An offseason filled with coaching turnover, eligibility battles in court, and a busy transfer portal is over, and the 2026 college football season is officially here.
But before the first ball is kicked, rankings need to drop to stir up fan bases across the country.
Here's how we see the 67 power-conference programs stacking up heading into the season.
*Notre Dame is considered in these rankings despite being an independent
67. Purdue - Barry Odom is a proven coach, but the lack of talent on Purdue's roster has him bringing a knife to the weekly gunfight.
66. Stanford - Replicating last season's four-win campaign would be a successful start for Tavita Pritchard as Stanford's new coach.
65. Iowa State - With over 55 new players on the roster following Matt Campbell's departure for Penn State, name tags are needed in Ames.
64. Boston College - Hopefully, some of the increased financial commitment the school promised Bill O'Brien went toward fixing the ACC's worst run defense and second-worst rushing attack.
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63. North Carolina - When we write this piece next season, will Bill Belichick still be the coach at North Carolina?
62. Syracuse - Steve Angeli is healthy again, but a creaky offensive line protecting a quarterback coming off knee surgery isn't usually a winning recipe.
61. Rutgers - Unless Greg Schiano's new defensive coordinator, Travis Johansen, fixes the Scarlet Knights'129th-ranked defense, it's tough to see a bowl game for Rutgers this year.
60. Colorado - Coach Prime insists things have "already turned," and we "just ain't seen the fruit" after last year's 3-9 record ... whatever that means.
59. Maryland - The Terrapins have gone 1-14 after September over the past two seasons, so they get their wins early.
58. Michigan State - Pat Fitzgerald is 2-16 in his last 18 conference games as a head coach and is somehow an inspired hire for the Spartans.
57. West Virginia - Rich Rodriguez's offense is set to run wild, but the defense went 0-8 last season when it allowed 85 or more rushing yards.
56. UCF - The Knights are 7-20 in league play since moving into a Power 4 conference and are placing their hopes of a turnaround on James Madison transfer Alonza Barnett at quarterback.
55. Cincinnati - The Bearcats ranked last among 136 FBS teams in possession time last season, and that was with a talented QB like Brendan Sorsby.
54. Arkansas - A tough schedule, a porous returning defense, and the lack of a standout quarterback could make for a rough Year 1 for Ryan Silverfield.
53. Northwestern - A new stadium, a new quarterback, and Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator are certainly three reasons to watch Northwestern.
52. Mississippi State - A whole lot of people outside the state of Mississippi are about to realize that quarterback Kamario Taylor is a star.
51. Kentucky - The Wildcats might not improve on last year's record, but Will Stein and Kenny Minchey will ensure the team doesn't rank 104th in scoring offense again.
50. Kansas - A very difficult schedule and suspect defense will likely make Year 1 without Jalon Daniels tough for Kansas.
49. Wake Forest - No pillow-soft schedule for Wake Forest this year, as both Miami and Louisville are on the slate immediately in ACC play.
48. TCU - Life without Josh Hoover could be rough for TCU, but not before the team boosts its ego by thumping North Carolina in Ireland to start the year.
47. Vanderbilt - While Clark Lea has built Vanderbilt into a serious program, it'll probably take freshman quarterback Jared Curtis a little time to morph into the five-star version of Diego Pavia.
46. Minnesota - If this were a list based on coaching slogans, Minnesota would be No. 1.
45. Baylor - DJ Lagway might finally meet the hype, but the quarterback position isn't what put Dave Aranda on the hot seat.
44. Missouri - After bullying eight teams with losing records for all its wins last year, Missouri has to face the likes of Florida, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas, and Georgia in 2026.
43. UCLA - Stop me if you've heard this before: a downtrodden Big Ten program turns to a highly successful James Madison coach, who brings a number of players with him.
42. Wisconsin - Luke Fickell needs to deliver the best season of his Wisconsin tenure to justify the program bringing him back despite an overall 17-21 record.
41. Nebraska - The reward for Nebraska's best season in a decade is a nightmare Big Ten schedule featuring Indiana, Oregon, and Ohio State.
40. Duke - Manny Diaz will deserve a lifetime contract at Duke if he can get another nine-win season after losing Darian Mensah and essentially the entire receiver room.
39. Florida State - The situation at Florida State has morphed into a "Seinfeld" episode in which George (Mike Norvell) remains the coach because the school doesn't want to pay his $54-million buyout despite a laughable 3-13 conference record over the past two years.
38. Virginia Tech - The games almost don't matter for James Franklin in Year 1 after he announced at ACC Media Days that Virginia Tech had already 'won the offseason.'
37. Auburn - The school might build a statue of Alex Golesh on The Plains if he can deliver its first winning season since 2020.
36. Oklahoma State - We might be too optimistic about Eric Morris' and Drew Mestemaker's impact, but we'll take a chance in believing that their additions will instantly fix last year's 1-11 team.
35. NC State - While the names on the back of the shirts may change, Dave Doeren has won at least eight games in seven of his last nine seasons at NC State.
34. Cal - As long as star passer Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is wearing a Cal jersey, the Bears will be a problem for any opponent on the schedule.
