Of the 68 FBS programs now classified as Power conference teams, only five—a mere seven percent—will play 11 Power opponents during the 2026 regular season.
The group includes three ACC teams, one Big 12 team, and one Big Ten team. Notably, no SEC program appears on the list.
Two ACC members, Boston College and Georgia Tech, will play eight league games plus three Power non‑conference opponents. Louisville goes even further, pairing nine ACC games with two Power non‑league matchups. Colorado (Big 12) and Purdue (Big Ten) each face nine conference games and two Power opponents outside the league.
Scheduling 11 Power opponents is not mandated by any conference and can create a competitive disadvantage or derail conference title pursuits and post-season appearances. It can also influence coaching stability and contribute to movement within the annual coaching carousel.
BOSTON COLLEGE
ACC opponents: vs. Virginia Tech, at SMU, vs. Pitt, at Georgia Tech, at Duke, vs. Florida State, vs. Syracuse, at Miami (FL)
Power opponents: at Cincinnati, vs. Rutgers, at Notre Dame
Non‑Power opponent: FCS Maine
Boston College has played 10 Power opponents in each of the last two seasons, posting a combined 9–16 record. With 11 Power opponents and one FCS team in 2026, the Eagles will not face a single Group of Six opponent.
BC could repeat the 11‑Power‑opponent feat in 2027. The Eagles are slated for nine ACC games and currently have two Power non‑conference matchups scheduled—at Rutgers and vs. Cincinnati. UTEP and FCS Rhode Island are also on the docket, meaning one of the four non‑league games must eventually be removed.
COLORADO
Big 12 opponents: at Baylor, vs. Texas Tech, vs. Utah, at Oklahoma State, vs. Kansas State, at Arizona State, vs. Houston, at Cincinnati, vs. UCF
Power opponents: at Georgia Tech, at Northwestern
Non‑Power opponent: FCS Weber State
Colorado last played 11 Power opponents in 2023, the final season of the Pac‑12. The Buffaloes faced 10 Power opponents in both 2024 and 2025, even adding a matchup with then‑FCS powerhouse North Dakota State in 2024.
Looking ahead, Colorado is not scheduled to reach 11 Power opponents again until 2030 and 2031, when home‑and‑home series with Missouri and SMU begin.
GEORGIA TECH
ACC opponents: at Stanford, vs. Duke, at Virginia Tech, vs. Boston College, at Pitt, vs. Louisville, at Clemson, vs. Wake Forest
Power opponents: vs. Colorado, vs. Tennessee, at Georgia
Non‑Power opponent: FCS Mercer
Georgia Tech aggressively upgraded its non‑conference slate, adding Colorado (Big 12) and Tennessee (SEC) alongside its annual rivalry game with Georgia. Those three Power opponents complement an eight‑game ACC schedule.
Like Boston College, Georgia Tech currently has one excess non‑conference game scheduled for 2027 and could again reach 11 Power opponents. The Yellow Jackets are set to visit Tennessee and Notre Dame, while Georgia and Hampton are scheduled to come to Atlanta.
LOUISVILLE
ACC opponents: vs. SMU, vs. Wake Forest, at NC State, vs. Florida State, at Syracuse, vs. Stanford, at Georgia Tech, at North Carolina, vs. Pitt
Power opponents: vs. Ole Miss (in Nashville), at Kentucky
Non‑Power opponent: FCS Villanova
Beyond its ACC slate, Louisville will face Ole Miss at a neutral site and close the season at in‑state rival Kentucky. The Cardinals played nine Power opponents last season after playing 10 in 2024.
Louisville is scheduled to return to the 11‑Power‑opponent club in 2028 (at Texas A&M, at Kentucky), 2029 (hosting Texas A&M and Kentucky), and 2030 (Notre Dame and Kentucky).
