Pac-12 football power rankings
The Pac-12 has been remade.
The conference, once the jewel of college athletics in the West, was gutted by the defections of longstanding members (many of whom were founding members) beginning in 2022.
For a time, it appeared the Pac-12 would disappear from the college football landscape, becoming nothing more than a memory.
As of Monday, though, the conference (which consisted of only Oregon State and Washington State) is alive having added — officially on July 1, 2026 — seven new schools, six of whom sponsor football.
Here’s the membership of the remade Pac-12:
- Boise State.
- Colorado State.
- Fresno State.
- Gonzaga (no football).
- Oregon State.
- San Diego State.
- Texas State.
- Utah State.
- Washington State.
Which of those schools boasts the best football program right now? Which program has the most potential for growth? Which program is likely to land at the bottom of the league?
It is time for some Pac-12 football power rankings, factoring in past performance, the current makeup of teams and the potential of the future.
No. 1 — Boise State Broncos
Boise State defensive end Ahmed Hassanein (91) during the Fiesta Bowl College Football Playoff game against Boise State, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. | Rick Scuteri, AP
- Head coach: Spencer Danielson
There shouldn’t be any question about which program is on top of the Pac-12. Boise State has been a juggernaut for awhile now. Yes, it has been at the Group of Five level.
Over the last 10 seasons, the Broncos have averaged nearly 9.5 wins every year. Boise State hasn’t finished a season with a losing record since 1997 and has won 10 or more games in six of the last 10 seasons.
The Broncos have done all of this with three different head coaches and Danielson has already made a case that he is the best of that group (which includes Bryan Harsin and Andy Avalos) after leading BSU to the College Football Playoff last season.
That is all in the past, though. What about right now?
Well, Boise State is projected to win upwards of nine games this upcoming 2025 season, per ESPN’s FPI. The Broncos have also been given the best odds of any G5 team to make it into the CFP again.
Boise State is going to be without superstar running back Ashton Jeanty, now that he has taken his talents to the NFL, but the Broncos’ freshman class is far and away the highest rated group of newcomers in the Mountain West Conference, second highest rated among all G5 teams, per 247 Sports.
There is a lot of reason to believe that Boise State won’t take a step back without Jeanty, without even factoring in the history of the program.
As for the future, well Danielson signed a five-year deal this past spring, keeping him in Boise for awhile. And the Broncos’ 2026 recruiting efforts are off to an impressive start, with 19 commits and the second-highest rated class in the G5 (behind USF).
Put everything together and until proven otherwise Boise State football should be considered the power in the Pac-12. The program that all other teams must overcome.
No. 2 — San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego State running back Marquez Cooper (15) runs with the ball to score a touchdown during an NCAA football game against Hawaii on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in San Diego. | Kyusung Gong, AP
This placement will surprise many and incense some. For good reason too.
San Diego State has not been a good football program for a couple of years now. The Aztecs won only three games last season, and only four games the year before that.
Right now, San Diego State is not a good football program either, with ESPN’s FPI projecting the Aztecs to win under five games and finish as one of the four worst teams in the MW in 2025.
So how on earth can SDSU at No. 2 in the Pac-12 be justified?
It’s all about past performance and future prospects.
From 2015 to 2021, SDSU finished .500 or better every season. The Aztecs won 10 or more games in five of those seven seasons. Under Rocky Long, San Diego State was simply a Group of Five powerhouse, even if the Aztecs never were the best G5 team in any single season.
When it came to landing talent, SDSU was routinely top 3 in the MW in recruiting, with only Boise State being the other consistent recruiting power in the league.
Things fell apart under Brady Hoke. There is no other way to put it. And yet, the program kept recruiting at a high level, even during the worst stretches of the Hoke era.
Now, with Lewis leading the way, SDSU has a coach who previously won at one of the worst jobs in America (Kent State), coaches one of the more electric offensive attacks in all of college football and is still bringing in talent at a level only trailing Boise State.
All signs point to SDSU turning things around under Lewis and quickly, at which point SDSU could be the gem of the Pac-12, with its enviable location in Southern California.