33. Virginia - Six of Virginia's eye-popping 11 wins last year came in one-score games - a trend likely to regress as the Cavaliers drop from the top 25.
32. Georgia Tech - The physicality will still be there, but losing quarterback Haynes King and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner takes significant sting out of the Yellow Jackets.
31. Pitt - This season is all about running through the finish line for Pitt, with nine of its 11 losses in the last two years coming after the calendar flipped to November.
30. Clemson - Dabo Swinney insists Clemson is still a national title contender, but 4-4 conference records in two of the last three campaigns in a weak ACC suggest the contrary.
29. Arizona State - Kenny Dillingham could coach you, me, five people from accounting, three people from HR, and the night janitor to a .500 record, so he should have no problem getting Arizona State back into Big 12 contention.
28. Washington - All the right things are being said about Demond Williams' return, but the vibes can't be great at Washington after the star quarterback tried to transfer and was ultimately forced to return due to his contract.
27. Illinois - Fundamentally sound, consistent, nine-win Illinois is becoming one of the more reliable teams in the Big Ten during Bret Bielema's tenure.
26. Arizona - Noah Fifita is still in college to give Arizona a high-powered offense, but the schedule features most of the Big 12's best this year after a cupcake slate last season.
25. Iowa - Until Kirk Ferentz vacates the campus, you can expect the same run-heavy, punt-happy, solid defensive Iowa team that routinely sits around the 25th spot in the nation.
24. Kansas State - If new coach Collin Klein can't fully unlock Avery Johnson at the quarterback spot, nobody can.
23. Houston - Veteran starting QB Conner Weigman returns after a 10-win season, but the Cougars will also likely incorporate the nation's top-ranked high school quarterback, Keisean Henderson, into the offense as well.
22. Florida - If the on-field product is anything like Jon Sumrall's SEC Media Days performance, the glory days will be back at Florida.
21. Utah - Not to add pressure to Morgan Scalley's debut season, but Utah went 12-0 the last time the team didn't have Kyle Whittingham as its head coach.
20. Tennessee - A relatively comfortable schedule by SEC standards should help Tennessee smoothly transition whichever freshman quarterback earns the starting role.
19. Louisville - Jeff Brohm has proven his teams can beat just about anybody while also being vulnerable to a mind-numbing loss at any time.
18. SMU - A 14-2 conference record over the past two years has made it clear that SMU is an ACC powerhouse, but it's time to take a step on the national level.
17. BYU - Another year of being inferior to Texas Tech but superior to the rest of the Big 12 seems to be on deck for Kalani Sitake and BYU.
16. Michigan - Kyle Whittingham gives Michigan the leadership it desperately needed, but new offensive coordinator Jason Beck and his ability to get Bryce Underwood cooking are just as crucial.
15. Penn State - The blend of last year's Iowa State and Penn State rosters might not be a title contender, but a schedule free of Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon should see the Nittany Lions threaten 10 wins.
14. Alabama - Redshirt-freshman quarterback Keelon Russell is ready to shine, and that might be what's needed to help Alabama erase the memories of its worst bowl loss in program history.
13. Ole Miss - The Lane Kiffin cloud is gone - at least until his return with LSU in September - and the electric duo of Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy is back to light up SEC scoreboards again.
12. Oklahoma - A healthy John Mateer should help an offensively challenged Oklahoma, while the Sooners once again bring back one of the nation's best defenses.
11. Texas Tech - The defense will again ruin quarterbacks' dreams, but there's a reason Texas Tech desperately wanted to add Sorsby to run the offense.
10. USC - Anything less than 10 wins will be a disappointment for USC, which certainly didn't think Lincoln Riley would be entering his fifth year with only one season of double-digit victories.
9. Texas A&M - The defense will be elite again, but it's on Marcel Reed to be a star if the Aggies have a deep CFP run on their wish list.
8. LSU - It's scary to think what Lane Kiffin can do with LSU's talent after winning at least 10 games in each of the last three seasons at Ole Miss.
7. Indiana - Curt Cignetti will probably call us out for disrespecting the defending champions, but Josh Hoover isn't the same caliber of quarterback as Fernando Mendoza.
6. Georgia - There aren't many sure things in college football, but our guess is Georgia won't rank 118th in sacks per game again in 2026.
5. Miami - Mario Cristobal and Miami are looking to Darian Mensah to help break the streak of the last three national runner-ups missing the playoffs the following season.
4. Notre Dame - The Fighting Irish return more production than any other team in the country, have a future first-rounder at quarterback, and are angrier than the "lady yelling at cat" meme after last year's playoff snub.
3. Ohio State - The Buckeyes lost half their elite defense to the NFL, but they reloaded with five-stars all over the field and still have the likes of Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Bo Jackson on offense.
2. Oregon - It's national championship or bust for Oregon this year, with Dante Moore back and arguably the nation's most talented defense.
1. Texas - The Arch Manning hype train is about to hit supersonic speed after the Longhorns added Cam Coleman, Hollywood Smothers, and Raleek Brown through the transfer portal.
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