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What early-season game are you most excited to see?
The 2025 college football season was a wild one, culminating with a thrilling College Football Playoff and a national title for undefeated Indiana, capping one of the most unlikely turnarounds in the sport’s history.
The season also saw a tumultuous coaching carousel, with several big-brand programs — LSU, Penn State, Florida and Michigan among them — making changes at the top.
On the heels of all that, it’s hard not to look forward to the fall to see what college football does for an encore. So we asked our reporters what games, players and teams they are most excited to see in 2026.
Jump to a section: Early-season games | Storylines Impact players | Newcomers Teams that could surprise
Andrea Adelson: LSU at Ole Miss, Sept. 19. The Lane Kiffin grudge match — in his return to Oxford — should be No. 1 on every viewing. How will the crowd greet him? How will his former players greet him? Will there be any pregame antics? How will his old team stack up against his new team? Will bygones be bygones? Somehow I doubt it. This game also should have plenty of SEC and CFP implications after both teams loaded up through the transfer portal.
Heather Dinich: I’m with Andrea on LSU-Ole Miss. There’s no shortage of drama in this one, and in addition to the Kiffin theatrics, let’s not forget he was hired to win a national title — yesterday. LSU will have already faced Clemson, which is also in must-win mode. This will be Kiffin’s first road trip as LSU’s head coach — and it couldn’t be in a more hostile environment. If LSU loses its opener against Clemson, the biggest game of the year might be in Oxford.
Rittenberg: How does the SEC bounce back? The 12-team CFP era has humbled the sport’s most dominant conference, but it is still packed with well-resourced programs led by talented coaches. Georgia and Texas project as national title contenders, and Texas A&M and Ole Miss are coming off of their first CFP appearances. Will the momentum sustain at Oklahoma? How quickly can Lane Kiffin make progress at LSU? There are a lot of possibilities.
Schlabach: Circling back to the SEC, I’m intrigued to see what Ole Miss looks like after Pete Golding’s first offseason in charge, and how much better LSU is under Lane Kiffin. There are new coaches at Kentucky (Will Stein), Florida (Jon Sumrall), Auburn (Alex Golesh) and Arkansas (Ryan Silverfield). The hottest storyline in the SEC, other than Ole Miss vs. LSU, will be if Kalen DeBoer can turn things around at Alabama. Anything short of a 5-0 start won’t go over well in Tuscaloosa.
Rittenberg: Incoming transfer quarterbacks have led the last two national championship teams in Will Howard (Ohio State) and Fernando Mendoza (Indiana). We could see similar impacts in 2026 at places such as Texas Tech (Brendan Sorsby), Indiana (Josh Hoover), Miami (Darian Mensah) and LSU (Sam Leavitt), although there are more incumbent QBs for CFP contenders. I also think Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith goes on a tear in what will be his final college season.
Adelson: Speaking of incumbent quarterbacks, it is hard to imagine Dante Moore not having a huge impact in his return to Oregon. Moore could have left and been a top selection in the NFL draft, but his performance in the CFP semifinals left him wanting one more chance to end his career on a much brighter note. Oregon once again has the talent in place to compete for a national championship. Will 2026 be the year with Moore back?
Schlabach: I can’t wait to see what wide receiver Cam Coleman does at Texas. He showed elite potential at Auburn, even as the Tigers couldn’t seem to figure out the quarterback spot under Hugh Freeze. Now that Coleman will be catching passes from Manning, the sky seems to be the limit. He’ll form a scary receiver duo with Ryan Wingo.
Wilson: Miami’s Malachi Toney will be just 18 when the season starts, already with a 109-catch, 1,211-yard season with 10 TDs under his belt, and he didn’t have his first 100-yard game until October. With a year of experience and a full offseason for his coaches to find new ways to use him, the future is scary for “Baby Jesus.”
Dinich: Don’t you guys know that defense wins championships? Nine of Notre Dame’s top 10 tacklers return from 2025. Quarterback CJ Carr will be better in his second season, but as the offense adjusts to life without running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, the Irish should have a championship-caliber defense it can depend on.
Trotter: You all remember Jeremiah Smith, right? Yeah, he’s still in college after two All-American seasons. The rising junior wide receiver remains the most impactful non-quarterback in college football. With several marquee games on Ohio State’s schedule, Smith will have plenty of chances to make his mark on this season.