PURDUE
Big Ten opponents: at UCLA, at Illinois, vs. Minnesota, vs. Washington, at Penn State, vs. Maryland, at Iowa, vs. Wisconsin, at Indiana
Power opponents: vs. Wake Forest, vs. Notre Dame
Non‑Power opponent: FCS Indiana State
Purdue has long been one of college football’s most aggressive schedulers, playing 11 Power opponents every regular season from 2017 through 2021 (excluding the COVID‑impacted 2020 season). In 2023, the Boilermakers resumed playing 11 and then had 11 lined up in 2024 as well, but the Pac‑12’s collapse removed Oregon State’s Power designation.
Absent future changes, Purdue is set to rejoin the list in 2027 (Notre Dame, North Carolina) and again in 2028 (Wake Forest, Notre Dame).
HONORABLE MENTION: OREGON
Oregon gets an honorable mention, as it hosts the team widely regarded as the top Group of Six program, the Boise State Broncos. The Ducks add a trip to face Oklahoma State before playing their nine-game Big Ten slate that includes Michigan and Washington at home, with Ohio State and USC on the road.
Purdue also only had 10 P4 scheduled in 2022. I would rephrase it as five times from 2017-2023.
Thanks, I accidentally counted the B1G Championship Game in 2022.
There needs to be more OOC games between P4 teams.
That will be excellent news for neutral site games for example: Buffalo, Charlotte & Denver & International venues for example London, Berlin & Rio de Janeiro.
I get with the schedules that it’s hard every year, but Georgia and Clemson need to play every few years.
Oklahoma v. Oklahoma State should be somewhat regular as well.
Pitt v. Penn State and Kansas v. Missouri are good rivalries, too.
Those fanbases deserve those games every few years. (And they should be played on campus, too.)
That’s not even mentioning the “non-traditional” games, like Texas v. Ohio State this year, which are great for the game, as well.
Georgia-Clemson, Oklahoma State-Oklahoma, Penn State-Pittsburgh & Missouri-Kansas would be nice long as there is a nine-game conference schedule which is heart & soul of college football.
The first college football game is played in November 6, 1869.
The Pac-12 adopts a 9-game conference schedule in 2006, 137 years later.
All power conferences play a 9-game conference schedule in 2026.
But, yeah… sure. The 9-game conference schedule is the “heart & soul of college football.”
SEC! SEC! SEC! P4 conferences & networks are huge supporters of conference play where the money comes from & now with nine game conference schedule it will be very nice to see more conference games now that they ditched divisions which they made an excellent call.
Purdue has proven it is not rocket science unlike Indiana who is struggling to find any Oc P4 opponents.
Saying Indiana is struggling to find P4 opponents suggests they are actually trying to find them.
Indiana isn’t struggling. They are finding exactly what they are looking for.
I mean all due respect to Cincinnati and Rutgers but the three service academics are more power teams than those two and I can cherrypick tomato cans from all the legacy conferences and point out their struggles
“Notably, no SEC program appears on the list”…like that’s a surprise. You may never seen an SEC team on this list going forward. What you will see is a list of SEC teams playing 10 power opponents, one G6 team and one FCS team. For example, in 2026, 14 of the 16 SEC teams would make this list. No doubt, that will go to 16 of 16 SEC in the near future. The best conference in college football certainly doesn’t schedule like it.
There’s nothing wrong with the schedule you just mentioned. The vast majority of the power teams do it, thus only five teams on this list.
If only there was a website that posted future college football schedules…
If that existed, this guy would see that Georgia in 2030 has three non conference power teams on the schedule. And in every year from 2028 on they have at least two.
Florida has two every year from 2028 through 2033.
Plenty of other SEC teams have those scheduled out, too.
But until there is such a website, I guess this guy will be free to make completely nonsensical comments like this one.
Re: Colorado, While Houston Cincinnati and UCF might be in a power conference, they are most definatey not power schools. They are essentially in the Big12 by default.
Now now rules are rules! If a team is in the Big 12 they are a P4. Indiana won’t even schedule those teams as an hOC . Big 12 will have to force them to eventually. Notre Dame will suffice but I don’t see them scheduled yet.
11 power opponents & 1 local FCS will soon be the norm in CFB, just ask they guys who are paying the freight, TV networks. RDG
Scheduling is meaningless in this CFB era, Indiana proved that last year. I want to see the marque matchups more with P4 conferences.