College Football strength of schedule rankings for the 2026 season

Playing a high-quality schedule is now more important than ever before as the College Football Playoff places significant weight on teams’ opposing teams before deciding to include them in their official rankings.

The question remains: how do you determine a quality plan? One way is to simply add up your opponents’ wins and losses from the previous season.

That method is far from perfect, however, as the transfer portal, changes in recruiting fortunes, teams organically getting better or worse from year to year, and players leaving for the NFL all force schools to make major surgery on their roster virtually every offseason.

Additionally, not all wins are created equally, meaning that one team may play an opponent with fewer overall wins but against better quality opposition, while another team may play a school with more wins but against substandard competition.

That said, at this point in the preseason, with no film to see of teams in their current form, adding up the W’s and L’s for each team on the schedule is simply the best we can do with the information we actually have. How are things shaping up as we head into the summer months?

Strength of the college football rankings in 2026

138. Buffalo ─ 64-88 (42.1%)

137. North Dakota State ─ 64-86 (42.7%)

T-135. Louisiana ─ 66-86 (43.4%)

T-135. Tulsa ─ 66-86 (43.4%)

134. Houston ─ 65-84 (43.6%)

133. MTSU ─ 66-85 (43.7%)

132. UConn ─ 68-82 (45.3%)

131. Coastal Carolina ─ 69-83 (45.4%)

130. Eastern Michigan ─ 68-81 (45.6%)

T-128. Virginia ─ 69-82 (45.7%)

T-128. Texas Tech ─ 69-82 (45.7%)

T-126. Toledo ─ 69-80 (46.3%)

T-126. Hawaii ─ 69-80 (46.3%)

124. Wisconsin ─ 69-79 (46.6%)

123. Ohio ─ 71-80 (47%)

T-120. UL Monroe ─ 72-81 (47.1%)

T-120. Louisiana Tech ─ 72-81 (47.1%)

T-120. Pittsburgh ─ 72-81 (47.1%)

119. UMass ─ 70-78 (47.3%)

118. Marshall ─ 72-80 (47.4%)

T-114. Kennesaw State ─ 72-79 (47.7%)

T-114. Appalachian State ─ 72-79 (47.7%)

T-114. Miami (OH) ─ 72-79 (47.7%)

T-114. Maryland ─ 72-79 (47.7%)

T-112. Old rule ─ 73-80 (47.7%)

T-112. Notre Dame ─ 73-80 (47.7%)

110. Navy ─ 72-77 (48.3%)

109. Rutgers ─ 74-79 (48.4%)

T-106. Sacramento State ─ 73-77 (48.7%)

T-106. New Mexico ─ 73-77 (48.7%)

T-106. Miami (FL) ─ 73-77 (48.7%)

105. San Diego State ─ 75-79 (48.7%)

104. Wyoming ─ 74-77 (49%)

103. Fresno State ─ 75-78 (49%)

102. Ball status ─ 74-76 (49.3%)

101. Clemson ─ 76-78 (49.4%)

100. James Madison ─ 76-77 (49.7%)

T-97. New Mexico State ─ 76-76 (50%)

T-97. Akron ─ 77-77 (50%)

T-97. UTEP ─ 74-74 (50%)

96. San Jose State ─ 82-81 (50.3%)

95. Northern Illinois ─ 78-77 (50.3%)

94. Eastern Carolina ─ 77-76 (50.3%)

93. State of Georgia ─ 78-76 (50.6%)

T-91. Western Michigan ─ 77-75 (50.7%)

T-91. Washington State ─ 77-75 (50.7%)

90. UCF ─ 76-74 (50.7%)

T-88. Freedom ─ 78-75 (51%)

T-88. Arkansas State ─ 78-85 (51%)

T-86. Tulaan ─ 79-75 (51.3%)

T-86. Minnesota ─ 79-75 (51.3%)

85. Iowa State ─ 77-73 (51.3%)

T-83. State of Texas ─ 80-74 (51.9%)

T-83. Oregon ─ 80-74 (51.9%)

82. Kansas ─ 78-72 (52%)

81. Sam Houston State ─ 81-74 (52.3%)

T-79. Troy ─ 80-73 (52.3%)

T-79. California ─ 80-73 (52.3%)

T-74. USF ─ 79-72 (52.3%)