No. 3 — Washington State Cougars
Washington State wide receiver Kyle Williams (2) breaks away from Syracuse defensive back Alijah Clark (5) as he scores on a touchdown reception during the first half of the Holiday Bowl NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in San Diego. | Denis Poroy, AP
For years under Mike Leach, Washington State punched above its weight class.
The Cougars were regularly out-monied and out-recruited by the majority of the programs in the Pac-12, and yet WSU still managed to win eight or more games in four consecutive years from 2015 through 2018 and made five bowl games in a five year span from 2015 through 2019.
The Nick Rolovich era was marred by the pandemic and then Jake Dickert took over and did an admirable job, getting the Cougars to a bowl game in three of four seasons.
That Washington State had as much success as it did while in the former version of the Pac-12 is notable. And a major reason for this placement. WSU has found ways — time and again — to be successful when going up against much better programs. In the remade Pac-12, the Cougars are on much more even footing with the competition.
For 2025, there is reason to expect a step back by the Cougars, though.
Dickert is gone, replaced by Jimmy Rogers. For the fourth time in six years, Washington State has a new head coach. Making that transition more difficult — starting quarterback John Mateer is gone, now at Oklahoma. ESPN’s FPI gives WSU only a 40% chance to win six games and make it to a bowl game this season.
A large reason for that is the Cougars are going to be very inexperienced. The 2025 signing class was massive and included 36 freshmen and 34 transfers, per 247 Sports. All of which is to say, WSU is largely a mystery entering the 2025 season.
When it comes to future prospects, well that is somewhat muddied for Washington State.
Rogers is an unknown at the FBS level. He could end up being a star as a head coach (his two years as head coach at South Dakota State were impressive) or the Cougars could be moving on in three years.
Current recruiting trends have WSU among the better recruiting programs in the Pac-12, but not the best. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Frenso State all have higher rated classes in 2026.
There is a real argument that Washington State will be surpassed by other teams in the conference in the long run. Programs with more potential for growth. For now, though, the Cougars deserve to be considered near the top of the league. In a lot of ways, the program is still a Power 5 program, but will be competing against G5 teams.
No. 4 — Oregon State Beavers
Oregon State quarterback Ben Gulbranson (17) turns to hand the ball off against Boise State in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in Boise, Idaho. Boise won 34-18. | Steve Conner, AP
The second former P5 school in the remade Pac-12, Oregon State is an interesting program.
The Beavers have won big at times. Recently too. Ten wins under Jonathan Smith in 2022 being the most notable. And yet, the program is really tough to read.
The Beavers were regularly at the bottom of the Pac-12 in its previous version. They were often competitive, but only made a bowl game in three of the last 10 years.
Mike Riley was the head coach for a long time, during which the Beavers were a good program, particularly when it was the Pac-10.
The Gary Andersen era was a disaster. And Smith did about as well as could’ve been hoped for.
Bray didn’t have a great debut season last year, with OSU finishing the year 5-7. And while ESPN’s FPI projects that the Beavers will go bowling (they are given nearly a 70% chance at six wins) there isn’t a lot of optimism that they will be more than an average team.
When it comes to recruiting, OSU has kind of ebbed and flowed. The Beavers have occasionally recruited in the top half of the Pac-12 (better than any of the incoming MW schools) but more often than not Oregon State was among the poorest recruiting programs in the league.
Like Washington State, Oregon State is still in a lot of ways a Power 5 team. The program’s 2025 signing class was the second-highest rated among all Pac-12 teams, per 247 Sports.
Oregon State is struggling, for now, with its 2026 class, though.
If you wanted to slot OSU further down the rankings that would be fair. There has been little consistent greatness in Corvallis over the years and Bray hasn’t proven yet that he can do what Smith or Riley did before him.
For now, though, OSU gets the benefit of the doubt here. There’s too much talent left in the program to consider the Beavers anything but a program in the top half of the league. And the Oregon State brand should carry weight going forward, if only for a limited time.
No. 5 — Texas State Bobcats
Texas State quarterback Jordan McCloud (3) hands off to running back Lincoln Pare (7) during the first half of the First Responder Bowl NCAA college football game against North Texas Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, in Dallas. | LM Otero, AP
And you thought you were angry before.
