Our Pac-12 Friday regular commentary took a hit years ago when the breakup of the conference began with UCLA and USC bolting for the B1G. Mass exodus ensued, and it’s been a hard road back for the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions. Now with only nine “full-time” members, the conference fields just eight football teams in 2026. We thought we’d check in with each school in the newly reformed league to see how things are going so far, and well … overall, it’s not looking all that great (yet?).
Only the Boise State Broncos are ranked, and they’re No. 21 in the Associated Press popularity poll with a 5-1 record. The Oregon State Beavers are just behind in terms of sabermetric quality, but the other six teams are lagging tremendously, with the Washington State Cougars really looking bad. Combined, the league has a 25-27 collective record, which isn’t great, of course, since obviously the in-conference records all add up to a .500 mark. Therefore, the Pac-12 is struggling against the other leagues.
And that will not help the conference get an autobid back for the College Football Playoff any time soon, will it? Not even close.
Boise State (5-1): No. 26 SRS, No. 71 SOS
The Broncos started off with a strong showing on the road against the then-No. 2 Oregon Ducks, losing by just a touchdown. Yet they also played small-school South Dakota to hurt the SOS, and a 25-point victory over Western Michigan didn’t move the needle much, even if those Broncos did “beat” Michigan. Both the Ducks and the Wolverines have sunk in estimation and mathematics, so nothing on Boise State’s slate looks all that great now. They may win the league, but the Broncos still might not make the CFP.
Oregon State (5-2): No. 28 SRS, No. 86 SOS
The Beavers opened with the season with two losses to ranked Big XII teams, and even though they’ve won five straight games since then, none of those victories has come against a notable opponent—including small-school Montana. However, Oregon State boasts the third-highest scoring offense in the sport right now, which is what you need to do if you’re playing relative weaklings. Scoring almost 43 points per game is why the sabermetric ranking is so high, even with that pretty darn low strength of schedule.
Texas State (3-3): No. 56 SRS, No. 55 SOS
The Bobcats are that school that not many had ever heard of before it joined the new Pac-12. That can happen when you’ve spent 13 of your 15 big-time football seasons in the Sun Belt Conference, though. Texas State also can score on anyone, putting up 40 points a game to rank ninth in the country right now. However, the Bobcats have given up a lot of of points, too, including 59 to the Texas Longhorns in their season opener. They also have a small-school victory over Incarnate Word, which just shouldn’t be.
Fresno State (4-3): No. 70 SRS, No. 95 SRS
The Bulldogs have had an interesting history, of course, throughout their football existence. One of their coaches this decade is now leading the Alabama Crimson Tide, for example. But we digress: this Fresno State team is just meh. However, it did only lose to Boise State by seven points this season on the Fresno State campus. That’s not bad, although the season-opening shutout loss to USC was ugly. On the bright side, the Bulldogs have not played any small schools this season, yet that hasn’t helped the SOS.
San Diego State (3-4): No. 91 SRS, No. 23 SRS
Even though the Aztecs are not good themselves, they have played some good teams. However, losing to the Beavers by 52 points says a lot about SDSU’s qualities—or lack thereof. One of the three victories came against small-school Portland State, and the other two wins came by a combined five points against Texas State and Fresno State. This kind of circularly defined lack of quality really is revealing on the Pac-12 state of the conference. It also emphasizes the demarcation line between the top two teams and …
Colorado State (2-4): No. 104 SRS, No. 45 SRS
The Rams opened up with two wins, one against regional rival Wyoming of the Mountain West and one against small-school Southern Utah. Since then, it’s been a train wreck. Colorado State is fielding the worst defense in the sport, giving up 43.2 points per game, including 122 combined to the Beavers and the Bobcats in conference matchups. The offense is 30th in the nation, however, scoring 35.7 points per game, so at least going to see the Rams play will not be boring. That’s something to celebrate.
Utah State (2-4): No. 120 SRS, No. 72 SRS
The Aggies have a pretty good coach who excelled at BYU once and then competed with Virginia. Now, the team’s only victories are against Troy and Washington State. Utah State actually lost to small-school Idaho State … not Idaho, mind you, but the little campus in Pocatello. We’re not sure the Pac-12 could be more embarrassed than that in its first season back in the football world. To their credit, the kids recovered from that season-opening humiliation to only lose by two points at Washington in Seattle. Hmm.
Washington State (1-6): No. 124 SRS, No. 58 SOS
The Cougars had it rough during the two-season absence of the league, losing two head coaches to Wake Forest and Iowa State, respectively. The good news is that there are 14 big-time college football teams worse than Wazzu right now. Yet the team’s only victory so far is against small-school Duquesne. Let that sink in … on the bright side, the Cougs only lost the Apple Cup by two TDs, while also dropping a game against Arizona by only 10 points—and losing to Utah State by a single point. There’s hope!
