Full 12-team playoff field, championship game predictions for 2026-27 season | College Football Insider
Let’s try this again, shall we?
OK, so my preseason College Football Playoff picks last year weren’t great.
I picked Penn State to win it all and Nittany Lions coach James Franklin was fired midseason. I had Clemson as the other team in the national championship game and the Tigers went 7-6, their worst win total since 2010.
Overall, six of my 12 teams ended up in the field in December, including Big 12 champion Texas Tech, but not including eventual national title winner Indiana.
I’m not alone, though. Everyone is mostly batting .500 when it comes to preseason picks. In 2024, four of the preseason top 10 in The Associated Press missed the 12-team field. Last year, five of the preseason top 10 failed to make the playoffs, including four of the top six.
So, as the third year of the 12-team CFP arrives, are we getting better at this or worse? Only time will tell.
With Week Zero having kicked off the 2026-27 season, here are my official playoff picks, with apologies to all fanbases involved.
No. 1 seed: Texas (SEC champion)
This is the season the Longhorns have been building toward the entire 2020s. Yes, they made the playoff in the last year of the four-team field, but it’s now Arch Manning’s senior season and second as the full-time starting quarterback. The rest of the roster is oozing with talent, led by potential first-round draft picks in wide receiver Cam Coleman, edge rusher Collin Simmons and offensive tackle Trevor Goosby. The schedule is tough, featuring seven preseason top 25 opponents, but this team is ready to rise above the rest of the SEC.
No. 2 seed: Notre Dame (independent)
One of the few things I got right last year was that the Fighting Irish would miss the playoff and they wound up as the first team out of the field; whether that was the correct decision by the committee is up for debate. Notre Dame has arguably the best defensive player in the country in cornerback Leonard Moore and a young quarterback ready to break out and become a superstar in CJ Carr. Barring a hiccup at BYU or home against Miami, this team could go undefeated.
No. 3: Ohio State (Big Ten champion)
The best non-quarterback in the country is Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, and that’s why the team from Columbus should be the Big Ten favorites once again, despite losing 11 players to the NFL from last year’s squad that lost in the CFP quarterfinals. Quarterback Julian Sayin is still somehow underrated and ready to navigate a difficult schedule that features a three-game stretch at Indiana, at USC and home vs. Oregon in late October and early November.
No. 4: Miami (ACC champion)
The Hurricanes have reloaded after giving Indiana all it could handle in last season’s national title game. Quarterback Darian Mensah comes over from Duke after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns last season. Outside of a road trip to South Bend, Indiana, to take on Notre Dame in early November, Miami should cruise to a 12-1 record and, somehow, its first ACC title.
No. 5: Texas Tech (Big 12 champion)
The Red Raiders have gone from a plucky, high-scoring team that could lose a game they scored 50 points in under Patrick Mahomes to maybe the biggest villains in the sport a decade later. No, Brendan Sorsby won’t play quarterback for Texas Tech this fall, but that won’t matter much against a super-soft Big 12 schedule that should have Joey McGuire’s squad ready to go for a potential meeting against BYU in the conference title game for a second straight season.
No. 6: Georgia (SEC at-large)
This isn’t nearly the same Bulldogs team that steamrolled its way to back-to-back national titles earlier this decade, but Kirby Smart still has arguably the most solid program in the SEC. The high-end, championship ceiling might not be there for this year’s Georgia team, but it’s hard to imagine this roster won’t be able to make the playoff with games against Oklahoma and at Ole Miss as the only true landmines on the schedule.
No. 7: Oklahoma (SEC at-large)
Speaking of the Sooners, they’ve also loaded back up after a disappointing first-round home loss to the Crimson Tide last season. Quarterback John Mateer is back and a healthier, more consistent version of him could have OU be one of the most dangerous teams in the country, one that can go toe-to-toe with archrival Texas and compete for a championship.
No. 8: Oregon (Big Ten at-large)
Road games against USC and Ohio State may limit the regular-season ceiling for the Ducks, but this feels like a potential breakthrough season for Dan Lanning. Oregon may have the best quarterback in the country in Dante Moore and a defense loaded with future NFL talent.
