Every summer since 2007 I have created an intricate set of college football predictions for each upcoming season. This year is no exception, as I will be using my blog over the next few hours to publish my 20th annual college football preview guide which will contain 20 entries in all. The records below reflect each team’s predicted regular season overall record followed by their conference record. These records include conference title games but exclude bowl games, which will be previewed later on in a separate column on this blog. The teams marked in bold font are the ones predicted to gain bowl eligibility this season and the one marked in italics is my predicted conference champion.. Without further ado, here are my predictions for Conference USA in 2026, which is now firmly established as the worst conference in FBS, a fact that will likely prevent an undefeated champion from this league from playing in the College Football Playoff for the foreseeable future.
| 1 | Liberty (11-2, 7-1)– conference champion |
Last Year’s Record: 4-8 (My 2025 prediction: 11-2); for the second consecutive season myself and all other experts greatly overrated the Flames. Will the same thing happen in 2026?
Positional Strength: Linebacker
Positional Weakness: Defensive Backfield
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: at Kennesaw State (October 21)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at New Mexico State (November 7)
Bottom Line: It is a “put up or shut up” year for Jamey Caldwell, after the Flames have experienced back to-back disappointing seasons. However, Caldwell is too good of a coach, this team has too much talent, and this conference is too weak, for the Flames to stay down for any longer. Expect a return to prominence from Liberty in 2026 led by dual threat quarterback Deshawn Purdie who showed flashes of brilliance at times at Wake Forest last season.
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| 2 | Jacksonville State (9-4, 7-1)– conference runner-up |
Last Year’s Record: 9-5 (My 2025 prediction: 6-6)
Positional Strength: Linebacker
Positional Weakness: Wide Receiver
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: at Western Kentucky (November 14)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at North Dakota State (August 29)- scary opening road trip for the Gamecocks, as they have to go cross country to play the Bison in their FBS debut.
Bottom Line: Rich Rod got the mojo going for this program, and Charles Kelly is keeping it going. The Gamecocks have now played in consecutive conference championship games and three straight bowl games, winning two of them. I am calling for Jacksonville State to again return to the C-USA title game in 2026, but the loss league MVP Cam Cook precludes me from picking them to win the league.
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| 3 | Western Kentucky (7-5, 6-2) |
Last Year’s Record: 9-4 (My 2025 prediction: 8-4); I was dead-on with my Hilltopper predicton last season!
Positional Strength: Wide Receiver
Positional Weakness: Linebacker
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: at Kennesaw State (November 28)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Nevada (September 5)- tricky cross-country opener for the Hilltoppers!
Bottom Line: It is hard to say that a Group of Six team who has played in eleven straight bowl games has been disappointing, but the fact Western Kentucky has not won this downtrodden league in a full decade now is certainly surprising. The Toppers have specialized in lighting up the scoreboard offensively but experiencing huge letdowns defensively, especially in key moments of big games. Expect more of the the same from WKU this year, as I think this group will once again attain bowl eligibility but fall short of a conference crown.
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| 4 | Kennesaw State (8-4, 6-2) |
Last Year’s Record: 10-4 (My 2025 prediction: 2-10); the Owls shocked the world last season!
Positional Strength: Linebacker
Positional Weakness: Quarterback
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Jacksonville State (October 7)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Arkansas State (September 26)
Bottom Line: The Owls were one of the great surprise stories in all of college football last season, as they were predicted to finish near the bottom of the entire FBS by almost everyone and ended up winning the entire league! I think there will naturally be a slight step back for this program in 2026, as they lost their starting quarterback, a bevy of skill position players and almost the entire secondary from last year’s squad. Still, Kennesaw State has the overall talent to once again attain bowl eligibility and contend for a league title this season.
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| 5 | FIU (6-6, 5-3) |
Last Year’s Record: 7-6 (My 2025 prediction: 6-6); I was one of the few experts who correctly picked the Panthers to attain bowl eligibility last season!
Positional Strength: Defensive Backfield
Positional Weakness: Defensive Line
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. New Mexico State (October 7)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: vs. Buffalo (September 12)
Bottom Line: Willie Simmons did incredible work last year turning around this previously downtrodden program in his inaugural campaign at FIU. Not only did the Golden Panthers play in their first bowl game in six seasons, but they also ended the regular season on a four game winning streak! FIU did lose a lot from last year’s squad, including their starting quarterback and leading rusher, receiver, and tackler, but Simmons has brought in plenty talent to replace them, including a polished transfer quarterback from App. State in J.J. Kohl, who should greatly improve this squad’s 85th ranked passing offense. Overall, expect the Panthers to look a little different than they did last season but they very well find just as much success in 2026.
