Boise State has a ‘flex game’ on its Pac-12 schedule. Here’s what that means
The Pac-12 released its 2026 football schedule on Wednesday evening, providing all eight football-competing schools in the conference with a picture of what the upcoming season will look like.
For Boise State, it’ll begin with four straight non-conference games before playing its first Pac-12 game at home against Utah State on Oct. 3.
The following seven weeks play out like any other regular season, with the Broncos playing all seven other conference teams, culminating in a home game against San Diego State on Nov. 21.
However, there’s still one late-season gap in the Broncos’ schedule for the weekend of Nov. 28 labeled “Flex Game.”
Here’s what a flex game is, and what that means for Boise State.
What is the Pac-12’s flex game?
Because there are only eight football programs in the Pac-12 in 2026, each team can play only seven conference games without any repeats.
Rather than scheduling a home-and-home series for all eight teams ahead of the season, the Pac-12 has opted to add a flex game in week 13 that will function as a non-conference game. The addition of the flex game ensures every Pac-12 team still finishes the regular season having played 12 games.
Adding the late-season flex game will allow the Pac-12 to evaluate the standings at the end of the regular season and then schedule the games that the conference believes will be most beneficial to its teams in qualifying for either the CFP or bowl games.
“Today’s schedule release is a major milestone on our path to launch,” Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould said in a news release. “And the creativity behind our 2026 format reflects the strategic vision for what this conference will become.”
Because the flex game is considered non-conference, it won’t affect the final Pac-12 standings.
That means the conference championship game on Dec. 4, which will include the top two teams in the conference standings and is hosted by the first-place team, will be decided by Nov. 21.
The flex game, scheduled for Nov. 28, will count only toward each team’s overall record and won’t be decided until after conference play ends and approximately six days before the game is scheduled to be played.
There are some limitations to who Boise State will play in the flex week.
The Pac-12 has committed to providing each team with at least six home games in 2026, including four home conference games. Boise State has been designated as a road team for its flex game, meaning the Broncos will play one of Utah State, Washington State, Fresno State or Colorado State on the road on Nov. 28.
The conference also aims not to have any team play at the same location twice in the regular season — the only team of the four mentioned above that the Broncos don’t already play on the road is Utah State.
However, further considerations will be taken into account before scheduling the flex weekend. If the conference deems a second road game for Boise State at Washington State, Fresno State or Colorado State would best position either team for postseason success, the Broncos could play a team twice on the road within the regular season.
