2026 Pac-12 football championship tiebreakers
How tied conference records affect the race for the two championship-game places.
Official policy and scope
Read the official Pac-12 policy. This guide summarizes the procedure implemented by Sport Predictor; the conference remains the authority for actual qualification.
How the tiebreakers work
Week 13 flex games do not count toward championship selection. The 2026 policy uses different criterion orders for two-team and multi-team ties.
For two teams, head-to-head is followed by common opponents in standings order, all common opponents, CFP ranking, the team rating, and a coin toss. For larger ties, all common opponents precede ordered common opponents, and conference-opponent strength precedes the team rating.
Projected CFP ranks are modeled inputs, not the committee’s actual decision. They use a national rating order before the flex week. As with the Big 12, the model assumes continuation at the next criterion when a tie reduces to three or more without awarding a berth.
Uncertain inputs and interpretations
Official external ratings and final draws are not assumed to be known. The forecast supplies modeled inputs when needed, while rules-only standings can remain unresolved. See the methodology for how those assumptions differ from official results.
A reduction to three or more teams requires policy clarification.
The policy explicitly restarts after a team is seeded and when reduced to two. A proper subset of three or more remains possibly qualified until the conference clarifies how that tie resumes.
Not confirmed by the conference.