The 2026 Conference USA football season is the 31st season of college football play for Conference USA (CUSA). The season began on August 29, 2026, and will conclude with the Conference Championship Game on December 4, 2026. Ten member schools are taking part in the season, which is part of the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season.
Conference realignment Prior to the 2026 season, two schools departed from Conference USA - the University of Texas at El Paso and Louisiana Tech University. Louisiana Tech's departure was initially not accepted by CUSA, and the school entered in to a lawsuit against the conference. The two parties later reached a settlement out of court, with Louisiana Tech leaving CUSA to join the Sun Belt Conference, while CUSA received an undisclosed amount in exit fees from the school. The departures left Conference USA with 10 competing schools for the 2026 season.
Preseason For the second year in a row, Conference USA conducted a preseason "Bowl Confidence Index" poll instead of a traditional media poll. The results of the poll were released on July 17, 2026.
2026 CUSA Bowl Confidence IndexJacksonville State 100%Liberty 100%Western Kentucky 100%Kennesaw State 85%Delaware 75%FIU 60%Missouri State 35%New Mexico State 20%Middle Tennessee 15%Sam Houston 10%
Preseason awards Preseason awards were announced on July 17, 2026.
Preseason offensive player of the year: Nick Minicucci, Senior, Delaware, Quarterback
Preseason defensive player of the year: Baron Hopson, Grad, Kennesaw State, Linebacker
Preseason special teams players of the year: Garrison Rippa, Redshirt junior, Jacksonville State, Kicker
Head coaches On December 11, 2025, Missouri State head coach Ryan Beard was announced as the new head coach of Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference. On December 19, 2025, the school announced Casey Woods as the new head coach for 2026.
Note: All stats shown are before the start of the 2026 season. Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school CUSA recordDelaware Ryan Carty 5 33–17 33–17 4–4FIU Willie Simmons 2 73–30 7–6 5–3Jacksonville State Charles Kelly 2 9–6 9–6 7–1Kennesaw State Jerry Mack 2 41–19 10–4 7–1Liberty Jamey Chadwell 4 123–70 25–13 16–8Middle Tennessee Derek Mason 3 33–73 6–18 4–12Missouri State Casey Woods 1 0–0 0–0 0–0New Mexico State Tony Sanchez 3 27–57 7–17 4–12Sam Houston Phil Longo 2 9–24 2–10 1–7Western Kentucky Tyson Helton 8 57–36 57–36 40–15
Rankings
Pre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Final Delaware AP C CFP Not released FIU AP C CFP Not released Jacksonville State AP C RV CFP Not released Kennesaw State AP C CFP Not released Liberty AP RV C CFP Not released Middle Tennessee AP C CFP Not released Missouri State AP C CFP Not released New Mexico State AP C CFP Not released Sam Houston AP C CFP Not released Western Kentucky AP C CFP Not released
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking Not ranked previous week No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol Source:
AP -
Coaches -
CFP -
Schedule The final 2026 schedule was released on April 29, 2026.
Index to colors and formattingCUSA member wonCUSA member lostCUSA teams in bold
Week 0
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14 - Conference championship
Conference USA records vs. other conferences 2026–2027 records against non-conference foes, including bowl games:
Regular season Power Four ConferencesRecordACC0–3Big 120–2Big Ten0–1Notre Dame0–0SEC0–4Power 5 Total0–10Other FBS ConferencesRecordAmerican0–3Independents (Excluding Notre Dame)0–0MAC2–1Mountain West1–4Pac-120–0Sun Belt3–6Other FBS Total6–14FCS OpponentsRecordFootball Championship Subdivision10–0Total Non-Conference Record16–24
Conference USA vs Power 4 matchups This is a list of games Conference USA has scheduled versus power conference teams (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Notre Dame and SEC). All rankings are from the current AP Poll at the time of the game.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 ACC New Mexico State Florida State Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, FL L 17–34 September 5 SEC Missouri State No. 8 Texas A&M Kyle Field • College Station, TX L 0–50 September 12 SEC Western Kentucky No. 3 Georgia Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA L 20–70 September 12 SEC Delaware Vanderbilt FirstBank Stadium • Nashville, TN L 26–35 September 19 Big Ten Western Kentucky No. 4 Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN L 0–38 September 19 SEC Kennesaw State No. 15 Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN L 9–42 September 26 Big 12 Sam Houston No. 11 Texas Tech Galaxy Stadium • Lubbock, TX L 14–49 September 26 ACC Missouri State No. 22 SMU Gerald J. Ford Stadium • University Park, TX L 24–34 September 26 ACC Delaware Virginia Scott Stadium • Charlottesville, VA L 3–42 October 3 Big 12 Middle Tennessee Kansas David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS L 0–55
Conference USA vs other FBS matchups The following games include Conference USA teams competing against teams from the American, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt.
