The biggest questions facing the 7 College Football Playoff title contenders ahead of the 2026 season
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We think there are seven teams capable of winning the national title ahead of the 2026 college football season.
None of them are perfect, however.
This year's playoff could be wide open because each of the top teams has at least one big question that needs to be answered over the course of the season. Here are the biggest questions facing our seven contenders ahead of the official start to the season over Labor Day weekend.
How does Miami reload the pass rush?
The Hurricanes made the national title game a season ago on the back of a dominant defensive front. Edge rushers Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor were first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft and combined for 22 sacks. That was nearly half of the Hurricanes' 50 sacks in 2025. And Miami doesn't return much of that sack production in 2026.
The pass rush was so good that even nickel Keionte Scott got in on the action with five sacks. He's in the NFL too. The team's leading returning sack leader is defensive tackle Ahmad Moten. He had 4.5 sacks a season ago.
Just like it did at quarterback, Miami took steps to solidify the pass rush in the transfer portal with the addition of former Missouri and Georgia defensive end Damon Wilson II. He had nine sacks for the Tigers in 2025 and should be one of the best pass rushers in the ACC. But he's also the type of rusher who frequents the field on passing downs; Mesidor and Bain were three-down players.
Before 2025, Miami hadn't had more than 37 sacks in a season since 2019. There's likely going to be a drop-off in the sack total this year. If it's precipitous, the Hurricanes aren't going to be national title contenders. If Miami still totals 38 sacks or so, the rest of the defense is good enough to compensate.
Who steps up at receiver for Georgia?
The Bulldogs are starting with a near-clean slate at receiver.
After Zachariah Branch was on the receiving end of 81 of the 287 Georgia pass completions in 2025 and players like Dillon Bell, Colbie Young and Oscar Delp are also no longer on the roster, London Humphreys is the leading returning receiver in Athens. He had 18 catches for 276 yards and three scores in 2025.
If Georgia is going to make it back to the SEC title game and contend for the national championship once again, QB Gunner Stockton is going to need players to emerge out wide.
Humphreys should play a bigger role in the offense in 2026. And after him, the Bulldogs are counting on a lot of players without a lot of experience. Redshirt freshmen Talyn Taylor, Tyler Williams and Thomas Blackshear could all play seizable roles in 2026. And there's also true freshman Kaiden Prothro. He's a big target at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds and will assuredly see action in specific packages.
If one or more of those players emerges as a star, Georgia's offense will be in great shape. If they don't, the Bulldogs could end up missing the College Football Playoff altogether.
Just how much better will Texas' pass defense be in 2026?
The entire step back that Texas' defense took in 2025 from 2024 can be traced to its fragilities against the pass. The Longhorns allowed 15.3 points per game two seasons ago. Last year, Texas allowed 20.3. The defense gave up 283 yards a game in 2024. In 2025, that total was 339. That increase was despite opposing offenses rushing for 6 yards fewer per game.
Texas' run defense was stout once again. But the pass defense gave up 51 more yards a game and allowed opposing QBs to complete 3% more of their passes.
It's a massive reason why the Longhorns won three fewer games and failed to make the College Football Playoff in 2025. If Texas is getting back to the 12-team playoff in 2026, the pass defense has to be much more like it was in 2024.
Coach Steve Sarkisian knows that and has rued the big plays his team allowed in 2025. The Longhorns added former Rutgers CB Bo Mascoe in the transfer portal and will give bigger roles to corner Kade Phillips and safety Derek Williams. Don't be surprised if five-star freshman John Meredith III also sees playing time, especially as the season goes on. He reclassified from the class of 2027 after he was ruled ineligible for his senior season of high school.
Who will be Jeremiah Smith's co-star at Ohio State?
The Buckeyes are primed to have wide receivers taken in the top five of the NFL Draft in successive seasons. Junior Jeremiah Smith is a surefire high draft pick if he declares after the 2026 season. This spring, Carnell Tate was the No. 4 overall pick by the Tennessee Titans.
With Tate no longer in Columbus, who will help take attention away from Smith in 2026?