The newest addition to the Pac-12 is the least proven historically. Texas State has only been an FBS program since 2012. And for the first 10 years of that, the Bobcats topped out at seven wins in a single season. Over the last decade, TXST has been the worst program in the Sun Belt Conference when it comes to wins and losses.
But things have changed dramatically for the Bobcats the last two seasons.
Under G.J. Kinne — one of the preeminent up-and-coming coaches in college football — TXST has taken a leap. The Bobcats have won eight games each of the last two seasons and won the bowl games they played in.
All of a sudden, Texas State looks like a good program. ESPN’s FPI projects the Bobcats to go bowling again this year and has TXST on the same level as programs like James Madison, South Alabama and Georgia Southern, all of whom are slotted just behind Sun Belt favorite Louisiana.
What’s more, money has poured into the program, nearly $149 million for facilities and athletic infrastructure upgrades, plus an expected $50 million more expected to be invested in athletics, of which the football program will likely be the primary recipient.
Located between Austin and San Antonio, Texas State is in one of the most talent rich regions in the entire country, only now the Bobcats have Pac-12 membership to sell to recruits and games against Boise State, Washington State, Oregon State and others.
If you want to have Texas State further down the rankings because of a lack of proof that the team can compete against top level G5 programs, that’s completely fair. But the Sun Belt is a better conference than many give it credit for and Texas State had started to hold its own in the league.
There is still a lot TXST has to do to live up to this projection. Recruiting has to pick up — right now, the Bobcats’ 2026 class is woefully off the pace set by Boise State, San Diego State and others, per 247 Sports. But much like San Diego State, it won’t be a surprise if in a few years Texas State has taken a position near the top of the Pac-12. There is just too much potential to be down on the Bobcats.
No. 6 — Utah State Aggies
Utah Utes defensive end Van Fillinger (7) grabs the arm of Utah State Aggies quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) in Logan on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
- Head coach: Bronco Mendenhall
Right now, Utah State isn’t a particularly good football program.
The Aggies won just four games last season, are on their third head coach in two calendar years and haven’t finished a season with a winning record since 2021.
ESPN’s FPI projects Utah State to struggle again in 2025 too, with the Aggies expected to win less than five games.
All that being said, Utah State has proven — over the last decade — to be a good G5 program.
Since 2015, the Aggies have gone bowling in seven out of the last 10 seasons. During that same span, USU won 11 games twice and claimed the MW championship once.
The Aggies have done all that while having four different head coaches — Matt Wells, Gary Andersen, Blake Anderson and Nate Dreiling.
Based on that alone, you can argue that USU deserves to be where it is in the rankings. USU may not consistently produce great teams but it does produce great teams regularly.
Bu when you add in Bronco Mendenhall, who has seen considerable success in his coaching career at BYU and Virginia, and the calculus improves all the more for USU.
Mendenhall is a proven program builder who is extremely familiar with the state of Utah, which just so happens to be one of the most talent dense states in the America. Per capita, the state of Utah produces NFL talent at or near the same level as Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina and Washington D.C. Which is to say, Utah is in the top 10 nationally.
Add it altogether and there is a lot of reason for optimism about Utah State and the future. Already, the Aggies are recruiting at a higher level than they traditionally have. USU’s 2025 signing class was the third-highest rated class in the MW.
It feels like more a matter of when, not if, Mendenhall will have Utah State competing at the top of the Pac-12. Maybe not on a yearly basis — that is the mountain for Aggie football to overcome — but often enough to garner USU real respect in the league.
No. 7 — Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State defensive back Dean Clark (32) celebrates after an interception against Washington State during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Fresno, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. | Gary Kazanjian, AP
This might be the one that angers most of all.
Fresno State has, over the last decade, been a great G5 program.
Since 2016, the Bulldogs have won nine or more games five times and have won 10 or more games four times. They’ve won the Mountain West title and they’ve won with different head coaches (Kalen DeBoer and Jeff Tedford).
Based in California, Fresno State has recruited fairly well too, almost always in the top 5 among MW programs.
What’s more, Matt Entz was an incredible FBS head coach at North Dakota State, with a 60–11 record that includes a 15–3 mark in the playoff and two national titles.
So why on earth is Fresno State second to last in the Pac-12 power rankings?
