FCS CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

UAC

#14 overall#3 in FCSRR50 +10.8Upper strength +14.68 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

Built by Choice

The United Athletic Conference launched in 2023 as a collection of programs that outgrew their previous conferences: Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, Utah Tech, and West Georgia. Most of these programs made recent FCS-to-FBS moves or FCS playoff appearances before the conference formed. The UAC is not a legacy institution — it is a self-selected group of programs that identified each other as peers and formalized it, which is an unusual way to build a conference and a natural experiment in modern FCS competition.

FCS8 teamsRace: FCS PlayoffLeader: Tarleton State

UAC · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The frontrunnerTarleton State's Title Defense

Tarleton State sit atop the UAC midway through 2026 (+17.8), going 9-0 in 2026. Until someone closes the gap, every other team in this conference is chasing them.

The challengerAustin Peay: Closing the Gap

At +16.0, Austin Peay sit at 7-2 — the most realistic challenger in the UAC. The gap to the frontrunner is 1.8 power points, a margin that one strong head-to-head result can erase.

Wild cardCan Abilene Christian Break Through?

Abilene Christian sit at 5-4 and rank outside the top two in UAC power — but their offensive efficiency numbers suggest a team capable of an upset. If they can improve on this season's inconsistency, the playoff run conversation changes.

Conference standings · UAC · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Tarleton State4-09-0+17.8
2Abilene Christian4-05-4+14.7
3Austin Peay3-17-2+16.0
4North Alabama2-25-4+11.7
5Eastern Kentucky2-23-6+9.5
6West Florida1-34-3+8.2
7Central Arkansas0-42-7+8.7
8West Georgia0-41-8+4.6

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

Projected standings · UAC · 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 ≥7≥6≥5≥4≥3≥2≥1
Favorites
1Tarleton State5-2+6.44.652454819599✓
2Austin Peay4-3+4.64.331744739298✓
Challengers
3Abilene Christian4-3+3.34.121339709198✓
4North Alabama4-3+0.33.6172554809599
The field
5Eastern Kentucky3-4−1.93.231541729299
6Central Arkansas3-4−2.73.131336679099
Rebuilding
7West Florida3-4−3.22.82928578497
8West Georgia2-5−6.82.31417437494

Conference power · FCS

Where we stand

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

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

The United Athletic Conference launched in 2023 as a collection of programs that outgrew their previous conferences: Abilene Christian, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State, Utah Tech, and West Georgia. Most of these programs made recent FCS-to-FBS moves or FCS playoff appearances before the conference formed. The UAC is not a legacy institution — it is a self-selected group of programs that identified each other as peers and formalized it, which is an unusual way to build a conference and a natural experiment in modern FCS competition.

Conference Snapshot

RR50+10.8
Upper Strength+14.6
Median Power+10.2
Resume Pulse53.7
Avg ATS49.0%
Wins vs Market-0.20
Top-to-Middle Gap7.1
Combined Record36-34

`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.

UAC 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
#84 Tarleton State 9-0 +17.8 95 3-6 +1.31 4-0 over the last 4 (W6 W7 W8 W9)
#105 Austin Peay 7-2 +16.0 81 5-4 +0.04 3-1 over the last 4 (W5 L6 W7 W8)
#125 Abilene Christian 5-4 +14.7 50 5-4 -0.39 4-0 over the last 4 (W5 W6 W7 W9)
#174 North Alabama 5-4 +11.7 69 7-2 +0.59 2-2 over the last 4 (W5 L7 L8 W9)
#199 Eastern Kentucky 3-6 +9.5 30 4-5 -0.78 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 L9)
#208 Central Arkansas 2-7 +8.7 32 4-4 -2.03 0-4 over the last 4 (L6 L7 L8 L9)
#216 West Florida 4-3 +8.2 60 3-3 +1.03 1-2-1 over the last 4 (L5 T6 W7 L8)
#255 West Georgia 1-8 +4.6 13 2-6 -1.39 0-4 over the last 4 (L6 L7 L8 L9)