ESPN's Computer Projects Country's 10 National Title Favorites
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ESPN's computer model, the Football Power Index, has outlined the top 10 College Football Playoff national title frontrunners as we head into the 2026 college football regular season later this summer.
The 2026 college football regular season is a little more than a month away. We've got some really big games early in the year, too, including a potential No. 1 vs. No. 2 bout in Texas vs. Ohio State.
ESPN's computer model, the Football Power Index, has outlined the country's 10 national title frontunners, as we head into Week 1 of the 2026 college football regular season in a little more than a month.
ESPN's computer model, the Football Power Index, ranked the following 10 teams among the country's best when it comes to racing for a national title:
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Indiana
- Miami
- Alabama
- LSU
- Texas Tech
How does ESPN's FPI work?
ESPN's computer model, the Football Power Index, is a projection-based system.
"The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete," the FPI outlines.
You can view ESPN's computer model's complete projections for the 2026 college football regular season and postseason here.
Who do you like to win it all next season?
This story was originally published by The Spun on Jul 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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