The Mountain West announced the 2026 football schedule, detailing home and away opponents for all nine teams, including key matchups for UNM against Air Force, NIU, UNLV, UTEP, Hawai’i, Nevada, San José State, and Wyoming, with historical context and upcoming games highlighted.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is considering a new football scheduling format that would require all teams to play at least 10 games against Power 4 opponents, potentially moving to a 9+1 or 8+2 model, which raises concerns for Clemson about maintaining marquee non-conference matchups due to its existing commitments and rivalries.
The SEC has voted to add a ninth conference game starting in 2026, aligning with the Big Ten and potentially influencing the playoff expansion discussions, with implications for revenue, scheduling, and national title race dynamics.
The Big 12 will start releasing public availability reports for all football conference games this season, joining other power conferences like the SEC, Big Ten, and ACC, to enhance transparency and protect student-athletes by providing daily player status updates before games.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti emphasized the importance of making November conference games more meaningful, advocating for more automatic playoff bids and a playoff format that rewards regular season performance, while highlighting the league's recent football success and future plans including hosting tournaments in Las Vegas.
LSU coach Brian Kelly supports an annual Big Ten-SEC scheduling alliance, advocating for more challenging matchups and increased revenue, though SEC coaches are divided on moving to nine conference games, with some preferring to maintain the current eight to preserve rivalries. The decision involves negotiations among athletic directors and conference commissioners, with considerations around scheduling, rivalries, and revenue implications.