This upcoming college football season will see some major changes in the form of conference realignment, especially when it comes to the Mountain West and the rebirth of the Pac-12. The new Pac-12 will feature eight teams but will not be a power conference, seemingly turning the Group of Five into the Group of Six.
With the 12-team College Football Playoff format for this season, we will still have five automatic bids for the highest-ranked conference champions, meaning at least one spot will go to a Group of Six team. This year's race for that spot looks wide open heading into the season and is especially interesting with how many coaches from Group of Five teams last year left for bigger jobs.
Let's look at some strong contenders for the Group of Six College Football Playoff spot heading into the season.
Dan Mullen had a great first year in Las Vegas leading UNLV to 10 wins, and will look to take the next step with a legitimate shot at making the CFP in Year 2. Mullen is a phenomenal offensive coach, and that showed last season as the Rebels had one of the most high-powered offenses in college football.
This offseason they brought in transfer quarterback Jackson Arnold from Auburn, who has plenty of experience at the Power Four level, while also adding some dangerous weapons at skill positions. The Rebels will remain in the Mountain West, where they should enter the season as the favorites to win the conference. They have a massive opening game in Week Zero against Memphis, in a matchup that will have huge implications for the Group of Six playoff race.
Boise State will always be in the conversation for the non-power conference playoff spot with the pedigree of its program. They had a down year by their standards last season, finishing 9-5, but Spencer Danielson has another talented team heading into 2026 that has the Broncos as the betting favorite among all Group of Six teams to make the playoff.
Maddux Madsen will be back under center after starting 25 games for the Broncos and already leading the team to a playoff appearance in 2024. They’ll also have one of the best backfield duos in all of college football with Dylan Riley and Sire Gaines.
After winning the Mountain West in each of the past three seasons, Boise State will make the move to the new Pac-12 where they will see several programs that they are familiar with. The Broncos will be tested outside of conference play though with games against Oregon and Memphis.
Former Texas high school football coaching legend Jeff Traylor is entering his seventh year as UTSA's head coach, and he has yet to have a losing season. They return a very experienced quarterback in Owen McCown, who has thrown for more than 6,400 yards and 55 touchdowns at UTSA over the past two seasons. He will work alongside running back Will Henderson III, who rushed for more than 800 yards last season as the team's second option out of the backfield.
With so much roster turnover and so many coaches leaving other teams that are typically at the top of the American Conference, this could be the year the Roadrunners finally break through and compete for a spot in the playoff.
The Tigers lost head coach Ryan Silverfield to Arkansas this offseason, along with almost all of last year's roster with 85 players entering the transfer portal. However, they did bring in a proven winner at head coach in Charles Huff.
Huff has his hands full with more than 50 new transfers on this year's team, several of whom are talented players transferring down after not panning out at larger programs. Their quarterback situation is one to keep an eye on and could dictate just how good this team can be. The starting spot is up for grabs between Marcus Stokes, who transferred in from West Florida after lighting it up in Division II last season, and Air Noland, a former four-star recruit who began his college career at Ohio State before spending last season at South Carolina.
Huff will not have much time to figure things out with all of these new pieces, as Memphis will have to face both UNLV and Boise State on the road in their first three games.
New Mexico was one of the biggest surprises of last season in Jason Eck's first year as head coach. Eck led the Lobos to a 9-4 record, their most wins and first winning season since 2016, while snapping an eight-year bowl drought.
Eck came to New Mexico from Idaho after leading the Vandals to three straight FCS playoff appearances in his three seasons there. He brought his quarterback with him from Idaho in Jack Layne, who started every game for the Lobos last season and returns to lead his offense again in 2026. On the defensive side Eck also brought his son with him in Jaxton Eck, a stud linebacker who was an FCS All-American at Idaho. He returns to New Mexico after winning Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year last season with the Lobos and finishing 10th in the FBS in total tackles with 128.Â
The Lobos will remain in the Mountain West and are one of a small group of teams along with UNLV, North Dakota State, and Hawaii, that look like strong contenders for the conference title.
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