EA Sports' College Football 27 predicts the 2026 season, with a Heisman winner, 12-team playoff and champion

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The Yahoo Sports college football simulation series is back for its junior season!

Last year's edition was an improvement as its eventual national championship showdown — Oregon vs. Ole Miss — featured two semifinalists from the actual College Football Playoff. And although this college football series has now whiffed twice on the Heisman Trophy, fans of a particular SEC team will hope that the third time's the charm in picking winner.

For those who are new to the series, or just want a refresher, we simulate an entire season in the newest installment of EA Sports college football video game. After selecting a team at random (Northwestern, in this case) and tweaking a few settings (15-minute quarters, automating recruiting and NIL/staff/facilities budgeting), we run through the entire season, with pauses before bowl season and after the national title game for data collecting.

So, without further adieu, here's how our "College Football 27" simulation sees this season playing out.

Power Four Winners

Let's start off with the three power conference champions that feel like they are in the realm of possibility. In the Big Ten, USC captures its first conference title since coming over in 2024. The Trojans took down Oregon in the title game to finish 11-2 and secure the No. 2 seed in the College Football Playoff. In the Big 12, Utah — another former Pac-12 school — took down Texas Tech in the conference championship to also lock in an 11-2 record and a bye. Finally, Louisville beat Pittsburgh to win the ACC and earn a CFP date with at-large Notre Dame.

Considering USC and Utah were both top four in their conferences and Louisville finished a respectable 9-4 last season, it's conceivable that this could actually happen this year.

What happened in the SEC, however, was stunning.

After finishing 1-7 in conference play last season, our college football sim has the South Carolina Gamecocks producing one of the all-time turnarounds in the sport, finishing 13-3 overall (7-2 in SEC), absolutely throttling Georgia, 38-3, in the SEC title game, and entering the CFP as the top seed.

Biggest surprise

Let's not waste anyone's time. It's the Gamecocks.

We already know how the regular season and conference championship play out, so how did all of this happen?

Offense.

LaNorris Sellers was an absolute force in the simulation, throwing for 4,706 yards and a 27-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Sellers also added 447 yards on the ground and another six touchdowns. Sellers and the Gamecocks' attack benefitted greatly from having an elite one-two punch at wide receiver. Nyck Harbor (85 catches, 1,562 yards, 12 TDs) and Purdue transfer Nitro Tuggle (99 catches, 1,217 yards, five TDs) tortured opposing defenses.

Ironically, it was a quiet individual award season for the Gamecocks.

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman race came down to four players — USF QB Michael Van Buren Jr. (who is in an open QB competition at the moment), Auburn QB Byrum Brown, Oklahoma QB John Mateer and FAU WR Easton Messer.

Ultimately, Brown would become the fourth Heisman winner in school history, joining Cam Newton, Bo Jackson and Pat Sullivan. Brown threw for 3,999 yards and 29 TDs against seven interceptions. What set Brown apart, however, was his status as a dual-threat QB, as he pushed his touchdown total to 42 with an additional 13 rushing scores.

Currently, only Mateer (20-1) and Brown (40-1) are listed with odds to win the award

Other awards

Brown filled his trophy case, adding the Maxwell, Walter Camp, Davey O'Brien and Unitas awards.

Messer, despite missing out on the Heisman, did win the Fred Biletnikoff award as the nation's top wide receiver. Messer didn't have the most catches or yards, but did haul in a stunning 19 touchdowns for the Owls.

Pittsburgh linebacker Braylan Lovelace was the other big winner in the simulation. After leading the nation with 129 tackles, Lovelace won the Bronko Nagurski, Chuck Bednarik and Dick Butkus awards.

Ahmad Hardy took home the Doak Walker award as the best running back in the country. Hardy finished first in rushing yards with 1,750 and added 16 touchdowns.

Curt Cignetti was named Coach of the Year after leading Indiana back to the CFP with a 10-2 record and earning a bye.

The full CFP field

We've gone through a lot of details about the bracket, but there are still some things to highlight.

First, Indiana's bye came at the expense of a conference champion in Louisville. Indiana wasn't even in the Big Ten championship game, so this was a bit of a bizarre move, even by simulation standards.

Second, sorry to pick on the defending-champion Hoosiers, but should Cignetti's squad really have gotten that at-large bye over an undefeated Boise State? Yes, I know Power Four > Group of Six, but 13-0 is 13-0.

Finally, if you're a fan of blue-blood programs, you're going to hope this simulation is wildly off. Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State and Texas all failed to qualify for the CFP. There's never been a CFP without at least one of these schools in the field.

Biggest disappointment

While it would be fair to classify any of those aforementioned teams that missed the CFP as a disappointment, this dubious honor belongs to North Carolina.

After starting the season 2-0, Belichick's Tar Heels would go on an impressively bad run, starting with a 45-44 loss to Clemson. That defeat by the Tigers was part of a stretch where UNC lost eight of 10 to end the season, with seven of those losses coming by double figures. The Tar Heels finished just 1-7 in the ACC and had a negative-101 point differential, giving them a bottom-10 defense in the nation.

Rivalry games

Before we head into the home stretch, let's take a look at some key matchups:

Red River Rivalry (Week 6) — Oklahoma 38, Texas 34

Notre Dame vs. Miami (Week 10) — Hurricanes 31, Fighting Irish 14

Michigan vs. Ohio State (Week 13) — Wolverines 38, Buckeyes 21

Iron Bowl (Week 13) — Auburn 42, Alabama 31

Navy vs. Army (Week 15) — Navy 27, Army 7

A new champion is crowned

South Carolina's unbelievable run continued into the CFP, with the Gamecocks beating LSU and then dismantling 15-0 Boise State in the semifinals to clinch a spot in the national title game.

In the other half of the bracket, Big Ten champion USC survived by the skin of its teeth in a quarterfinal matchup against Oklahoma and then in the semifinals against Louisville, winning both matchups by just two points each.

In the end, it was King Miller (25 touches, 105 yards, 2 TDs) and the Trojans who halted South Carolina's epic run, winning 27-18 to capture their first national championship in more than 20 years.

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