2026 College Football Previews

[Leonardfan]

On the heels of @TwentyTwo and his annual position writeup of WRs I realized it's time to start coordinating the annual college football write-up project.


Changes in 2026:

PAC-12 returns as a 'legitimate" conference after realignment and the super conferences destroyed it a few years ago. They go from 2 to 8 teams. Conference realignment does continue and geography continues to mean nothing as the Mountain West conference brings in a MAC team and the MAC gets a California based team. The most intriguing story is North Dakota State jumping up to the FBS as a member of the Mountain West conference. Long an FBS powerhouse with a strong tradition of fielding majority White teams, it will probably begin succumbing to the caste system as most teams seem too.


ACC
Boston College Eagles - Leonardfan
California Golden Bears
Clemson Tigers - Carolina Speed
Duke Blue Devils - Carolina Speed
Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Louisville Cardinals
Miami (FL) Hurricanes
NC State Wolfpack - Carolina Speed
North Carolina Tar Heels - Carolina Speed
Pitt Panthers - Don Wassall
SMU Mustangs
Stanford Cardinal
Syracuse Orange - Leonardfan
Virginia Cavaliers - Leonardfan
Virginia Tech Hokies - Leonardfan
Wake Forest Demon Deacons - Carolina Speed

American
Army Black Knights
Charlotte 49ers
East Carolina Pirates
Florida Atlantic Owls
Memphis Tigers
Navy Midshipmen
North Texas Mean Green
Rice Owls
Temple Owls - Jphoss
Tulane Green Wave
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
UAB Blazers
USF Bulls
UTSA Roadrunners

Big 12
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona State Sun Devils - Leonardfan
Baylor Bears
BYU Cougars
Cincinnati Bearcats
Colorado Buffaloes
Houston Cougars
Iowa State Cyclones
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas State Wildcats
Oklahoma State Cowboys
TCU Horned Frogs
Texas Tech Red Raiders
UCF Knights
Utah Utes
West Virginia Mountaineers - Don Wassall

Big Ten
Illinois Fighting Illini
Indiana Hoosiers - Leonardfan
Iowa Hawkeyes - Leonardfan
Maryland Terrapins
Michigan Wolverines - Phall
Michigan State Spartans
Minnesota Golden Gophers
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Northwestern Wildcats
Ohio State Buckeyes
Oregon Ducks
Penn State Nittany Lions - Don Wassall
Purdue Boilermakers
Rutgers Scarlet Knights - Leonardfan
UCLA Bruins
USC Trojans
Washington Huskies
Wisconsin Badgers - Bucky

Conference USA
Delaware Blue Hens - Jphoss
FIU Panthers
Jacksonville State Gamecocks
Kennesaw State Owls
Liberty Flames
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Missouri State Bears
New Mexico State Aggies
Sam Houston Bearkats
WKU Hilltoppers

MAC
Akron Zips - Bucky
Ball State Cardinals - Bucky
Bowling Green Falcons - Leonardfan
Buffalo Bulls - Leonardfan
Central Michigan Chippewas - Bucky
Eastern Michigan Eagles - Bucky
Kent State Golden Flashes - Leonardfan
Miami (Ohio) RedHawks - Leonardfan
Ohio Bobcats - Bucky
Sacramento State Hornets - Leonardfan
Toledo Rockets - Bucky
UMass Minutemen - Bucky
Western Michigan Broncos - Bucky

Mountain West
Air Force Falcons
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Nevada Wolf Pack
New Mexico Lobos
North Dakota State Bison
NIU Huskies - Jphoss
San Jose State Spartans
UNLV Rebels
UTEP Miners
Wyoming Cowboys

Pac-12
Boise State Broncos
Colorado State Rams
Fresno State Bulldogs
Oregon State Beavers
San Diego State Aztecs
Texas State Bobcats
Utah State Aggies
Washington State Cougars

