The Athletic ranks all 138 teams for 2026

QuaoarsKing · Monday at 12:39 PM

Ranking 138 college football teams for 2026, from Indiana and Ohio State to Sac State and UMass

College football season begins with two new schools in the FBS and a lot of roster moves to sort through. Here's one thought on every team.

www.nytimes.com

Relevant to us:
6 @ Texas
8 @ LSU
10 Oklahoma
12 @ Ole Miss
15 Alabama
32 @ South Carolina
35 Missouri
36 Auburn
39 @ Minnesota
51 Vanderbilt
68 Mississippi State

I definitely disagree with this and think we should be somewhere around 40 or maybe a bit better. But it hurts the narrative that people around the country respect Lebby and our program more than our own fans do. For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

patdog · Monday at 12:42 PM

Several of those are questionable to say the least. Too high, LSU at #8, OU at #10, MS at #12, SC ad #32, Aub at #36. Too low, MSU at #68, TX at #6.

Perd Hapley · Monday at 3:17 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

Wow, seriously?

I don’t know anyone who thinks we’re going to beat Minnesota at all…..let alone comfortably.

DT4248 · Monday at 3:42 PM

Perd Hapley said:
Wow, seriously?

I don’t know anyone who thinks we’re going to beat Minnesota at all…..let alone comfortably.

I'm anti-Lebby and I think we win by 21+

leeinator · Monday at 3:49 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
Ranking 138 college football teams for 2026, from Indiana and Ohio State to Sac State and UMass

College football season begins with two new schools in the FBS and a lot of roster moves to sort through. Here's one thought on every team.

www.nytimes.com

Relevant to us:
6 @ Texas
8 @ LSU
10 Oklahoma
12 @ Ole Miss
15 Alabama
32 @ South Carolina
35 Missouri
36 Auburn
39 @ Minnesota
51 Vanderbilt
68 Mississippi State

I definitely disagree with this and think we should be somewhere around 40 or maybe a bit better. But it hurts the narrative that people around the country respect Lebby and our program more than our own fans do. For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

I've got Minnesota as a close loss. Probably less than 10 pts. Can we win?....yes, but an on the road game at a B10 middle of the pack school would be a very tough pull for a near-to-bottom SEC team. We'll have to have them make 2-3 critical mistakes to give us a chance. If they play a clean ball control game........oh well. Next!

QuaoarsKing · Monday at 4:47 PM

Perd Hapley said:
Wow, seriously?

I don’t know anyone who thinks we’re going to beat Minnesota at all…..let alone comfortably.

I mean, if we lose to Minnesota, we're probably looking at 3-9 or 2-10. It doesn't get any easier, other than maybe Vanderbilt.

Tractorman · Monday at 5:39 PM

DT4248 said:
I'm anti-Lebby and I think we win by 21+

If we win by 21+, you might as well switch to pro Lebby because we will have a helluva year and only get better while K1 is here. I expect a 7 to 10 pt win and I got us at 8-4.

karlchilders.sixpack · Monday at 5:53 PM

Considering NIL, And the Portal, My hat is off to anyone that can really come anywhere close on these preseason projections. Me..., I still have to wait until the third game cough up a reasonable opinion.

Never know how these guys will mesh together, or not.

L4Dawg · Monday at 5:55 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
Ranking 138 college football teams for 2026, from Indiana and Ohio State to Sac State and UMass

College football season begins with two new schools in the FBS and a lot of roster moves to sort through. Here's one thought on every team.

www.nytimes.com

Relevant to us:
6 @ Texas
8 @ LSU
10 Oklahoma
12 @ Ole Miss
15 Alabama
32 @ South Carolina
35 Missouri
36 Auburn
39 @ Minnesota
51 Vanderbilt
68 Mississippi State

I definitely disagree with this and think we should be somewhere around 40 or maybe a bit better. But it hurts the narrative that people around the country respect Lebby and our program more than our own fans do. For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

I think we lose at Minnesota.

85Bears · Monday at 6:11 PM

karlchilders.sixpack said:
Considering NIL, And the Portal, My hat is off to anyone that can really come anywhere close on these preseason projections. Me..., I still have to wait until the third game cough up a reasonable opinion.

Never know how these guys will mesh together, or not.

