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Not every season of college football looks the same, especially when you get into the 'championship contenders' conversation. Some years, there's maybe two to three teams at the top who are legitimate contenders for a title. In other years there's only one team that looks far superior to the rest. This year, we believe that there's several teams that could realistically contender for a championship this season. 

This is shaping up to be a really competitive and fun year of college football when you factor in all of the returning production coming back to top teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon and a handful of others. This is gearing up to be a strong year for quarterbacks but a lot of teams returns stout defensive fire power to counter some high-level offenses. Earlier this week, Irish Breakdown took a look at who we believe will be championship contenders post-spring. 

BIG TEN CONTENDERS

Indiana Hoosiers

The last two years haven't been a fluke ladies and gentlemen. The Hoosiers under head coach Curt Cignetti are here to stay. They had some impactful losses including a star cornerback, their top two receivers, their running back duo and a Heisman-winning quarterback. But they reloaded through the portal, are built very well in the trenches and have the potential to be even more talented on defense this upcoming season. Indiana is now one of only three schools with an active head coach that's won a championship which will also play a major factor. Their schedule is significantly tougher than 2025, so if they make the playoffs this season, they'll be battle-tested.

Oregon Ducks

This could be the year for head coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks. They return starting quarterback Dante Moore, a host of talented receivers that's healthier and more experienced than last year, a very talented secondary and all four starting defensive lineman from 2025. The biggest question for Oregon this season will be the overall ceiling and the performance of their offensive line. They have a very talented backfield coming back this fall and a veteran and talented quarterback. They'll need to be shored up in the trenches. If that question gets answered positively, Oregon could absolutely be making a trip back to the semi-finals. 

Ohio State Buckeyes

When you return a head coach that's one year removed from winning it all, a defensive coordinator fresh off of engineering the No. 1 defense in the country, a top level quarterback and the No. 1 wide receiver in the country, you deserve to be in this conversation. Ohio State had a disappointing season in 2025, but that disappointing season consisted of going undefeated in the regular season, making a trip to the conference championship and getting a first round bye in the CFP. Now, there's still questions the Buckeyes have to answer, but they have one of the more talented rosters in the country from top to bottom. They'll need their front seven on defense and run game to perform this season and the Buckeyes will be right back in the title conversation. 

SEC CONTENDERS

Texas Longhorns

In a similar spot to Oregon, this could also be the year for Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns. Texas returns a very, very talented roster. Quarterback Arch Manning returns to an elevated receiving corps, talented running backs and the makings of an improved offensive line. The biggest question for Texas this offseason was the outlook at defensive coordinator. Will Muschamp is stepping in and we didn't necessarily know what his defense would look like. From reports, it sounds like they'll be more aggressive this year to make up for the lack of high-caliber NFL talent in the secondary. The outlook of their defense and offensive line is up from the spring. Texas has one of the three best rosters in the country in my opinion. Now, it's up to Sarkisian to put it all together. 

Georgia Bulldogs

The Bulldogs will always be in this conversation in my opinion while Kirby Smart is in Athens. They haven't won it all since winning back to back titles in 2021 and 2022. But since then, they've played for the SEC title every season, won it in 2024 and 2025, made the expanded playoffs in 2024 and 2025 and now, Smart will have his most talented team in our opinion since 2022. Their receiving corps will be more complete this season, their defense has high-level talent on all three levels and a veteran quarterback at the helm. Georgia will have one of the best backfields in the country and will have one of the best secondaries in the SEC. If offensive coordinator Mike Bobo can take the next step on offense and their defensive line can continue to ascend, the Dogs will be a force this season. 

Other Contenders: Oklahoma Sooners, Texas A&M Aggies, LSU Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide

ACC CONTENDERS

Miami Hurricanes

Head coach Mario Cristobal engineered one heck of a season for the Hurricanes last year and returns both coordinators to do it again. The level of talented on this roster from top to bottom is exceptional, but there are questions around the overall depth of this roster. Miami is the lone contender out of the ACC and I don't think it's overly close. They'll have arguably the best backfield in the conference and one of the best nationally. Talent wise, their defense takes a backseat to very few teams in the country, their wide receiving corps will be outstanding and they're bringing in a quarterback who fits Shannon Dawson's system in Darien Mensah. The biggest question for the Hurricanes will be the performance of their offensive line. They have the pieces, now they'll have to come together as a unit. 

INDEPENDENTS

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Irish are at the top of this list for me, and we're not alone in that line of thinking. Head coach Marcus Freeman is headed into his fifth year at the helm, both coordinators return, quarterback CJ Carr returns under center, Leonard Moore is the consensus No. 1 returning cornerback in the country and the depth on both sides of the ball is outstanding. The offensive and defensive lines look the part of a championship-caliber unit and the skilled talent on both sides of the ball are exceptionally athletic and deep. Many believe that this could be the year for Notre Dame and they have all the necessary pieces. We've seen what Freeman can do when entering a 12-team playoff field. The expectations for this year are high, but this roster and this coaching staff take a backseat to none in the country.  

FINAL THOUGHTS

There's no team from the Big 12 that we believe can be contenders for the title. With the unfortunate news coming out of Lubbock, the BYU Cougars are now the favorites to win the league. We had them ranked as our No. 10 team in the country in our Post-Spring Top 25, but they lack the overall fire power to contend for a title. Will they make the playoffs? It's highly likely, but they lack the top-level fire power the other seven teams in championship contention have. The Big 12 as a whole is wide open, and there's several viable candidates to be in the conference title game between BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona State and Houston but their outlook to make a deep playoff run isn't that high. 

Unlike the SEC, the Big 10 isn't as deep and there's a sizeable gap between the top three teams, Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, and the other teams that are fighting for a fourth playoff spot. Michigan and USC are 'next in line' to take the jump. I just don't think that happens this season for either team. The Wolverines or the Trojans could definitely make noise in conference this season, but their outlook on the playoffs are overly high and if they make it, they have significantly more holes and a sizeable talent gap between the top seven teams on this list. 

We've established Miami is the class of the ACC, but there's other teams in the mix like Clemson, SMU and Louisville who could potentially make a push to the playoffs. Odds are, one of those three teams will be facing the Hurricanes in the conference championship game. SMU is the likely front runner of the trio, but Clemson is a team that's being overlooked heading into 2026 and Louisville will always be a wildcard in the league under Jeff Brohm. If either of the three make the playoffs, I doubt they make a push to the title, but don't count them out as being playoff contenders just yet. 

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