Lyles: I agree with all of the above, but I’ll add Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood based on his potential. I am excited to see what new offensive coordinator Jason Beck is going to be able to do with him after seeing the success Beck had with Devon Dampier at both New Mexico and Utah. If he’s able to have similar success with the Wolverines, there’s no question Underwood will be one of the more impactful players this season.
Adelson: I am going to use the newcomer term loosely here and go with a player who is a newcomer on his team — Hollywood Smothers at Texas. The Longhorns have not had a game breaker at running back the past few seasons, and that is what they are banking on Smothers being. Over his time at NC State, Smothers emerged as a versatile, reliable and quick back with the ability to make defenders miss. His addition will help Texas compete for a national title.
Dinich: Alabama’s next QB. With Ty Simpson gone, it will be either Keelon Russell or Austin Mack, and neither has thrown more than 35 career passes. Instead of hitting the transfer portal, coach Kalen DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb remained confident one of the first-time starters already in the program can get the job done.
Schlabach: Along with Penn State, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Michigan rebound in former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham’s first season. Underwood is going to be great, and tailback Jordan Marshall and receiver Andrew Marsh have a chance to be very, very good. If John Henry Daley bounces back from a lower-leg injury, he’ll be one of the best edge rushers in the country.
Dinich: I haven’t closed the door on Lincoln Riley and USC — yet. This feels like a playoff-or-bust season for Riley, but he’s got the pieces in place to do it. Quarterback Jayden Maiava returns, along with standout running back King Miller and all five of the starting offensive linemen. Riley also lured in the nation’s top recruiting class, and if the Trojans can beef up their defense, a postseason run is possible.
Trotter: Arizona quietly won five games in a row to close out the regular season before falling to SMU in its bowl game. Quarterback Noah Fifita, who had a resurgent 2025 campaign, has 73 career touchdown throws, more than any returning passer in the country. The Wildcats do have several starters to replace on both sides of the ball. But behind Fifita’s experience, they could still emerge as a stealthy playoff contender.
David Hale: Clemson at LSU in Week 1. This game has the feeling of two ships passing in opposite directions. On one side, there’s LSU, awash in hope after snagging Lane Kiffin to helm the program. The Bayou Bengals have loaded up on talent in both the portal and the recruiting trail, and Kiffin has injected an air of optimism that exceeds even what came with Brian Kelly’s arrival four years ago. For Clemson, the opposite is true. Dabo Swinney is coming off his worst season since 2010, with a question mark at QB and a host of NFL talent now off to the NFL. A year ago, this game was marked as a top-five matchup with the winner a likely title contender. LSU didn’t live up to that hype, and it cost Kelly his job. Clemson lost last year, and the wheels came off after that. A win in this game could turn the wariness of Clemson fans on its head and make 2026 the year Swinney revived the program — or it could be the year it all came to a crashing halt.
Mark Schlabach: Arizona State at Texas A&M, Sept. 12. The Aggies were on their way to one of the best seasons in program history until the wheels came off in the last two games with losses at Texas and against Miami in the CFP. Quarterback Marcel Reed is back, and he’ll be better if he cuts down on his turnovers. Alabama transfer Isaiah Horton is a big target to work the field with Mario Craver. The Sun Devils took a step back after winning the Big 12 in 2024, then lost quarterback Sam Leavitt (LSU), tailback Raleek Brown (Texas) and receiver Jordyn Tyson (NFL). Can Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley take the next step at quarterback? The talent is there to do it.
Jake Trotter: I’ll throw Oklahoma at Michigan on Sept. 12 into the conversation. The Sooners are coming off a banner season under Brent Venables, and with quarterback John Mateer back, they should have aspirations of returning to the playoff and potentially making a run. Kyle Whittingham, meanwhile, has stabilized a Michigan program that fell into disarray under Sherrone Moore. Whittingham succeeded in convincing ballyhooed quarterback Bryce Underwood to stick in Ann Arbor. This will be a prime opportunity for Underwood to show he can propel the Wolverines into playoff contention.
Harry Lyles Jr.: Florida State at Alabama, Sept. 19. This pick is based partially on seeing how Alabama responds after losing this matchup last year and partially on the potential fallout from this result. A loss for either the Seminoles or the Crimson Tide will put their coach firmly on the hot seat, assuming both teams enter this game 2-0. I think both Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and FSU’s Mike Norvell are really good coaches, but knowing college football fans, the heat will be on for the loser of this one and the margin for error will become pretty much zero.