The 8 Most Intriguing Teams in College Football for 2026

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The 8 Most Intriguing Teams in College Football for 2026

Kyle Wood · Athlon Sports

Thu, Jan 29, 2026 ·

12 min read

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A few college football teams come seemingly out of nowhere most every fall to capture the fascination of the nation. Although Texas Tech's breakthrough was foretold by a monster offseason, Virginia's ascent came as a surprise.

The dust has settled on a busy coaching carousel, and the even more chaotic transfer portal window has closed, so coaches and their players are more or less in the positions they'll be in when Week Zero rolls around in August. So which teams should you keep an eye on in the buildup to kick off and beyond?

Athlon Sports arrived on eight teams (representing all four power conferences) for a variety of reasons, taking into account coaching changes, transfer portal movement, mounting pressure and potential or likelihood for a breakthrough season in 2026. And if you've been paying attention to the wild world of college football over the past few months, you know where this list has to start.

LSU

New LSU head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Dec. 1, 2025.© Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

All eyes will be on the Bayou Bengals this fall after Lane Kiffin reasserted himself as college football's premier villain. Just to refresh, Kiffin left Ole Miss high and dry just before the College Football Playoff began to take a job at a conference rival. Then the Rebels nearly reached the title game without him as he tried to pry away coaches and players from his former post. In case you were wondering, LSU plays at Ole Miss on Sept. 19 .

There's a fair chance that this union works out, despite how it came to pass. Nick Saban reportedly advised Kiffin that LSU was the best job in America , and Kiffin was widely regarded as the top hire in the coaching carousel. There was plenty of talent already in place, and then the "Portal King" brought in the top-ranked transfer class. That 40-player group is headlined by quarterback Sam Leavitt (Arizona State), tackle Jordan Seaton (Colorado) and edge-rusher Princewill Umanmielen, one of four players who followed Kiffin from Ole Miss.

RELATED: Early SEC Football Predictions for 2026

Then again, if this hire doesn't produce instant success, there won't be much patience. LSU as a program and Kiffin as a coach already command the national spotlight, and how the two parties came together only invites further scrutiny. For all of Kiffin's success since he returned to the SEC (55-19 at Ole Miss), he has never coached in a Power 4 championship game or in a playoff game. That didn't stop the Tigers from making him the second-highest-paid coach in the country . LSU is also coming off its worst season since 2021 and just fired a coach (Brian Kelly) who went 34-14 through 3½ seasons. National championships are the expectation in Baton Rouge , and Kiffin wasn't brought in to deliver anything less.

Indiana

It took Curt Cignetti two seasons to transform the losingest program in college football history into an undefeated national champion . Can he and the Hoosiers do it all over again? The early indications for Indiana to at least return to the playoff look promising, even with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and several other key contributors off to the NFL .

Indiana reloaded with a highly regarded transfer portal haul , led by quarterback Josh Hoover (TCU), receiver Nick Marsh (Michigan State) and edge-rusher Tobi Osunsanmi (Kansas State). There's continuity at offensive and defensive coordinator, and Cignetti has quickly asserted himself as one of the sport's top coaches. The Hoosiers quickly went from a nice story to a juggernaut, and they won't be taking any teams by surprise this time around as they enter 2026 as a championship contender and a favorite in the Big Ten .

RELATED: Early Big Ten Football Predictions for 2026

Indiana's 2026 schedule appears to be more difficult than its '25 slate. Although the Hoosiers rolled through a gauntlet in the postseason, they played just two top-25 teams in the regular season. There are four teams ranked in Athlon's way-too-early top 25 on the docket in '26, including a rematch with Ohio State . Ahead of the national championship, Cignetti said , "In college football, nowadays, you've got to win every year." After assembling a winner, he now aims to maintain one.

Ole Miss

The Pete Golding era is already off to a rousing start even before his first full season at the helm. He led the Rebels to a pair of playoff wins after Kiffin's unceremonious exit and brought in the nation's No. 2 portal class behind only his old boss . Ole Miss is still waiting on clarity regarding the eligibility of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. If his appeal for an additional year is granted, he will instantly become a Heisman favorite and strengthen the Rebels' standing as a title contender. Even if Chambliss doesn't return, transfer Deuce Knight ( Auburn ) is ready to take the reins under center.

Ole Miss was quick to revamp its roster in the portal, particularly on defense, and keeping running back Kewan Lacy was a coup for Golding's group. But the Rebels still saw a number of players and coaches defect to LSU from a 13-2 team, which invites continued comparison between the two programs. Only Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas have more wins over the past three seasons than Ole Miss, so there is a newfound standard to uphold in Oxford.

The Rebels' schedule appears to be one of the toughest in the SEC. And they had better hit the ground running in September with a difficult season opener against Louisville and Kiffin's return. Ole Miss is a team to keep an eye on all offseason as Chambliss' case plays out and the NCAA investigates allegations of tampering. Speaking of which ...

Clemson

It was Dabo Swinney who accused the Rebels of tampering . The Tigers coach hit the portal harder than he ever has on the heels of a 7-6 season, his worst since 2010. Granted, nine newcomers pales in comparison to the size of many other programs' transfer hauls. But that change in approach — and the fallout from Luke Ferrelli's jump to Ole Miss — shows that Swinney knows he's fallen behind some of his peers.

