13-week regular season slate, the Pac-12’s 2026 football schedule will include:
2026 Pac-12 Schedule Overview
- A four-game non-conference slate to begin the season over Weeks 1-4 (Sept. 5-26).
- A seven-game round-robin slate for league-play over an eight-week span, with one bye week each during that stretch from Weeks 5-12 (Oct. 3 – Nov. 21).
- A home-and-home flex matchup among the league’s eight football members to conclude the regular season in Week 13 (Nov. 28), which will be considered a non-conference matchup for standings.
Home-and-Home Flex Matchup
For 2026 and the league’s home-and-home flex matchup to conclude the regular season in Week 13, the Pac-12 will retain the right to adjust matchups based on the best interests of the league, including College Football Playoff (CFP) considerations at that time. Projected matchups for the final week on Saturday, Nov. 28, not to be confirmed until six days prior at the latest, include:
- Boise State at Utah State
- Texas State at Colorado State
- San Diego State at Fresno State
- Oregon State at Washington State
In any flexed format for Week 13 matchups, home teams will include Colorado State, Fresno State, Utah State and Washington State. The format ensures a minimum of six home games for each Pac-12 member as well as four home games each against fellow Pac-12 opponents. Further considerations will be taken into account should any flex occur among the stated projected matchups, including no team returning to the same venue twice during the regular season.
2026 Non-Conference Highlight Matchups
Throughout the first four weeks of the 2026 season, the Pac-12 will see a number of notable non-conference matchups including 12 total contests against opponents from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten or SEC conferences with five of those 12 matchups in the first week of the season alone. The slate will also see two 2025 College Football Playoff participants visit Pac-12 campuses with Texas Tech at Oregon State on Saturday, Sept. 12 and James Madison at San Diego State on Saturday, Sept. 19.
2026 Pac-12 Football Championship Game Format
In addition to its schedule release, the Pac-12 also announced its championship for the first season of the new league will be hosted at the home venue of the highest seed. Set to take place on Friday, Dec. 4, the new Pac-12’s 2026 football title game will be featured on CBS and Paramount+ as part of the conference’s new media partnerships with CBS Sports, USA Sports and CW Sports. Following its seven-game slate of conference-play, where each team will face every other team once, the Pac-12’s title matchup will be determined upon the conclusion of Week 12 (Nov. 21), two weeks ahead of the championship game.
New Pac-12 Media Partnerships
The new Pac-12 will launch with CBS Sports, USA Sports and CW Sports as its media partners for all league-controlled football broadcasts. Across the three partnerships, the Pac-12 will see 100% of its minimum football slate featured across linear television, including national broadcast television and wide-reach cable television, culminating with the Pac-12 championship game on CBS and Paramount+ for streaming.
As part of the partnerships, Pac-12 Enterprises, the broadcast production arm of the conference, will be heavily involved in the production and presentation of the Pac-12’s football slate for each partner.
Top Five League in Football
Over the last five seasons since 2021, and considering future conference compositions beginning with the 2026 season (as of date of this release), the new Pac-12 has stacked up competitively as a Top 5 conference across a number of notable datapoints, including:
- The fourth-best overall winning percentage (.537) for any league behind only the SEC (.612), Big Ten (.591) and Big 12 (.554).
- The fifth-best average FPI ranking (78) behind the SEC (28), Big Ten (40), Big 12 (46) and ACC (52).
- The fifth-best SportSource Analytics Team Success average rating and ranking (42.9, 74) behind the SEC (65.6, 33), Big Ten (60.1, 43), Big 12 (55.3, 48) and ACC (49.8, 59).
- One of only five conferences to have seen more than half their football membership ranked at some point in the AP Top 25 poll over the last five seasons (75%, 6 of 8), including the SEC (100%, 16 of 16), Big 12 (94%, 15 of 16), ACC (88%, 15 of 17) and Big Ten (83%, 15 of 18).
- One of only five conferences to have seen more than half their football membership ranked at some point in the CFP Top 25 over the last five seasons (63%, 5 of 8), including the SEC (94%, 15 of 16), Big 12 (94%, 15 of 16), Big Ten (78%, 14 of 18) and ACC (71%, 12 of 17).
In addition, the new Pac-12 saw 75% of its collective future membership (6 of 8) reach bowl eligibility and participate in the postseason in 2025, the highest percentage of membership for any conference last season.
2026 Pac-12 Football Schedule
* Friday or Saturday potential, to be determined prior to the start of the season at a later date
** Thursday or Saturday potential, to be determined prior to the start of the season at a later date
2026 Pac-12 Football Schedule