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| 6 | New Mexico State (5-7, 4-4) |
Last Year’s Record: 4-8 (My 2025 prediction: 7-5); I have consistently overrated Tony Sanchez’s teams, ever since he first coached at UNLV!
Positional Strength: Linebacker
Positional Weakness: Running Back
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Liberty (November 7); this is a revenge spot for the Aggies as NMSU has dropped three straight close games to Liberty including the 2023 C-USA title game
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Missouri State (November 14)
Bottom Line: Head coach Tony Sanchez again finds himself on the hot seat after back to back disappointed seasons in his first two years in Las Cruces. You would be hard pressed to find another FBS coach that has coached at least seven full seasons at this level of football and has yet to have a winning season (career FBS coaching record: 27-57)! Yet, Sanchez has been able to obtain two different FBS coaching jobs based on his tremendous success in the high school coaching ranks. I do think this year’s New Mexico State squad is better than last year’s, as they field an experienced linebacking corps and a much improved offensive line. However, I am not sure there is enough overall talent on this squad to attain bowl eligibility in 2026 and keep Sanchez around for 2027.
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| 7 | Delaware (3-9, 2-6) |
Last Year’s Record: 7-6 (My 2025 prediction: 5-7); both FBS newcomers in the C-USA last year exceeded expectations and played in bowl games.
Positional Strength: Quarterback
Positional Weakness: Defensive Line
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Missouri State (October 20)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: vs. FIU (November 14)
Bottom Line: Over the past few seasons, teams in their first transitional season from FCS have had a surprising amount of success in the lower FBS ranks. The Blue Hens are a perfect example of that as last year’s Delaware squad finished the season with a winning record and the school’s first-ever bowl win. This season, Delaware returns its starting quarterback, leading rusher, receiver, and top two tacklers, but I am still calling for this squad to take a slight step back in 2026 due to key losses on both the offensive and defensive lines and in the secondary and a tougher schedule.
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| 8 | Missouri State (4-8, 2-6) |
Last Year’s Record: 7-6 (My 2025 prediction: 1-11); both FBS newcomers in the C-USA last year exceeded expectations and played in bowl games.
Positional Strength: Wide Receiver
Positional Weakness: Offensive Line
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Marshall (September 19)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at FIU (November 7)
Bottom Line: Like the Blue Hens above, the Bears of Missouri State are another squad who surprised a lot of people that I think will take a step back in 2026. This squad loses its starting quarterback, leading rusher, and receiver, as well as four of its top five tacklers from last season, and also has to replace its head coach who moved on to Coastal Carolina. Expect this season to be a rebuilding year in Springfield, especially with a brutal schedule that features non-conference games against two CFP contenders.
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| 9 | Sam Houston (2-10, 1-7) |
Last Year’s Record: 2-10 (My 2025 prediction: 1-11); I was all over Sam Houston’s 2025 collapse!
Positional Strength: Running Back
Positional Weakness: Linebacker
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Middle Tennessee (November 21)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: vs.. New Mexico State (October 21)
Bottom Line: I am one of the few people to correctly predict the cataclysmic drop off of this program after their 10 win season in 2024. Last year’s team experienced a myriad of struggles of both sides of the ball and this year’s squad doesn’t look much improved at most of the key positions. I also don’t have much confidence in second-year coach Phil Longo, who has been a mediocre offensive coordinator at best at the FBS ranks, and his only other head coaching job came during a disastrous two year tenure at La Salle over twenty years ago. Expect more struggles in Huntsville in 2026.
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| 10 | Middle Tennessee (1-11, 0-8) |
Last Year’s Record: 3-9 (My 2025 prediction: 8-4); I was way off on this one!
Positional Strength: Quarterback
Positional Weakness: Wide Receiver
Biggest Predicted Win of the Year: vs. Murray State (September 5)
Worst Predicted Loss of the Year: at Sam Houston (November 21)
Bottom Line: I think everyone wanted to see Derek Mason have success in Murfreesboro, as he was one of the more likable coaches in the SEC during his tenure at Vandy. However, succeeding a legend like Rick Stockstill at MTSU, has proven to be quite difficult for Mason. Mason’s calling card has always been defense, but last year’s Blue Raider squad ranked outside the top 100 in FBS in both passing defense and scoring defense. This year, a slew of transfers have been brought in on both sides of the ball to try to provide a quick fix for this program. However, their transfer class was ranked 9th in a ten team C-USA so there just isn’t enough talent for Mason to find success in which will likely be his last season at MTSU.
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