Exploring College Football Playoffs & Big Rivalries in 2026
Discussion on the 2026 season focuses on Ohio State's potential wins, Texas' tactics, and emerging rivalries, setting the stage for thrilling playoff scenarios.
Video Transcript
So we talked about your top four, Indiana, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State.
So you're thinking, okay, Ohio State won the regular season, Indiana won the, Big Ten championship.
Like, you can make those natio- na- those natural inferences when you're looking at some of this.
Texas being their number five.
Are we to assume, Bill, that Ohio State then beat Texas in Austin on the opening week?
That, that's the other one.
Could one beat one in the regular season, and then they trade and play again?
We talked about this on this show last week, where this is a potential for a growing rivalry because they're gonna see each other more.
They're, they're They have so much money, so much resources, so much talent at both places that it's impossible not to believe that they would see each other a couple times.
This would tell me that, yeah, Ohio State wins that game, and then Texas maybe gets to the SEC championship, which they did two years ago, loses to Georgia, gets the five seed.
And then you get into a situation where they would pl- be playing Pac-12 Boise State, by the way.
Because I, I We can also assume that the Group of 6 school most of the time is probably gonna be that 12 seed, unless they're, they're undefeated or, you know, ranked in the top 15 somehow.
But Boise State, perhaps UNLV, also Nor- even North Dakota State in their first year in the Mountain West Conference could be a, a candidate to get that spot.
Yeah, that seems like a very coveted spot nowadays, that five spot where you're playing one of those Group of 6 teams.
It feels like it's not necessarily a bye week, but kind of a tuneup week where you're not sh- really showing everything you got because you're playing a Boise State or you're playing a Tulane, and you just have the talent where you don't need to go out there and, I guess, show everything.
So what other What, what, what big, upsets do you have coming up?
I'm just I just really wanna see just a full picture of this playoffs, 'cause I'm excited about it.
Yeah, you know, as we- What do y'all think?
We have USC in the playoff.
We have them playing Miami.
Right.
That was one that caught people's attention.
That, one, we had USC, and then, two, I had them winning a game.
You know- beating Miami in the first round, which would assume that Miami wins the ACC championship.
The Trojans go in.
That would be a fun first-round playoff game, by the way, if you had the U playing the Trojans.
You know, one of the things about these playoff match-ups is you come across, and they haven't played, you know, obviously in a, a long time.
So, you know, if, if you have that match-up come materialize, and you have Myava playing against Mensah, that would be fun to see.
So that was one of the surprises.
And then you get into the quarterfinal round where, you have match-ups like Ohio State and Texas.
And, uh- you know, you have Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round, no problem this time.
So it starts to get more fun at that point when, You know, those are the ones that are hard to predict.
I'm not copping out, because these are my predictions.
They are.
We do them every year.
But, you know, last year, for example, I had Texas and Ohio State in the championship game because at the time I thought those are the One thing I do do when I make these predictions is you kind of weigh on those are the most talented rosters.
Yeah.
A- and that does matter in a 12-team setup.
It really does.
The irony is you have Texas then, I mean, apparently Ohio State winning that first one, Texas winning the rematch in the playoffs, moving on.
Another team that you had making the playoffs and winning a game, Ole Miss, down there led by Trinidad Chambliss.
I think that's gonna be one of the more intriguing teams to watch this year, Bill, when you start talking and looking at this.
USC being in there, that was not a, I mean, a crazy surprise 'cause they should be pretty talented.
Can Lincoln Riley get it done?
But can the Ole Miss train keep on rolling even without Lane Kiffin?
LSU, noticeably absent- from there with Georgia, Texas.
You have Oklahoma and Ole Miss.
Was it difficult to kind of parcel that out?
And do you believe, you know, th- the Rebs are gonna be better than LSU this year?
I do, and I think they're gonna win that game when they play on September 19th.
Now, I could change that in watch- when, when we're talking in, like, week three, watch me pick LSU to win that game in my predictions file.
But, I, I do think Trinidad Chambliss and they have enough to get back there.
Now, that spot could be LSU, and it could be Alabama.
Alabama's got a, one of the softer schedules out of the SEC teams.
So, again, Kalen DeBoer and that program maybe out of sight, out of mind isn't the worst thing in the world.
Now, what also struck me with this quarterfinal round is I definitely have four Big Ten teams in there.
Indiana, Ohio State, USC, and then that, what, what would be just an amazing match-up if we got it w- would be Oregon, Notre Dame.
We've talked about Dan Lanning and Marcus Freeman being kind of the two coaches that are fighting for that title of best coach without a national championship right now.
And if they were matched up, boy, I think home field would Or not home field.
I guess proximity might matter in that one, depending on what bowl game they were at.
You'd have a fantastic match-up there between those schools.