Date Conference Visitor Home Site Score August 29 Mountain West Jacksonville State North Dakota State Fargodome • Fargo, ND L 7–33 September 5 Sun Belt Liberty James Madison Bridgeforth Stadium • Harrisonburg, VA L 13–20 September 5 American FIU South Florida Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL L 9–19 September 5 Sun Belt Sam Houston Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL L 21–24 September 5 Mountain West Western Kentucky Nevada Mackay Stadium • Reno, NV L 14–49 September 12 MAC Jacksonville State Ohio Peden Stadium • Athens, OH L 27–29 September 12 MAC Buffalo FIU Pitbull Stadium • Miami, FL W 33–20 September 12 American Tulsa Sam Houston Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX L 17–23 September 12 Sun Belt Georgia State Kennesaw State Fifth Third Stadium • Kennesaw, GA L 17–31 September 12 Sun Belt Middle Tennessee Marshall Joan C. Edwards Stadium • Huntington, WV L 26–28 September 12 Mountain West New Mexico State Hawaii Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex • Honolulu, HI L 19–29 September 19 Sun Belt Coastal Carolina Delaware Delaware Stadium • Newark, DE W 22–14 September 19 MAC Ball State Liberty Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA W 51–15 September 19 American FIU Florida Atlantic Flagler Credit Union Stadium • Boca Raton, FL L 10–16 September 19 Sun Belt Marshall Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO L 24–30 September 19 Sun Belt Georgia Southern Jacksonville State AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, AL W 31–27 September 19 Mountain West Nevada Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN W 27–20 September 24 Sun Belt Liberty Coastal Carolina Brooks Stadium • Conway, SC W 34–17 September 24 Mountain West New Mexico New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM L 18–42 September 24 Sun Belt Kennesaw State Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR L 14–17
Conference USA vs. FCS matchups The following games include Conference USA teams competing against FCS schools.
Date Visitor Home Site Score September 3 Merrimack Delaware Delaware Stadium • Newark, DE W 42–7 September 3 West Georgia Kennesaw State Fifth Third Stadium • Kennesaw, GA W 47–0 September 5 Murray State Middle Tennessee Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, TN W 38–14 September 5 Eastern Kentucky Jacksonville State AmFirst Stadium • Jacksonville, AL W 49–7 September 5 Mercyhurst New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM W 51–14 September 12 Gardner-Webb Liberty Williams Stadium • Lynchburg, VA W 24–23 September 12 Lindenwood Missouri State Robert W. Plaster Stadium • Springfield, MO W 48–14 September 19 Nicholls Sam Houston Bowers Stadium • Huntsville, TX W 59–0 September 26 LIU FIU Pitbull Stadium • Miami, FL W 20–3 September 26 Mercyhurst Western Kentucky Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, KY W 52–7
Awards and honors Player of the week honors Week Offensive Defensive Special Teams Freshman Offensive Line Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Player Team Position Week 0 Trey Hedden New Mexico State QB Gabe Peterson New Mexico State DE Conor Donaghy Jacksonville State P Carson Su’esu’e New Mexico State TE Ma’Kyi Lee New Mexico State OT Week 1 Jamill Williams Jacksonville State WR Nick Session New Mexico State S Triston Morgan Kennesaw State AP Kevin Moore Delaware S Lance Johnson Jacksonville State OG Week 2 J. J. Kohl FIU QB Elisha Baldridge FIU DE Dominic Bourgeois Middle Tennessee K Felix Visser FIU P Zaire Flournoy FIU OG Week 3Sean WilsonDelawareWRJackson LoweMiddle TennesseeDBCaleb NixJacksonville StateS/PRTristan LylesJacksonville StateLBReese TrippMiddle TennesseeOT Week 4Caden CreelJacksonville StateQBRonald Moore Jr.LibertySGarrison RippaJacksonville StateKJonathan Stafford Jr.Jacksonville StateWRD.J. GethLibertyOT Week 5James JonesNew Mexico StateRBAidan VaughanLibertyLBChase ReevesLibertyKJonathan Stafford Jr. Jacksonville StateWRAlex BirchmeierLibertyOG
References