T-74. Utah ─ 79-72 (52.3%)

T-74. UNLV ─ 79-72 (52.3%)

T-74. SMU ─ 79-72 (52.3%)

T-74. Oklahoma State ─ 79-72 (52.3%)

T-72. Western Kentucky ─ 82-74 (52.6%)

T-72. North Texas ─ 82-74 (52.6%)

T-70. Nevada ─ 81-73 (52.6%)

T-70. Illinois ─ 81-73 (52.6%)

T-68. UAB ─ 81-72 (52.9%)

T-68. UCLA ─ 81-72 (52.9%)

67. Air Force ─ 80-71 (53%)

66. Central Michigan ─ 82-72 (53.2%)

T-63. Kent State ─ 81-71 (53.3%)

T-63. Army ─ 81-71 (53.3%)

T-63. Iowa ─ 81-71 (53.3%)

62. South Alabama ─ 83-72 (53.5%)

T-60. Jacksonville State ─ 82-71 (53.6%)

T-60. Bowling green ─ 82-71 (53.6%)

59. Kansas State ─ 82-70 (53.9%)

58. Chestnut brown ─ 85-72 (54.1%)

57. Delaware ─ 84-71 (54.2%)

T-54. Missouri State ─ 83-70 (54.2%)

T-54. Georgia Tech ─ 83-70 (54.2%)

T-54. NC State ─ 83-70 (54.2%)

53. Arizona State ─ 82-69 (54.3%)

52. BYU ─ 81-68 (54.4%)

51. Virginia Tech ─ 85-71 (54.5%)

50. Texas A&M ─ 84-70 (54.5%)

49. South Georgia ─ 86-70 (55.1%)

48. Florida Atlantic Ocean ─ 84-68 (55.3%)

47. Colorado State ─ 86-69 (55.5%)

46. ​​​​Vanderbilt ─ 87-69 (55.8%)

45. South Carolina ─ 86-68 (55.8%)

44. Colorado ─ 85-67 (55.9%)

43. Boise State ─ 89-70 (56%)

42. Georgia ─ 87-68 (56.1%)

41. Florida State ─ 89-69 (56.3%)

40. Utah State ─ 88-68 (56.4%)

39. Boston College ─ 87-67 (56.5%)

38. Alabama ─ 86-66 (56.6%)

37. Southern miss ─ 88-67 (56.5%)

36. Ole Miss ─ 87-66 (56.9%)

35. Missouri ─ 88-66 (57.1%)

34. Wake Forest ─ 90-67 (57.3%)

T-31. Louisville ─ 89-66 (57.4%)

T-31. Memphis ─ 89-66 (57.4%)

T-31. Temple ─ 89-66 (57.4%)

T-28. UTSA ─ 88-65 (57.5%)

T-28. Florida ─ 88-65 (57.5%)

T-28. Michigan State ─ 88-65 (57.5%)

27. TCU ─ 87-64 (57.6%)

26. LSU ─ 90-66 (57.7%)

25. USC ─ 91-66 (58%)

T-23. Rice ─ 90-64 (58.4%)

T-23. Tennessee ─ 90-64 (58.4%)

21. Oregon State ─ 93-65 (58.9%)

20. Charlotte ─ 92-64 (59%)

19. Purdue ─ 91-63 (59.1%)

18. Oklahoma ─ 92-63 (59.4%)

17. Cincinnati ─ 91-62 (59.5%)

16. Syracuse ─ 92-62 (59.7%)

T-14. Duke ─ 94-63 (59.9%)

T-14. Texas ─ 94-63 (59.9%)

13. Arkansas ─ 92-61 (60.1%)

T-11. Kentucky ─ 94-61 (60.1%)

T-11. Indiana ─ 94-61 (60.1%)

10. Arizona ─ 94-59 (61.4%)

T-8. West Virginia ─ 95-59 (61.7%)

T-8. Baylor ─ 95-59 (61.7%)

T-6. Northwestern ─ 99-60 (62.3%)

T-6. Michigan ─ 99-60 (62.3%)

5. Mississippi State ─ 100-57 (63.7%)

4. Nebraska ─ 102-57 (64.2%)

3. Stanford ─ 101-56 (64.3%)

2. Ohio State ─ 102-56 (64.6%)

1. North Carolina ─ 103-55 (65.2%)