The 20 worst college football teams for the 2026 season

Ball State did a nice job getting to a 4-8 record last year, but pretty much every core player has left the program, leaving Mike Uremovich to start from scratch again. The offensive line is suspect, and Ball State doesn't really have a quarterback locked in yet. Texas State transfer Keldric Luster and D-II Concord's Tyler Mizzell will battle for that job ... or maybe they split time during the season. They will need to get their stagnant offense going -- the Cardinals scored fewer than 10 points six times last season. The defense wasn't all that bad, but they need to replace pass rusher Nathan Voorhis, who pulled in 12 sacks last season. 

Last season was awful for Boston College. It bookended a 10-game losing streak with a win over Fordham in the opener and a shocking upset at Syracuse in the finale. Injuries, mistakes, bad defense and some head-scratching moments sunk BC's season rather quickly and, frankly, spectacularly.  Head coach Bill O'Brien has made changes to his coaching staff and via the transfer portal to try to find anything that will stick. The truth is that Boston College is struggling in the NIL era and O'Brien's efforts may not work.

Their big transfer catch was QB Mason McKenzie, who played at Saginaw Valley last year and was the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year. You may joke about that, but some guy named Trinidad Chambliss won that same award for Ferris State in 2024.  But it goes to show the lengths this program is going to to try and be competitive in a wild ACC. If all this newness doesn't click, it is likely another long year on Chestnut Hill.

Boston College won't actually be one of the 20 worst teams in the country when you factor in all the Group of 6 schools, but they very well be one of the worst power schools yet again. 

Since Charlotte started their football program in 2013, it has been an absolute mess. Just one winning season in 13 years -- and that was a 7-6 record -- and they are coming off a 1-11 campaign in Tim Albin's first season in the Queen City. It's hard to believe this program would get worse after the weird Biff Poggi era, but it did. The 49ers' offense was awful, scoring 11 points or less in half of their games ... including scoring only 10 points in their final three games combined.

Albin has the ability to turn around this team and its offense. He made a huge leap in his second season at Ohio and he feels he has good options at QB. But that defense is so young, so inexperienced, and not very deep that it could struggle to hold any opponent down. 

Colorado State may be the one school on this list that could break out to a big season. The reason for that is new head coach Jim Mora, who leaves behind one project (UConn) for another. Mora will be helped by a slew of transfers who moved with him from UConn to set the culture for the future of Rams football. That continuity has worked elsewhere, so it could here.

The challenge is just the amount of change this program is undergoing. Not only do they have a new head coach and nearly an entire roster, but they are moving to an entirely rebuilt conference (Pac-12) that is attempting to form its new identity. The Rams won two games last season -- over FCS Northern Colorado and a head-scratching win over Fresno State. This was the worst team in the Mountain West last season and is now moving with some of that league's top programs to the Pac-12. I have no doubt that Mora will get this program going again, as they did in the Sonny Lubick days of the 1990s and 2000s, but this year will be about laying the groundwork. 

Dell McGee is just 4-20 since taking over Georgia State, so needless to say, the pressure is on for him to show improvement in the program under his watch. There are new coordinators and some new talent injected into the roster, but will it be enough to get out of the Sun Belt basement? The hope lies with Cameran Brown, who came on late in the season and showed flashes of excitement from the QB spot. He may need to work miracles for this thing to get turned around. 

Unlike most teams on this list, Kent State had a pretty good year last season. Okay, 5-7 doesn't seem like a season to scream about, but when you went 1-23 over the previous two seasons under the old coaching regime, it seems the Golden Flash are on the come up.

I expect them to take a step back this season. The reasoning comes with the reality of living in the current college climate in the NIL and transfer portal era -- bigger programs tend to pick apart your talent. That certainly happened at Kent State, though they will bring back QB Dru DeShields to run the offense for another season. The defense will be rebuilt, and the hope is that Mark Carney will be able to use an entire offseason to prepare for a season. Can Carney repeat what he did in 2025 and keep building this program back from the basement?

They open at South Carolina and will head to Ohio State a couple of weeks later. Yikes. 

Louisiana-Monroe had a bit of hope coming into last season after posting a 5-7 mark in 2024. New head coach Bryant Vincent led ULM to their best record since 2019, and it seemed as if this woeful program was finally on the right track. An ugly end to the 2025 season, however, puts the Warhawks back in the abyss they've lived in for much of their existence as an FBS program (they've had just one winning season since moving up to the FBS in 1994).

After a 3-1 start to the season, ULM cratered and lost its final eight games. The offense was bad -- scoring 14 points or less in seven of their 12 games. Quarterback Aidan Armenta is back to try to dig the offense out of its funk, but he will do so with another rebuilt backfield. And if he can't do it, Vincent may decide to go with Houston transfer Austin Carlisle ... who was a receiver/running back for the Cougars last year. The issue this year is the defense -- it was pretty solid in 2024, but regressed last year, and now it lost most of its starters and has a ton of holes to fill. 

