At the halfway point of the 2026 college football season, the Pac-12 has a clear front edge: No. 23 Boise State and Oregon State have pulled away from everybody else.
Boise State got there with a gritty 38-31 road win at Fresno State last Saturday. Oregon State followed by steamrolling San Diego State 66-14 at home. Those two programs now sit above the rest of the league, and their Nov. 14 meeting at Albertsons Stadium carries major weight - it could decide home field advantage for the Pac-12 championship game.
Boise State’s win was its best offensive showing of the year, and it came against one of the conference’s better defenses. Dylan Riley continues to drive the Broncos’ attack as the nation’s leading rusher, sitting at 127 carries for 835 yards and six touchdowns.
Oregon State, meanwhile, has turned its offense into a national talking point, but the Beavers have also quietly built the Pac-12’s best defense by yardage, allowing just 326.3 yards per game. That number may tighten up even more this week, with a matchup coming against one of the nation’s weakest offenses.
Fresno State took the loss to Boise State in a game where the Bulldogs fought but couldn’t get the stops they needed late. Their run game also wasn’t the same without Rayshon Luke, though he could be back this week.
The middle of the league is a mess of teams trying to find some traction. The Bobcats have a stretch of two home games they can win before heading into back-to-back road trips to Boise State and Oregon State. Colorado State gets a well-timed bye after that, and the break may help in more ways than one: quarterback Hauss Hejny could be back, and Jim Mora also got time to rework the defense after the firing of defensive coordinator Tyson Summers.
Utah State picked up a 17-16 home win over Washington State on Friday, and the result only reinforced what the standings already suggest: the bottom of the Pac-12 is ugly. In that kind of crowd, the Aggies have at least looked like the most competent team.
San Diego State’s situation has turned far more uneasy after the 66-14 loss at Oregon State. The source of that collapse was pointed: the Aztecs may have quit on head coach Sean Lewis during the blowout, and Saturday’s game will show whether there’s anything left in the tank.
Washington State remains at the bottom until Kirby Moore makes a change at quarterback, with Caden Pinnick still the starter after the Cougars’ 17-16 loss at Utah State. The next chance for a response comes Saturday at Oregon State.
In Other News...
Boise State Has Two Legit Pac-12 Offensive Player Of The Year Threats
At the midpoint of the 2026 college football season, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year race has shaped up as a showcase for some of the conferences most productive playmakers, and Boise State is right in the thick of it. The spotlight has mostly centered on Oregon State quarterback Atkinson, who has piled up the nations passing yards, and true freshman receiver Legree, who has matched that production on the perimeter by leading the country in receiving yards and touchdowns.
But the Broncos have a pair of legitimate threats of their own in fifth-year senior quarterback Maddux Madsen and junior running back Malik Riley, a combination that gives Boise State multiple ways to control games on offense. Madsen has been as steady as they come with 1,296 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and no turnovers, while Riley sits atop the national rushing leaderboard with 835 yards, making the Broncos one of the few teams with two players strong enough to stay in the award conversation deep into the season. [Read more 🡒]