FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Southern

#19 overall#8 in FCSRR50 +9.9Upper strength +11.810 teamsTop 25 teams 0

VERDICT BEGINS · 2026

Oldest in the Country

The Southern Conference is the oldest surviving college football conference in the country (founded 1921) and the birthplace of programs like Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson — all of whom eventually left for what became the SEC and ACC. What remained built its own identity around Samford, Mercer, Furman, Wofford, and The Citadel, with a reputation for academically serious programs that also compete for FCS playoff bids. Chattanooga's 2023 run reached the quarterfinals. The conference's history is longer than the Power Five's.

FCS10 teamsRace: FCS PlayoffLeader: Tennessee Tech

Southern · 2026 Season

Three Things to Watch

The StandardSamford's Consistent Playoff Presence

Samford has made the FCS bracket four times in the last six seasons from a small Baptist university in Homewood, Alabama — in the shadow of Alabama and Auburn, competing for a sliver of the recruiting market that FCS programs can reach. Their offensive system is one of the most efficient in the Southern Conference, and their quarterback development pipeline has produced NFL draft picks at a rate that surprises most casual observers of FCS football.

The Historic ProgramFurman's Tradition and What It Still Means

Furman won the FCS national championship in 1988 and has been a consistent playoff program since. Their Greenville, South Carolina campus produces the kind of student- athlete that defines the Southern Conference — academically serious, football-committed, developed through coaching rather than recruiting. They earned at-large bids in back- to-back seasons and are the Southern's most complete program from a historical prestige standpoint.

The Identity

The Oldest Conference and Its Living Heritage

Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson all played in the Southern Conference before leaving for the SEC and ACC. The programs that remained built something different — a conference of academically selective schools with regional identities that the Power Four's expansion erased. Furman, Wofford, The Citadel, and Samford all have programs that could recruit to Power Four schools but choose not to. That choice is the Southern Conference's defining characteristic.

Conference Standings · Southern · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Tennessee Tech2–03–0+14.0
2Wofford1–02–1+9.8
3Furman1–02–1+9.7
4East Tennessee State0–01–2+11.4
5Western Carolina0–01–2+9.9
6VMI0–00–3+4.7
7Mercer0–12–1+11.1
8Chattanooga0–11–2+10.1
9The Citadel0–11–2+9.4
10Samford0–10–3+8.1

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Projected Standings · Southern · 2026

Win Projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. AVG = expected wins; W–L = most-likely record.

# Team W–L PWR AVG ≥8≥7≥6≥5≥4≥3≥2≥1
Favorites
1Tennessee Tech5–3+4.24.81103059829599✓
2East Tennessee State4–4+1.64.3162046729098✓
Challengers
3Mercer4–4+1.34.3151944719098✓
4Chattanooga4–4+0.34.241741688897✓
5Western Carolina4–4+0.13.931333618496✓
The Field
6Furman4–4-0.14.031437658697✓
7Wofford4–4-0.04.031437648697✓
8The Citadel4–4-0.43.931233608496✓
Rebuilding
9Samford4–4-1.83.6292653799499
10VMI3–5-5.13.031334628698

Conference Power · FCS

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1MVFC
+11.6
0–1Illinois State
2Big Sky
+11.0
0–1Montana State
3UAC
+10.7
2–2Tarleton State
4Southland
+10.6
1–0Stephen F. Austin
5SWAC
+10.3
—Prairie View A&M
6MEAC
+10.2
—South Carolina State
7Coastal Athletic
+9.9
1–2Rhode Island
8SouthernYou are here
+9.9
—Tennessee Tech
9Patriot
+9.7
0–1Lehigh
10OVC
+9.6
1–1UT Martin
11NEC
+9.0
—Robert Morris
12Pioneer
+8.9
1–0San Diego
13Ivy
+8.3
—Harvard

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Southern's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

The Southern Conference is the oldest surviving college football conference in the country (founded 1921) and the birthplace of programs like Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Clemson — all of whom eventually left for what became the SEC and ACC. What remained built its own identity around Samford, Mercer, Furman, Wofford, and The Citadel, with a reputation for academically serious programs that also compete for FCS playoff bids. Chattanooga's 2023 run reached the quarterfinals. The conference's history is longer than the Power Five's.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+9.9
Upper Strength+11.8
Median Power+9.8
Resume Pulse43.9
Avg ATS48.3%
Wins vs Market-0.11
Top-to-Middle Gap4.2
Combined Record13-17

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

Southern Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#118 Tennessee Tech 3-0 +14.0 92 2-1 +0.46 3-0 over the last 3 (W1 W1 W2)
#160 East Tennessee State 1-2 +11.4 9 1-1 -0.72 1-2 over the last 3 (L1 W1 L2)
#164 Mercer 2-1 +11.1 55 1-2 -0.82 2-1 over the last 3 (W1 W1 L2)
#189 Chattanooga 1-2 +10.1 53 1-2 -0.41 1-2 over the last 3 (W1 L1 L2)
#195 Western Carolina 1-2 +9.9 35 1-2 -0.22 1-2 over the last 3 (W1 L1 L2)
#199 Wofford 2-1 +9.8 55 1-2 +0.31 2-1 over the last 3 (W1 W1 L2)
#201 Furman 2-1 +9.7 68 2-0 +0.89 2-1 over the last 3 (W1 L1 W2)
#209 The Citadel 1-2 +9.4 24 1-2 +0.01 1-2 over the last 3 (L1 W1 L2)
#240 Samford 0-3 +8.1 22 2-1 -0.35 0-3 over the last 3 (L1 L1 L2)
#265 VMI 0-3 +4.7 25 1-2 -0.25 0-3 over the last 3 (L1 L1 L2)