Derek Mason is on thin ice at Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders have won just six games in two seasons and have extended their streak of missing a bowl game to three years -- the longest stretch in over 20 years. When you are one of the worst teams at running the football and points allowed, you tend to struggle to win games.

The defense's inability to stop anyone is a problem when you factor in that Mason is a defensive guy. FIU hung 56 on them in a game last year. The three top defensive performances they had were all wins -- albeit against three teams who are also on this list. QB Roman Gagliano showed real flashes at the end of last season so that could be the spark to a better year. If not, there will be a change in Murfreesboro. 

Nevada has had some highs and some real lows over the last 20 years. Wolf Pack legend Chris Ault had this program humming in the 2000s, reaching eight straight bowl games and a special 13-1 record in 2010 with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback. The last four years have been dreary, with the much-maligned Ken Wilson going 4-20 in his two seasons before being fired, and the current Jeff Choate regime going 6-19 over the last two years.

Choate is rebuilding from scratch -- like this program was going nowhere. They still are, but winning three games two years straight is both a sign of progress and frustrating. Nevada, as a program, has the potential to be much better than it has shown, and it needs to regain the trust of its fan base. 

New Mexico State has been one of the worst programs in the FBS over the last 40 years ... and that's not hyperbole. The Aggies have had just six winning seasons since 1986, though two of them came under Jerry Kill's watch in 2022 and 2023. Kill retired, and Tony Sanchez (who didn't find success at UNLV) took over, and success didn't stick around. New Mexico State has gone just 7-17 under Sanchez, including 4-8 last season.

The Aggies' run game was non-existent, and their inability to win close games was primarily due to failing to score enough. Their hope is that transfers Trey Hedden (QB) and James Jones (RB) will be able to lift up an offense to support their pretty tough defense. The key ... like most rebuilding teams ... is to get his units working together sooner rather than later. The O-line is nearly all new, the quarterback is new, and the offensive coordinator is new. 

There is a lot of change at Northern Illinois. For one, they are breaking in a new coach as Thomas Hammock  bolted the Huskies to become the running backs coach for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks in February. So Rob Harley takes over on an interim basis as the program also transitions into the ... Mountain West? Yes, Northern Illinois leaves the snug geographical footprint of the MAC to take on a suddenly thrown-together Mountain West. All of this on the heels of a bad 3-9 season that saw the Huskies finish 11th in the MAC.

Harley will attempt to piece together a team that features no returning starters on defense and an offense that was ridiculously bad under Hammock. The Huskies scored 14 points or less six times and scored more than 21 points just twice (over UMass and Kent State). Fortunately, NIU plays a few other teams on this list, so it is possible they can scrape out a few wins. 

This is a new era for the Pac-12 and for Oregon State football. The problem is there are so many holes on this roster that is will be difficult for new head coach JaMarcus Shephard  to get it all fixed this season. This was a bad roster last season, which caused the school to fire Trent Bray after a 0-7 start. They've gobbled up a lot of transfers with the hope that some of them will break out and become the stars of the future of this program. Oregon State's defense may be the calling card this year, as they showed marked improvement as the season went on last year and Shephard was able to bring several of those guys back. 

This is a groundwork season for the Beavers. The program has been holding on for dear life for two years just to make sure they had a future in big-time college football, so this may be their first chance to actually concentrate on the team. But the security of an actual conference to play in (and not just two games against Washington State) is at least one win on the season. 

Sure, Purdue may not actually be one of the 20 worst teams in the country (they likely could be among quite a few G6 teams), but they are really bad for a power-conference program. The Boilermakers haven't won a conference game in the past two seasons and have won just 3 of 24 games during that span. Barry Odom made some improvements last year and hopes a roster overhaul of transfers will dig them out of the hole. That sometimes works, but it can also mean it will take some time to gel before they get on the same page. Purdue really needs to get out of the gate hot, or they can drown again in a tough Big Ten schedule.

One interesting move is hiring Kevin Kane back as defensive coordinator. Kane followed former head coach Ryan Walters to Purdue in 2023, which began this horrible stretch of football in West Lafayette. Kane helmed the defense that gave up 43.5 ppg in their 11 losses in 2024. Kane left when Walters was fired and was the linebackers coach for Minnesota last year. Odom brought him back this season as the DC. 

While North Dakota State is making the most headlines from an FCS school moving up to the FBS, Sacramento State is also making the jump. This move would have made sense about four years ago when head coach Troy Taylor had this program in the FCS playoffs three times in three seasons, including a 12-1 mark his final year. The Hornets have not come close to that kind of success since, going 18-19, making this leap up in class a very interesting one.

They will be leaving the western-centric Big Sky Conference for the MAC, which will bring some travel challenges. Not only will they have four road games in MAC play, but they end the year in Hawaii. I firmly believe that, eventually, Sacramento State will be a solid FBS program in due time. But a new head coach, a new roster, and the move to a higher level will be too much to overcome in 2026. But keep your eye on these Hornets down the road. 

