Greetings, Coug fans, and welcome to the 90th day of January. It’s the dog days of winter, with nothing but a middling men’s basketball team and a worrisome women’s basketball team chugging along.
So, naturally, let’s talk football.
The 2026 football schedule, to be precise. The Pac-12 governing board met this week and was expected to talk about the football schedule so we can all start planning our fall Saturdays. Alas, there was no scheduling news to be made. But we do know what the board is considering.
Jon Wilner reports that the board has three options:
1) A seven-game conference schedule that would require teams to play five nonconference games, a potentially costly and logistically difficult plan.
2) An eight-game conference schedule with one home-and-home series for each team against another conference member, thereby reducing the number of nonconference dates to four.
3) A combination of the two models that features a home-and-home series for each team but only seven conference games. In other words, one of the home-and-home matchups would not count toward the conference standings.
Option no. 1 is likely a non-starter, as securing five non-conference games is a difficult task (WSU and Oregon State did that and more this past season and both schools probably don’t want to do that again).
Options 2 and 3 are essentially the same except for the conference game designation. Count me as a proponent of option 2. Home-and-homes can spur new rivalries and are easier on the budget and planning logistics. Counting both games as conference games ups the stakes even higher. This would mean each team plays eight conference games and four non-conference games. Scheduling four non-conference matchups is more palatable for the schools, I presume.
Besides, WSU already has four non-conference games scheduled for 2026 and 2027.
The conference has the College Football Playoff in mind when making the schedule, or course. They want to create a path to the CFP, which would require a Pac-12 team being the highest-ranked G6 team in the nation. Option no. 3 makes it easier to win your conference, given it takes fewer wins to do so, but that doesn’t guarantee you’re going to be the highest ranked G6 team. Neither does option 2, but creating higher stakes games is always a better option.
While there was no announcement this week, Wilner also reported that it’s possible the board did make a decision, but will wait to announce it once every school has a chance to weigh in. The conference is also figuring out when and where to play its championship game. My recommendation: Vegas, baby.
So your fall Saturday plans will have to wait. Until then, survive the winter.