Clemson was projected as a title contender in 2025 and, at worst, a threat to win the ACC . Instead, the Tigers limped to a 1-3 start and were in danger of missing a bowl game before they pulled it together in November. That experienced, albeit underperforming, group could lose as many as three first-round picks to the NFL , plus quarterback Cade Klubnik . Swinney is counting on new faces and a reunion with offensive coordinator Chad Morris to return to form.

RELATED: Early ACC Football Predictions for 2026

Other than Miami, the ACC is not rife with championship-caliber teams. A quick turnaround is entirely possible, especially for a coach of Swinney's caliber. But it won't take long to know if the Tigers have truly turned a corner with a Week 1 test at LSU. What's more, Little Ol' Clemson could open the season unranked for the first time since 2011.

Virginia Tech

The Hokies have fallen by the wayside in the new era of college football, and they're betting that James Franklin can lift a once-proud program out of the doldrums. Things got stale for the former Penn State coach in Happy Valley, but 10-win seasons would be a welcome problem in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech has just one winning season to show for this decade and finished 3-9 last fall.

The ACC will be an easier conference for Franklin to conquer than the Big Ten, and he brought a dozen of his former players with him to facilitate a smooth transition, including quarterback Ethan Grunkmeyer. Fired coach Brent Pry is also sticking around as the Hokies' defensive coordinator to reunite with his old boss.

Virginia Tech profiles as a fringe preseason top-25 team that could make some noise in the ACC thanks to a forgiving first-half schedule. Franklin's portal haul and increased investment from the university immediately raises the floor for the Hokies, who haven't been ranked since 2021 and have missed a bowl game in three of the past six seasons. The bar for improvement at Virginia Tech is low, but the ceiling is high. And after Cignetti's instant success at Indiana, other athletic departments will be less likely to wait around for a winner.

Oklahoma State

The Cowboys (1-11) were the worst power conference team in the country last season, coach Mike Gundy's 21st and final in Stillwater. The winningest coach in Oklahoma State history, who was fired in September after a loss to Tulsa, didn't leave behind a strong foundation. Enter: Eric Morris and a good chunk of the North Texas roster.

Morris oversaw the Mean Green's best season ever, and he will attempt to carry over that success in the Big 12 with largely the same cast of players. Quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young, the engines behind the highest-scoring offense in college football, were among those who followed their coach to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys' 54-player portal haul was the largest in the FBS, and it included 17 of Morris' former players.

RELATED: Early Big 12 Football Predictions for 2026

That degree of roster continuity should help Morris breathe life back into a program that's just 4-20 since it lost the 2023 Big 12 Championship Game. It's not an easy draw in Year 1 with Oregon still on the schedule, plus Texas Tech and Houston. Considering the Cowboys have lost their last 20 games against FBS opponents, even a trip to a bowl game would represent marked improvement. And if Mestemaker is a hit and the defense shows signs of improvement, Morris could have Oklahoma State in the mix sooner rather than later.

Vanderbilt

It's time to find out what the Commodores are all about without Diego Pavia. Although he was the engine behind their recent rise, it's a testament to what coach Clark Lea has built that Vanderbilt was ready to weather his departure with five-star quarterback Jared Curtis on the way.

A step backward is to be expected for the 'Dores on the heels of their first 10-win season. Pavia, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, and tight end Eli Stowers , a likely Day 2 NFL Draft pick, will be difficult to replace. But Lea hit positions of need in the transfer portal and brought in Vandy's highest-ranked recruiting class in over a decade, a validation of the team's success over the past two seasons. A somewhat forgiving schedule could allow the Commodores to post a winning record for a third consecutive season, something they haven't done since the 1950s.

The year ahead will reveal a lot about Vanderbilt's staying power in the SEC after spending the previous decade — and much of its history — as an afterthought. Lea was a hot commodity in the coaching cycle, but he opted to stay at his alma mater. Then he pried Curtis, a Nashville native, away from Georgia. The 2024 breakthrough was a heartwarming story, while 2025 was a statement . Continued success in 2026 would be representative of a trend.

Houston

The Year 2 Willie Fritz bump held true for the Cougars , who more than doubled their win total from four to 10 in 2025. And it looks as if Houston is here to stay as a contender in the Big 12. Fritz held onto his offensive and defensive coordinators and brought back quarterback Conner Weigman and star wide receiver Amare Thomas. Departures on defense could prove problematic, but the Cougars hit the portal for reinforcements on that side of the ball.

The path back to double-digit wins and maybe even a spot in the conference championship game is there for the taking. Houston, which will likely open the year ranked for the first time since 2022 , has a pair of pivotal games at Texas Tech and Utah. The rest of the Cougars' schedule is manageable.

While there's no pressure for him to play with Weigman returning, Houston also signed quarterback Keisean Henderson, the No. 1 player in the 2026 recruiting class. Finally in the Power 4, Fritz has already built a strong foundation with the Cougars. And the thing about Fritz's storied Year 2 bump, a trend that dates back to the 1990s at Blinn College, is that his teams have historically continued to improve. If all goes well, a breakout season could be in store for Houston.

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 29, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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