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lowes18 Ballot for 2026 Preseason

Ballot Type: Human

Submitted: Aug. 24, 2026, 8:12 a.m.

Overall Rationale: Largely a mix of preseason talent projections, i.e. NFL big boards, recruiting, returning production, in addition to projecting which teams have gained/lost the most in terms of coaching and talent from 2025

Rank Team Reason
1 Oregon Ducks Somewhat worried about the offensive line and health of some of the skill positions, but Oregon returns what might be on paper 2026's best defense in addition to a likely top 5 pick at QB and a loaded WR room. Given the amount of questions I have for other teams, Oregon comes off a fantastic 2025 season with their only real questions being comparatively minor when looking at other contenders.
2 Indiana Hoosiers The reigning national champ, given what they return and add I would have them at #1 if I didn't have a lot of questions about Hoover.
3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Loaded at every position, only real questions are at WR. Faison needs a breakout season and Greathouse has to stay healthy if this team is to potentially win a national title, however Carr has shown he can produce without an elite room.
4 Ohio State Buckeyes Personally I believe we will look back on the 2024-25 Ohio State defense as one of the best in college football's history, so given the amount of talent they lost on that side of the ball I find it hard to rank Ohio State higher than where they are now (I thought about putting both Texas and Miami ahead of them), but the sheer volume of talent on the offensive side of the ball is hard to ignore. In addition Ryan Day and his staff are some of the best in college football when it comes to evaluation and development, while I don't believe the defense will be as good next year, it should be good enough to make them a national title contender.
5 Texas Longhorns Given the talent I would have Texas at #1 or #2 if I had faith in Sark as a head coach and playcaller. The team might be talented enough to make it a moot point, but I have my doubts.
6 LSU Tigers Whatever people think of Kiffin, this team is absolutely loaded. Sam Leavitt had a short but very good 2025 campaign, and while health concerns are real for a QB coming off a season ending injury he will be protected by one of the best offensive lines in football. LSU has major question marks on offense, with the nations top portal class coming in and nearly every offensive skill position player likely being a transfer, but Kiffin has a talent for getting a lot out players early with an offensive scheme that is easy to transition into. For me, its much easier to buy into the on-paper talent translating onto the field, and if it does in conjunction with what is already known to be an elite defense LSU will likely be competing for an SEC and potentially national title.
7 Miami Hurricanes Given that Miami made their hay in the college football playoff based on their line of scrimmage play, the losses to the 2026 draft do leave me with question marks coming into this season. The left tackle position is a huge unknown, either Samson Okunlola (who has an injury history, being limited in camp) or true freshman Jackson Cantwell will win the job. While Cantwell is a generational talent, who may very well just run roughshot over the ACC, potentially having two underclassmen starting on the offensive line feels like a large gamble to me. I find it hard to believe Miami's defense won't take a step back next year(you don't just replace two first round DE's that easily) so the offense will need to step up and score more to make up for it. I have faith that Mensah will be a high production QB who will be able to be what Miami needs him to be to win the ACC with their schedule, but I have questions about his ability to step up and win big games if it comes down to it.
8 Texas Tech Red Raiders Texas Tech is so far ahead of the Big 12 on the lines of scrimmage that I find it hard to believe they won't be in the playoffs in 2026. While the team did lose a lot coming off a great draft, I have enough faith in their coaching staff to reload.
9 Ole Miss Rebels Given the elite RB/QB combo with Chambliss/Lacey, I have little doubt this team will have a great offense in 2026. With the amount Ole Miss spent in the portal, in addition to a full off-season with Golding at the helm, I think the defense will be improved as well. Only real concern with this team is the offensive line, compared to every other team in the title hunt, Ole Miss is projected to be rather subpar at the offensive tackle position.
10 Oklahoma Sooners Oklahoma is elite where it matters, on the lines of scrimmage. I am not high on Mateer, but I believe Oklahoma has enough around him to be serviceable on offense with some emerging young talent at the offensive skill positions. If they can run the ball and be fine on offense, their loaded defense should allow them to compete for a playoff spot yet again.
11 Georgia Bulldogs Georgia has an elite secondary, but for me that's about where it ends in terms of units on this team that I know are championship caliber. They have plenty of young players that need to step up if they want to truly compete for a national title in 2026. Given that they largely return a team that 12-2 last year its hard for me to rank them any lower, but to me they are not in the tier where I can just write it in stone they will be competing for anything of significance in 2026. If their young talent does take a huge leap, and guys like Nate Frazier finally take that step to being nationally elite players, Georgia could be in the title mix for 2026.
12 Tennessee Volunteers Tennessee in my opinion had one of the most underrated off-seasons of 2026, while the loss of Coleman took most of the attention, I believe the Vols are still slated to have a massive upgrade on the defensive side of the ball given their DB additions. On offense I find it hard to believe that the next QB to step up in place of Aguilar won't be a massive upgrade. While I normally hold reservations for young QB's, Huepel runs a system that makes it easy to integrate underclassmen. With one of the best offensive lines in CFB, along with a very good WR corps, I think Tennessee will largely be improved on both sides of the ball in 2026 and rather clearly in the playoff hunt if not for a difficult schedule.