SEC
Alabama Crimson Tide
Arkansas Razorbacks
Auburn Tigers
Florida Gators
Georgia Bulldogs
Kentucky Wildcats
LSU Tigers
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Missouri Tigers
Oklahoma Sooners
Ole Miss Rebels
South Carolina Gamecocks
Tennessee Volunteers
Texas Longhorns
Texas A&M Aggies
Vanderbilt Commodores

Sun Belt
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia State Panthers
James Madison Dukes
Marshall Thundering Herd
Old Dominion Monarchs
Arkansas State Red Wolves
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
South Alabama Jaguars
Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Troy Trojans
ULM Warhawks

FBS Independent
Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Jphoss
UConn Huskies

 

[Leonardfan]

Took the liberty of assigning a few teams.

Don get's the most intriguing team of the year in PSU.

 

[Don Wassall]

Took the liberty of assigning a few teams.

Don get's the most intriguing team of the year in PSU.

You can give me Pitt and WVU again. Go Penn State!

 

[Carolina Speed]

I'll try and get as many ACC teams as possible. Certainly, Clemson, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and Wake Forest.

 

[Leonardfan]

You can give me Pitt and WVU again. Go Penn State!

I'll try and get as many ACC teams as possible. Certainly, Clemson, NC State, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and Wake Forest.

Thanks to you both!

 

[jphoss]

I’ll take Notre Dame, Temple, and you can give me a few others

 

[Bucky]

Willing to take a big chunk of the MAC.

 

[Leonardfan]

I’ll take Notre Dame, Temple, and you can give me a few others

Willing to take a big chunk of the MAC.

Thanks guys! I'll help with the MAC too @Bucky

 

[Leonardfan]

Bringing this back to the top.

 

[TwentyTwo]

Thanks Leonardfan for starting the annual College team previews! Started 2026 WR thread a little early; LSU Baseball didn't make it to the CWS. Meant to get to this sooner but i usually like to wait n see everybody gets the Teams they want. Impressive the MAC filled up quickly!

I am always good for a few.....last year i did the Louisiana teams ; but it's been more random thru the years

AGREED....The "Geography" continues to be Clown-world ridiculous!
Easy SWITCH ...
>Sacramento State to the MOUNTAIN WEST
>Northern Illinois back to the MAC where they also belong

+ not really fan of a Conference being larger than 14....16 Max

This just looks BETTER
Mountain West
Air Force Falcons
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
Nevada Wolf Pack
New Mexico Lobos
North Dakota State Bison
Sacramento State Hornets
San Jose State Spartans
Texas State Bobcats
UNLV Rebels
UTEP Miners
Wyoming Cowboys

*Texas State Bobcats may also be a better fit in Mountain West too

Pac-12
Boise State Broncos
BYU Cougars
Cal Bears
Colorado State Rams
Fresno State Bulldogs
Oregon State Beavers
San Diego State Aztecs
Stanford Cardinal
Utah State Aggies
Washington State Cougars

The PAC 12 with 8 TEAMS should ADD Stanford & Cal (ACC) back ...
Just call it the PAC 10...If you ADD Utah? or BYU?

ACC loses Cal & Stanford .....but gains WEST VIRGINIA & U.CONN

ACC
Boston College Eagles
U.Conn Huskies
Clemson Tigers
Duke Blue Devils
Florida State Seminoles
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Louisville Cardinals
Miami (FL) Hurricanes
NC State Wolfpack
North Carolina Tar Heels
Pitt Panthers
Syracuse Orange
Virginia Cavaliers
Virginia Tech Hokies
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
West Virginia Mountaineers

The BIG 12 might take some extra work
SMU (get out of ACC) & MISSOURI (out SEC) to the BIG 12
Ir's a BIG MESS now

Start a NEW SOUTHWEST conference...??
Big 12 Arizona State & Central Florida (UCF) don't belong in the same Conference

Toooo much hot yard work today ...may need to Stop this madness LOL
I'm out ; just my 2 cents!