Phil Longo wasn't the most popular hire when he got the Sam Houston job last offseason. He was just fired mid-season as the offensive coordinator at Wisconsin and hadn't been a head coach anywhere in over 20 years. Even then, he was just 7-14 over two years at La Salle. So, naturally, going 2-10 in his first season with the Bearkats has upset a lot of fans.

Longo took over a program that just went 10-3 in 2024 and watched coach K.C. Keeler leave for Temple. It was a complete mess. Any hope of turning it around will be on QB Landyn Locke, who looked pretty good when he got his opportunity at the end of last season. Longo is about offense, so the hope is that having Locke ... locked in ... as the starter will allow the offense to hit the ground running. What will also help is the Bearkats moving back into their campus stadium, which was undergoing renovations last year.

Still, it comes down to how you perform in that stadium, and Longo needs to pull this team forward, or it could get ugly in Huntsville really quick.

San Jose State has had a history of being in hard times. Just a decade ago, the Spartans had a 3-22 record over two seasons and were one of the worst programs in the country. Brent Brennan turned that around, bringing three 7-win seasons over four years to San Jose. Ken Niumatalolo kept that going with a 7-6 mark in 2024, but the team fell off a bit last year. The Spartans finished 3-9 and were getting pummeled on defense.

The problem is that San Jose State's top players are now gone and the Spartans are in a full reset. Niumatalolo had a tough time in the transfer portal and, frankly, this team just isn't talented enough to compete in the rebuilt Mountain West. The offense fell apart late last season and they were one of the nation's worst at turning the ball over. There was no pass rush and they allowed too many big plays. None of that will seem to get better this season. 

This is how bad things had been at Southern Miss: Charles Huff's 7-6 season last year was such a magical performance that he was quickly snapped up by Memphis. The Golden Eagles were 4-20 in the previous two seasons under Will Hall and interim coach Reed Stringer. Huff came in from Marshall to turn around a 1-11 squad into a 7-win team that played in the New Orleans Bowl.

Huff is gone, but his assistant Blake Anderson takes over. Anderson has had some success at Arkansas State and Utah State, but consecutive 6-7 records and a university investigation led to a messy divorce. Anderson must preside over a massive rebuild with next to no starters returning and a transfer portal haul made up of D-II players. 

UAB could be one of the biggest boom-or-bust teams on this list. The Blazers went 4-8 last year, fired their coach midseason, then hired the interim coach (who went 2-4) for the full-time gig. Alex Mortensen, son of the late ESPN insider Chris Mortensen, gets a full year on the job after the Blazers ended the Trent Dilfer experiment. Still, Mortensen is also an outside-the-box hire -- he has spent time at Division II New Mexico Highlands and with the AAF's Birmingham Iron. He's also been with the NFL's Rams and several years on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama.

He will be charged with getting this program back to where they were under Bill Clark ... but can they?  Mortensen will lean into the run game more than Dilfer did, which should help their defense stay off the field and keep their passing game from tough down-and-distances. Cutting down on turnovers is a must -- mistakes were such killers for the Blazers last year. Look for Rod Robinson to be the focal point of the offense this season. The Georgia transfer didn't get many snaps with the Bulldogs but should be a load in the Blazers' backfield. Emphasizing the rushing attack should help QB Ryder Burton settle in and feel more comfortable.

This program really needs a culture reset. The Dilfer era was awful and mis-timed as UAB moved into The American Conference. They had the Jalen Kitna issues and are only a decade removed from having the football program shut down. They need to get back to the fundamentals on and off the field. 

UMass went 0-12 last year in Joe Harasymiak's first season in Amherst. The Minutemen were bad ... really bad. They allowed at least 40 points in eight games and scored 10 points or less in seven games. Harasymiak is attempting to fortify the defense as he did when he was the head guy at Maine, and he's brought in Max Warner, who is experienced in the MAC, to run the offense. The roster has been overhauled again, but winning just hasn't happened much at UMass. Since moving to FBS in 2012, the Minutemen have tallied a 28-142 record and haven't won more than 4 games in any season.

UMass could actually win some games even though they aren't very good. The first half of the season offers some opportunities to end their 16-game losing streak. An opener at Rutgers (maybe the worst team in the Big Ten) before hosting two FCS schools and then heading across the country to face Sacramento State in what will be ... yes ... an MAC conference game. 

UTEP has been down for much of this century, with a few pops of mild successes mixed in. None of those pops have come recently, as the Miners are 5-19 in the first two seasons of the Scotty Walden era and 25-80 since 2017. Just like many Group of 6 programs in the transfer portal era, the few bright spots from last year jumped ship for better opportunities.

UTEP jumped ship, too, leaving Conference USA to a bit of a more competitive conference in the Mountain West. If running back Tavorus Jones can carry the load of this offense, they have a chance to be the best of the bad teams in this new-look conference. If he can't, it is another long year in West Texas.