No. 9: LSU (SEC at-large)
Lane Kiffin should be thankful that the Texas Tech/Sorsby saga distracted everyone from the fact that he’s the real villain in college football, ditching Ole Miss for Baton Rouge in the midst of a historic season in Oxford. Kiffin’s first season with the Tigers has no room for error, either, with tens of millions of dollars spent on the roster, plus all the money shelled out to former coach Brian Kelly to end his tenure prematurely. Kiffin’s return to Ole Miss on Sept. 19 is the highlight of the entire regular season.
No. 10: Indiana (Big Ten at-large)
Count out Curt Cignetti if you dare, but Indiana is ready to prove it was not just a Fernando Mendoza-driven team. TCU transfer Josh Hoover is as talented a quarterback you’ll find in the country and if any coach can help him put it all together, it’s Cignetti. Recent veteran additions thanks to local court rulings have beefed up the Indiana defense, too.
No. 11 BYU (Big 12 at-large)
Is this the year the Big 12 finally gets multiple teams in the 12-team playoff? It just might be as the Cougars are loaded once again after just missing the field a year ago, with coach Kalani Sitake spurning Penn State to stay in Provo. BYU has a dynamic backfield duo in quarterback Bear Bachmeier and running back LJ Martin, plus a defense that should be one of the best in the country.
No. 12 Boise State (Pac-12 champion)
The best of the rest, the Broncos will be the most popular pick to represent the Group of Six this season and rule changes will almost certainly prevent a second champion from outside the Power Four conferences from reaching the playoff. That’s all right, though, because the Group of Six doesn’t project to be nearly as strong as it was last year after seeing multiple talented coaches elevated, but Boise State should be talented enough to dominate the new-look Pac-12.
National championship game: No. 2 Notre Dame over No. 8 Oregon
There is something different about the Fighting Irish in the Marcus Freeman era, just look at the rosters. Notre Dame is recruiting in a way it never has before and that’s why the ceiling has gone from a program capable of occasionally reaching the national championship game on the back of a soft schedule to one that can outright win it. The Irish get the first title since 1988.
The list: 5 other teams that could make the CFP
- Houston
The Cougars could win 10 games in the regular season, with road trips to Texas Tech and Utah as only games they’re likely underdogs. But, say Willie Fritz’s team knocks off a Utes team that’s not as good as expected and Houston is suddenly 11-1 and playing for a Big 12 title? It’s not a crazy thought.
- Ole Miss
One of the last four teams standing last season, the Rebels should feel like they ought to be a preseason favorite to get back to the playoffs, mostly due to the return of standout quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, a former Division II transfer who surprised everyone with his play last fall. Now, can they do it without Kiffin for a full season?
- Southern California
The Trojans host Ohio State and Oregon and travel to face Indiana and Penn State. Is going 2-2 in those games and unbeaten in the rest to finish 10-2 that unreasonable? No, and that just might be enough for USC to reach the playoff and for coach Lincoln Riley to quiet any talks about him being on the hot seat.
- N.C. State
Trying to figure out the second-best team in the ACC is not an easy exercise. Is it Louisville? SMU? Why not the Wolfpack? Quarterback CJ Bailey is a potential breakout candidate and N.C. State has a soft schedule that only includes one preseason-ranked opponent in No. 24 Louisville, which travels to Raleigh in early October. This could be an 11-1 regular-season team.
- UNLV
Let’s go with one option that could take Boise State’s spot as the Group of Six representative. The Rebels should be the favorites in a new-look Mountain West now that New Mexico will be without quarterback Jack Layne for the entire season and a rebuilding American Athletic Conference is unlikely to produce a team capable of challenging for this spot.
Quotable
“I think last year was the first year that my approach to the first game was not right and obviously we didn’t come out successful. Every other year prior, we stalked our opponent and made sure we knew every nuance and every single detail about them. Last year, I was just so focused on trying to get our guys right and made sure they played the way we wanted to play. This year, I just went to my old-school approach of what got us the biggest upset in college football history (against UNLV) when I first got into it at Howard. It was to stalk your opponent, to know every single thing about them, know every call (the defensive coordinator) ever made and to give the kids the best chance to win versus the looks that guy has presented in the past because we all have things we’ve done before as coaches. Our approach going into game one (at Georgia Tech) will be to make sure we play to the standard that we want to play (to) and then also have (a) great scheme, as well.” — Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion on preparing for Week 1 at Georgia Tech on Thursday (6 p.m. ESPN)