Smith has been one of the best wide receivers in college football since he played his first game in 2024. His stats were down in 2025 and he still had 87 catches for 1,243 yards and 12 TDs. He's going to be QB Julian Sayin's top target. And both players are among the Heisman favorites.
But if Ohio State's offense is going to function at an extremely high level, someone else needs to star alongside Smith and Sayin.
Tate had 51 catches for 875 yards and nine scores in 2025. Overall, the two receivers combined to catch 21 of the 33 TDs thrown by Ohio State QBs. Outside of Smith, only four of those TD passes went to players who are on the Buckeyes' roster in 2026.
Three of them were caught by Brandon Inniss. The senior has a chance to start alongside Smith this season and could post a breakout year after playing behind NFL receivers. Or maybe five-star recruit Chris Henry Jr. breaks out as a freshman. He's the son of the former Bengals and West Virginia receiver. But no matter who it is, Ohio State needs someone to force defenses to not constantly overload coverages toward Smith's side of the field.
Can Indiana's offense average over 40 points a game again?
The Hoosiers have scored over 41 points per game in each of Curt Cignetti's first two seasons in charge. And we don't have to tell you about last year's unit, which averaged 6.8 yards per play on the way to a 16-0 season and the first national championship in Indiana history.
A lot of the players who powered that offense are no longer with the team. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza was the No. 1 pick in the draft. RBs Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black each rushed for over 1,000 yards and were drafted as well. WR Omar Cooper Jr. was a first-round pick as well and Elijah Sarratt was a fourth-round pick.
That's a ton of production to replace. Cignetti reloaded the offense via the transfer portal again. Can the latest collection of players be just as good?
QB Josh Hoover arrives from TCU and is already among the Heisman favorites after the star turns of Mendoza and Kurtis Rourke before him. Nick Marsh transferred from Michigan State after he had over 50 catches in 2025 and Turbo Richard arrives from Boston College after leading the Eagles in rushing. He'll share duties with Khobie Martin, who had over 500 yards as Indiana's No. 3 back last year. And WR Charlie Becker is back too after his breakout end to the 2025 season.
Indiana has a schedule that should easily make it a playoff team for the third straight year. But if the Hoosiers are going to be more like the team that won three playoff games last year and not the one that lost right away in 2024, the offense will need to be nearly as good as it was a season ago.
How does Notre Dame replace two first-round draft picks at RB?
Fighting Irish QB CJ Carr enters the season as one of the Heisman favorites. And it's easy to see why. If Notre Dame makes another run to the national title game, it's going to be on the shoulders of Carr and the passing offense more than the Irish's rushing attack.
Notre Dame made it to the title game in 2024 after averaging 201 yards a game on the ground thanks to Jeremiyah Love, Jadarian Price and the legs of QB Riley Leonard. With Carr far less of a rusher than Leonard was, Notre Dame didn't get that same running production from the quarterback in 2025, but Love and Price still pushed the Irish to 5.7 yards a carry and over 200 yards a game.
It'll be a surprise if Notre Dame averages two football fields on the ground again in 2026. Aneyas Williams is no slouch — he had over 9 yards a carry in limited playing time last season — and a veteran offensive line will be one of the best in the country. But it's extremely difficult to replace two first-round picks at the same position. A downgrade, even if it's slight, should be expected.
Can Oregon's offensive line be as good as it was in 2025?
The Ducks' front mauled opponents in 2025. Oregon averaged 5.4 yards per carry in 2025 after just 4.4 in 2024. The Ducks' offense averaged nearly 7 yards a play overall and Dante Moore was sacked just 19 times in 15 games.
Center Iapani Laloulu and right guard Dave Iuli are back and have a ton of experience. But they're also Oregon's only two returning starters up front.
Fox Crader should be the starting left tackle after appearing in 10 games as a redshirt freshman in 2025. Fifth-year senior Kawika Rogers could step in alongside him at guard and the right tackle will either be fifth-year senior Gernorris Wilson or Yale transfer Michael Bennett. Don't count out freshmen Immanuel Iheanacho and Tommy Tofi from getting significant playing time, either.
No matter which five players end up as Oregon's starting unit, the Ducks can't afford a big step back if they're going to be the fourth Big Ten team to win a national title in the last four seasons.
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