College football realignment: Conference changes for 2026

The 2026 college football season begins Aug. 29. David Zalubowski/AP

Conferences in college football continue to cycle through teams.

When Oklahoma and Texas announced their move to the SEC in 2021 and the Pac-12's near-collapse quickly followed, it set off a flurry of realignment that can sometimes make it a brain-buster to keep track of which school plays where.

Below is a breakdown of each FBS conference (and two independents), highlighting schools that left and joined in 2026 (where applicable), with a full list of members.

ACC

2026 members (17 schools): Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami (Florida), NC State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest


American

2026 members (14 schools): Army, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, Navy, North Texas, Rice, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, USF, UTSA


Big 12

2026 members (16 schools): Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF, Utah, West Virginia


Big Ten

2026 members (18 schools): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC, Washington, Wisconsin


Conference USA

Left: Louisiana Tech, UTEP

Joined: None

2026 members (10 schools): Delaware, FIU, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston, Western Kentucky


Independents

2026 schools (2): Notre Dame, UConn


MAC

Left: Northern Illinois

Joined: Sacramento State

2026 members (13 schools): Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Sacramento State, Toledo, UMass, Western Michigan


Mountain West

Left: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Utah State

Joined: North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, UTEP

2026 members (10 schools): Air Force, Hawai'i, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, San José State, UNLV, UTEP, Wyoming


Pac-12

Left: None

Joined: Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State

2026 members (8 schools): Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State, Washington State


SEC

2026 members (16 schools): Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt


Sun Belt

Left: Texas State

Joined: Louisiana Tech

2026 members (14 schools): App State, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Troy, UL Monroe