One of the less talked about repercussions of the conference realignment cycle that started when Oklahoma and Texas announced that they were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC has been the expansion of the FBS.
In July 2021, when UT and OU first announced their defections to the SEC, there were 130 programs at the FBS level. Of those, 65 were in one of the Power Five conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC.
On July 1 this year, the number of FBS programs is 136, with 68 teams in one of the Power Four conferences — the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.
Who are the six new teams to the FBS? What conferences are they in? What will college football look like in 2026, when Pac-12 expansion takes place?
The new FBS teams
The recent run of movement from the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) to the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) officially started in 2022 with James Madison, though that move was announced late in 2021.
The Dukes joined the Sun Belt Conference, brining the Group of Five league to 16 total members.
In 2023, Sam Houston State and Jacksonville State made their FBS debuts, as members of Conference USA.
In 2024, Kennesaw State officially joined Conference USA, too, and earlier this week Conference USA added two additional programs — Delaware and Missouri State.
That Conference USA has needed to add so many now-former FCS programs was an indirect result of Oklahoma and Texas leaving the Big 12, with the realignment reverberations that followed echoing across every conference over the last four years.
Conference USA in particular has add to add programs consistently in order to have eight football sponsoring members — a requirement for every FBS conference — as the conference has been raided multiple times since 2021, by the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and by the Mountain West.
What the conferences will look like in 2026?
In 2026, conference realignment will have mostly stopped — at least until either the Pac-12 expands again or another major realignment at the top of the sport.
There is likely to be another Conference USA defection, though, this one to the Sun Belt to fill the hole Texas State left when it moved to the Pac-12.
It has been reported that that school is likely to be either Louisiana Tech or Western Kentucky, and the loss of another school could compel Conference USA to go get another FBS school.
But outside of those small moves, we may get the same conferences for a couple of years at least. Here’s how they’ll look, in alphabetical order.
(This is a list of the football-sponsoring schools, so you won’t find Grand Canyon, Gonzaga or UC Davis on this list).
American Athletic Conference (AAC)
Army Black Knights
Charlotte 49ers
East Carolina Pirates
Florida Atlantic Owls
Memphis Tigers
Navy Midshipmen
North Texas Mean Green
Rice Owls
South Florida Bulls
Temple Owls
Tulane Green Wave
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
UAB Blazers
UTSA Roadrunners
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
Boston College Eagles
California Golden Bears
Clemson Tigers
Duke Blue Devils
Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Louisville Cardinals
Miami Hurricanes
NC State Wolfpack
North Carolina Tar Heels
Pittsburgh Panthers
SMU Mustangs
Stanford Cardinal
Syracuse Orange
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Tech Hokies
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Big 12 Conference
Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona Wildcats
BYU Cougars
Baylor Bears
Cincinnati Bearcats
Colorado Buffaloes
Houston Cougars
Iowa State Cyclones
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas State Wildcats
Oklahoma State Cowboys
TCU Horned Frogs
Texas Tech Red Raiders
UCF Knights
Utah Utes
West Virginia Mountaineers
Big Ten Conference (BIG)
Illinois Fighting Illini
Indiana Hoosiers
Iowa Hawkeyes
Maryland Terrapins
Michigan State Spartans
Michigan Wolverines
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Northwestern Wildcats
Ohio State Buckeyes
Oregon Ducks
Penn State Nittany Lions
Purdue Boilermakers
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
UCLA Bruins
USC Trojans
Washington Huskies
Wisconsin Badgers
Conference USA
Delaware Blue Hens
Florida International Panthers
Jacksonville State Gamecocks
Kennesaw State Owls
Liberty Flames
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Missouri State Bears
New Mexico State Aggies
Sam Houston Bearkats
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Mid-American Conference (MAC)
Akron Zips
Ball State Cardinals
Bowling Green Falcons
Buffalo Bulls
Central Michigan Chippewas
Eastern Michigan Eagles
Kent State Golden Flashes
Massachusetts Minutemen
Miami (OH) RedHawks
Ohio Bobcats
Toledo Rockets
Western Michigan Broncos
Mountain West Conference (MWC)
Air Force Falcons
Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors
Nevada Wolf Pack
New Mexico Lobos
Northern Illinois Huskies (football only)
San José State Spartans
UNLV Rebels
UTEP Miners
Wyoming Cowboys
Pac-12 Conference
Boise State Broncos
Colorado State Rams
Fresno State Bulldogs
Oregon State Beavers
San Diego State Aztecs
Texas State Bobcats
Utah State Aggies
Washington State Cougars
Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arkansas Razorbacks
Auburn Tigers
Florida Gators
Georgia Bulldogs
Kentucky Wildcats
LSU Tigers
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Missouri Tigers
Oklahoma Sooners
Ole Miss Rebels
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Volunteers
Texas A&M Aggies
Texas Longhorns
Vanderbilt Commodores
Sun Belt Conference (SBC)
App State Mountaineers
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia State Panthers
James Madison Dukes
Marshall Thundering Herd
Old Dominion Monarchs
Arkansas State Red Wolves
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
South Alabama Jaguars
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Troy Trojans
UL Monroe Warhawks