13 USC Trojans While Jordan Maiava grabs a lot of the attention for USC, for me their potential in 2026 comes down to the lines of scrimmage. The loss of Kilian O'Connor is massive, but outside of him USC returns 4 other starters on what was already an elite unit in 2025. With the WR losses in the draft, USC will need some of their younger skill position talent to show up. I have some confidence that the defense will be better next year, while the loss of Devan Thompkins does hurt he is likely replaceable with some of the younger talent. Jahkeem Stewart should fill Thompkins role nicely, and Jamaal Jarrett could be a quality depth piece/potential starter depending on health. They will be relying on a lot of young guys on defense such as Luke Wafle and Elbert Hill however. If USC's #1 2026 class can pay early dividends, along with a potential Heisman candidate at QB, it gives USC a punching chance to compete for a title in 2026.
14 Michigan Wolverines With a dynamic 1-2 punch at RB, and a good offensive line, Michigan should have at the very least a solid and efficient offense. However both the QB position and D-lines are significant wild cards, if both hit Michigan has the chance to be a real national title contender, if not this team will likely be around 8-4 and far outclassed by some of the teams on their schedule. Given that this team went 9-3 last year with a disaster of a coaching staff and Underwood taking his freshman lumps, I lean slightly towards Michigan being better in 2026.
15 BYU Cougars BYU returns what might be one of the most underrated interior offensive lines in the country in 2026. I have no doubt this team will be able to effectively run the ball and play well on defense, however I have major concerns when it comes to this teams passing game. Their WR unit projects to be bad and I have little faith in Bachmeier as a passer, but with the talent everywhere else this team should play above their deficiencies to a good season.
16 Texas A&M Aggies My opinion of Texas A&M is torn between my absolute faith in Elko as a head coach and my absolute distrust of Marcel Reed as a passer. I don't believe A&M brought in enough talent to make up for their losses in the 2026 draft, as such they will likely take a significant step backwards from their 11-1 record in 2025.
17 Alabama Crimson Tide If Keelon Russell had come out of camp having taken the QB job by the horns I would have much more faith in Alabama this season. Outside of a loaded DB room, every other position feels too deficient for Alabama to compete for anything of note in 2026. Admittedly Russell's potential is the only reason I don't have this team lower.
18 Washington Huskies Washington is potentially one of the most volatile teams coming into 2026. Starting on the offensive line, the loss of Azzopardi is significant, however his replacement is incoming 5* Kodi Greene who looks ready to take the reigns as a freshman. If he hits in addition to all of the known commodities, Washington will have a good line to protect one of the best QBs in college football in Demond Williams. Washington's defense is built middle-out, there is good reason to be confident in their interior defensive line, safeties and linebackers, however their DE's and CB's are massive areas of concern that limit what this team could potentially be even if the offensive reaches its potential.
19 SMU Mustangs SMU likely will have the second best offensive line in the ACC this season, potentially by a decent margin. That will give veteran QB Kevin Jennings plenty of opportunity to lead this team back to the CFP. However Jennings has had plenty of injuries during his time in college, SMU should be talented enough that it won't matter against most competition, but they will need him fully healthy to realize their full potential.
20 Arizona Wildcats Coming off an under-the-rader good 2025 season, Arizona should be solid again for 2026. With how wide open the Big 12 is, the returning production Arizona has on offense should give them a leg up compared to their competition. Arizona was able to retain some key pieces on the offensive line outside of Ka'ena Decambra who left for the NFL. With guys like Tristian Bounds who projects to be one of the better OT in Big 12 play, as long as Arizona can adequately replace Decambra they should have one of the better units in conference. Despite my faith in the offense, in my opinion the defense has too many question marks (with four DB's alone being drafted) to put this team in the Texas Tech/BYU tier of the Big 12. However Arizona should have enough talent to have an outside shot of claiming a conference title.
21 Louisville Cardinals On paper I love the Louisville team, but personally I found the disaster that was last year for the Cardinals too much to ignore. If Lincoln Kienholz hits, Louisville has enough talent to compete with some of the best teams in the country. If not this could be yet another lost season for the Cardinals. I can't really project too much until I see him play.
22 Florida Gators Florida returns a great defense from 2025, one that was statistically phenomenal before the wheels fell off the bus on the team during the seasons mid-way point. Florida's new OC, Buster Faulkner, has a lot to prove this year to show he wasn't just running the Haynes King show. If he can get Aaron Philo to live up to offseason hype, and if Florida's offensive skill positions can stay healthy, this team could potentially compete for a playoff spot.
23 Vanderbilt Commodores Despite the massive loss of QB Diego Pavia, I have a lot of faith in this coaching staff to add talent in order to keep Vanderbilt relevant in 2026. True freshman QB Jared Curtis has the potential to be an elite playmaker, but its a lot to ask of a young QB in the SEC. I see Vanderbilt as a team that will likely improve as the season goes along, even if they start slow.
24 Penn State Nittany Lions Penn State lost a lot of key players to the portal and NFL draft last year, but I believe the team returns enough to tread water and be decent in 2026. The offensive line will probably take a step back, but anchored by talented pieces such as Malachi Goodman I have a hard time believing it won't be a decent unit on the team. Rocco Becht is a known solid commodity at QB at this point, he is who he is which should be good enough to keep this team competitive. Penn State lost a ton of talent to the draft/portal, especially on the d-line, but they likely have enough talent stocked up to still be a decent unit. Yvan Kemajou went under the radar with Chaz Coleman breaking out in 2026, but there were games where it was Kemajou being relied on more. If he takes a step next to the veteran pieces Penn State has, it could potentially be a strong point of the team. The rest of the defense returns a lot of production or is importing it from Iowa State, so it should at the very least be solid.
25 California Golden Bears JKS deservedly takes most of the spotlight when it comes to Cal football, but in my opinion Cal had one of the better portal classes in 2026. They brought in plenty of proven offensive and defensive production to put enough around JKS to where if he takes the step forward his talent suggests is possible, this could be a great team next year.

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