IT’S THE BEST TIME OF THE YEAR! 🏈 The 2026 college football season opens with defending national champion Indiana seeking to repeat as the first program outside of Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, or Ohio State to win back-to-back titles since Florida in 2007 and 2008. The expanded 16-team College Football Playoff format returns for its second full season, with automatic bids restructured to place greater emphasis on conference championship results. Ohio State, Texas, Miami, and Georgia headline the preseason top five in most major polls, while programs including Ole Miss, Penn State, and Oregon enter the year as legitimate contenders in their respective conferences. The SEC has produced the national champion in nine of the last seventeen seasons entering 2026.