FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Southland

#17 overall#6 in FCSRR50 +9.8Upper strength +14.710 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

McNeese Country

The Southland Conference lost several members to the newly formed United Athletic Conference in 2023, including Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, and Eastern Kentucky. The remaining core — Lamar, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls, Houston Baptist, and Northwestern State — rebuilt as a smaller, regional Gulf Coast conference.

FCS10 teamsRace: FCS PlayoffLeader: Stephen F. Austin

Southland · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The Challenger

Southeastern Louisiana's Recurring Threat

Southeastern Louisiana made the FCS bracket three times in five seasons and beat a seeded program in the second round in 2023. Their Hammond, Louisiana program draws from the same New Orleans and north shore pipeline that LSU uses for its walk-ons. When their offense is healthy in November, they are the most dangerous team in the Southland and the most likely program to knock McNeese off the automatic bid.

Wild CardNicholls and the Gulf South Pipeline

Nicholls State in Thibodaux, Louisiana has made the FCS bracket and demonstrated they can compete with mid-major bracket programs. Their recruiting base — deep Louisiana, the bayou corridor south of Baton Rouge — produces linemen and skill players that FCS programs across the country try to reach. If Nicholls can maintain their 2024-25 talent level, they are a legitimate automatic bid challenger in 2026.

Conference standings · Southland · 2026

Standings

#	Team	Conf	Overall	Pwr
1	Stephen F. Austin	6-0	9-0	+20.5
2	Lamar	5-1	7-2	+16.7
3	Incarnate Word	4-2	5-4	+15.5
4	McNeese	3-3	4-5	+7.6
5	Houston Christian	3-3	4-5	+7.2
6	East Texas A&M	3-3	3-6	+6.9
7	SE Louisiana	2-4	4-5	+11.3
8	UT Rio Grande Valley	2-4	4-5	+9.6
9	Nicholls	2-4	3-6	+4.1
10	Northwestern State	0-6	0-9	+0.8

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

Projected standings · Southland · 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	≥9	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Stephen F. Austin	7-2	+10.5	6.7	7	28	59	83	95	99	✓	✓	✓
2	Lamar	6-3	+6.6	6.0	2	13	37	65	86	96	99	✓	✓
Challengers
3	Incarnate Word	6-3	+5.5	5.7	1	9	29	58	82	95	99	✓	✓
4	SE Louisiana	5-4	+1.3	4.8		2	11	31	57	81	94	99	✓
5	UT Rio Grande Valley	4-5	−0.4	4.4		1	7	22	46	72	90	98	✓
The field
6	McNeese	4-5	−2.4	3.9		1	3	13	34	61	84	96	✓
7	Houston Christian	4-5	−2.8	3.9			3	12	32	60	84	96	✓
8	East Texas A&M	4-5	−3.1	3.8			3	11	30	57	82	95	99
Rebuilding
9	Nicholls	3-6	−5.9	3.3			1	6	18	42	69	90	98
10	Northwestern State	2-7	−9.2	2.7				2	8	25	53	81	96

Conference power · FCS

Where we stand

#	Conference	Avg power	Record	Top team
1	MVFC	+12.4	—	South Dakota State
2	Big Sky	+10.9	1-2	Montana State
3	UAC	+10.8	4-1	Tarleton State
4	Southern	+10.4	0-1	Tennessee Tech
5	SWAC	+10.0	2-1	Alabama A&M
6	SouthlandYou are here	+9.8	—	Stephen F. Austin
7	OVC	+9.7	—	Gardner-Webb
8	Ivy	+9.6	—	Harvard
9	MEAC	+9.4	—	South Carolina State
10	Coastal Athletic	+9.2	—	UAlbany
11	Patriot	+8.8	—	Lehigh
12	NEC	+8.2	—	Central Connecticut
13	Pioneer	+8.2	—	St. Thomas (MN)

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

Conference Snapshot

RR50+9.8

Upper Strength+14.7

Median Power+8.9

Resume Pulse48.4

Avg ATS49.3%

Wins vs Market+0.01

Top-to-Middle Gap11.9

Combined Record43-47

League Drivers

Power leader Stephen F. Austin #63 overall | +20.5 pts vs avg Resume leader Stephen F. Austin #63 overall | 96 / 100 resume ATS leader Stephen F. Austin 75.0% cover rate Beat expectation Lamar +1.51 wins vs market

Southland 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
#63	Stephen F. Austin	9-0	+20.5	96	6-2	+0.87	4-0 over the last 4 (W5 W7 W8 W9)
#97	Lamar	7-2	+16.7	86	5-4	+1.51	3-1 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 W9)
#108	Incarnate Word	5-4	+15.5	68	5-3	-0.27	3-1 over the last 4 (L6 W7 W8 W9)
#177	SE Louisiana	4-5	+11.3	34	2-7	-0.95	1-3 over the last 4 (L6 W7 L8 L9)
#198	UT Rio Grande Valley	4-5	+9.6	34	3-5	-0.95	2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 L9)
#224	McNeese	4-5	+7.6	45	4-4	-0.39	2-2 over the last 4 (L5 W7 L8 W9)
#231	Houston Christian	4-5	+7.2	48	4-4	+1.28	2-2 over the last 4 (W5 W7 L8 L9)
#234	East Texas A&M	3-6	+6.9	38	5-4	-0.06	2-2 over the last 4 (W5 L7 L8 W9)
#256	Nicholls	3-6	+4.1	26	2-7	-0.50	1-3 over the last 4 (L5 L7 W8 L9)
#278	Northwestern State	0-9	+0.8	10	5-3	-0.43	0-4 over the last 4 (L5 L7 L8 L9)