The biggest reason is lack of track record beyond DeBoer and Tedford. Those two coaches — who had either been successful at the Power 5 level or have since gone on to be highly successful — were nothing short of stars in the coaching industry. When Fresno State has won its because it has had the better coach.
Prior to Tedford and DeBoear, Fresno State was a much less consistent program. Similar in form to USU in a lot of ways, Fresno State would win big on occasion, but also collapsed under Tim DeRuyter.
Entz may be a superstar in the coaching industry, in which case this placement will be seen as a joke. But if he’s not, Fresno State hasn’t proven capable of weathering less-than-great head coaches.
ESPN’s FPI currently has FSU projected to win between six or seven games next season, in the same tier as CSU and San Jose State in the MW. If the Bulldogs better that, well they could quickly vault into the top 3 in the conference power rankings. But if Entz isn’t the guy, the Bulldogs could quickly become a regular at the bottom of the league.
Also — Fresno State has been reported to having some money troubles, with the Fresno Bee reporting that “severe budget cuts,“ would likely cut into the financial support provided to the athletics department. Where many Pac-12 program are investing heavily, Fresno State is falling behind.
No. 8 — Colorado State Rams
Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (16) in the second half of the Arizona Bowl NCAA college football game against Miami (Ohio), Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. | Rick Scuteri, AP
On paper, it seems like Colorado State should be a perennial power. And the Rams have had moments where they’ve looked the part. Well maybe just a moment recently, in 2014 when they won 10 games under Jim McElwain.
Otherwise, CSU has been mostly a middle-of-the-road, forgettable football program.
Over the last decade, the Rams have topped out with eight wins, which happened last season. CSU has had a winning season in just four of the last 10 years.
Under Mike Bobo and Steve Addazio, Colorado State was just a program. Nothing more. Indistinguishable from many that remain in the MW.
Things have changed, albeit slowly, under Jay Norvell.
Norvell won big at Nevada (which means four seasons with a winning record), before moving over to Colorado State. In three years, the Rams’ program has steadily improved under Norvell, going from three wins to five to eight last season.
There is reason to believe that Norvell is building a good program in Ft. Collins. CSU is recruiting well enough, in the top half of the MW in each of the last three years. It wouldn’t be a shock to see the Rams contend for the MW title this season and ESPN’s FPI projects CSU will between six and seven games, trailing only Fresno State, UNLV and Boise State.
And yet, it is hard to believe in a program that hasn’t proven much yet.
Even last year, when the Rams finished with the third best record in the MW, it took a miracle fourth quarter rally at home for CSU to take down a bad USU team. What’s more, Colorado State didn’t play the best the conference had to offer last year, with 6-7 Fresno State being the best in-conference opponent (the Rams lost that game).
Norvell may well turn Colorado State into a good program, but until he does the Rams don’t really deserve the benefit of the doubt like a few of the teams above them.
Pac-12 the most balanced league in the sport?
FILE – The field at Sun Devil Stadium bears a Pac-12 logo during an NCAA college football game between Arizona State and Kent State in Tempe, Ariz., Aug. 29, 2019. | Ralph Freso, AP
Realistically, these rankings could be shuffled significantly. After Boise State, nearly any of the other seven teams could be argued in a different order.
- Really believe in Entz and Fresno State? Completely fair.
- Think Washington State and Oregon State are much further ahead of the competition because of their time in a Power conference? Absolutely justifiable.
- Genuinely trust what Norvell is building in Ft. Collins? Move Colorado State up.
- Consider Texas State woefully in-prepared to compete in the Pac-12? That makes sense.
- Trust in Mendenhall’s track record? Feel free to slot Utah State higher.
The reality of the remade Pac-12 is there should be a lot of parity. There are a lot of programs that are very similar to each other. Programs who’ve shown they can win, frequently at a very high level, only now they won’t have the easy wins that some of their soon to be former MW partners provided.
Even Boise State isn’t untouchable. There are good programs in the Pac-12. Programs that have proven capable of beating the Broncos.
There is a lot of talk about how the Big 12 is the most balanced league in CFB and how unpredictable the league is as a result. Starting in 2026, though, the Pac-12 might take that crown.