That’s true for a lot of teams, especially when wagering with roster turnover. There are some teams you can spot and say they got better or they return everybody. Others you stay away from for a couple of weeks. One team that went from horrible to top 25 in the offseason is Oklahoma State, as per many rankings I’ve seen.

downwarddawg · Monday at 8:11 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
Ranking 138 college football teams for 2026, from Indiana and Ohio State to Sac State and UMass

College football season begins with two new schools in the FBS and a lot of roster moves to sort through. Here's one thought on every team.

www.nytimes.com

Relevant to us:
6 @ Texas
8 @ LSU
10 Oklahoma
12 @ Ole Miss
15 Alabama
32 @ South Carolina
35 Missouri
36 Auburn
39 @ Minnesota
51 Vanderbilt
68 Mississippi State

I definitely disagree with this and think we should be somewhere around 40 or maybe a bit better. But it hurts the narrative that people around the country respect Lebby and our program more than our own fans do. For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

Most people I've talked to expect a close loss to Minnesota. But all agree it's almost a must win.
I think we beat them. Our defense makes them make mistakes and our offense capitalizes which puts them in a bad spot due to their offensive game plan.

QuaoarsKing · Monday at 8:24 PM

I think we're seeing some game theory in the "expectations game" here and across the fanbase.

Lebby supporters are talking up the Minnesota game for being a really tough one that we'll probably lose, so that if we do lose, he doesn't get much blowback, and if we win, they can use it to argue that he's gotten a signature, program-changing win.
Lebby opposers are talking up the Minnesota game as one that is an absolute must-win, the weakest opponent of the ten P4 teams on our schedule. That way, if we do win, it's not a big deal because we damn well better beat the 10th best team on the schedule, and if we lose, it's time to start making calls for his replacement.

I don't really consider myself a "Lebby Opposer" and I'm not trying to set him up to fail, but I'm generally far more sympathetic to the argument that if we lose to the 3rd easiest team on our schedule (maybe 4th if Vanderbilt reverts to normal), that's a really bad sign for the rest of the season.

I won't quite call the Minnesota game a must win, but we absolutely can't lose to both Minnesota and South Carolina (ranked by The Athletic as 29 and 36 spots better than us, and both on the road). We've got to find a way to AT A MINIMUM go 1-1 against them. There's just no realistic path to 6-6 if we go 0-2.

85Bears · Monday at 8:25 PM

According to CFN preview, they are strong on both lines of scrimmage, especially D line

85Bears · Monday at 8:27 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
I think we're seeing some game theory in the "expectations game" here and across the fanbase.

Lebby supporters are talking up the Minnesota game for being a really tough one that we'll probably lose, so that if we do lose, he doesn't get much blowback, and if we win, they can use it to argue that he's gotten a signature, program-changing win.

Lebby opposers are talking up the Minnesota game as one that is an absolute must-win, the weakest opponent of the ten P4 teams on our schedule. That way, if we do win, it's not a big deal because we damn well better beat the 10th best team on the schedule, and if we lose, it's time to start making calls for his replacement.

I don't really consider myself a "Lebby Opposer" and I'm not trying to set him up to fail, but I'm generally far more sympathetic to the argument that if we lose to the 3rd easiest team on our schedule (maybe 4th if Vanderbilt reverts to normal), that's a really bad sign for the rest of the season.

I won't quite call the Minnesota game a must win, but we absolutely can't lose to both Minnesota and South Carolina (ranked by The Athletic as 29 and 36 spots better than us, and both on the road). We've got to find a way to AT A MINIMUM go 1-1 against them. There's just no realistic path to 6-6 if we go 0-2.

I think Sellers is terribly overrated but the reason for the optimism surrounding South Carolina is supposedly Beamer really improved the O line.

preacher_dawg · Monday at 8:30 PM

85Bears said:
According to CFN preview, they are strong on both lines of scrimmage, especially D line

If true, then we are toast.

DT4248 · Monday at 9:11 PM

Tractorman said:
If we win by 21+, you might as well switch to pro Lebby because we will have a helluva year and only get better while K1 is here. I expect a 7 to 10 pt win and I got us at 8-4.

I'm very low on Minnesota. I live in Wisconsin so I'm biased.

85Bears · Monday at 9:22 PM

DT4248 said:
I'm very low on Minnesota. I live in Wisconsin so I'm biased.

I think Wisconsin is going to be much improved this year, Colton Joseph was a great signing

patdog · Monday at 10:27 PM

downwarddawg said:
Most people I've talked to expect a close loss to Minnesota. But all agree it's almost a must win.
I think we beat them. Our defense makes them make mistakes and our offense capitalizes which puts them in a bad spot due to their offensive game plan.

I don’t think it’s a must win. It’s a very big game. But win or lose, Carolina, Vandy & Auburn are all winnable games. And who knows we might upset someone. But zero room for any slip ups if we lose that one.

dickiedawg · Monday at 11:04 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
Ranking 138 college football teams for 2026, from Indiana and Ohio State to Sac State and UMass

College football season begins with two new schools in the FBS and a lot of roster moves to sort through. Here's one thought on every team.

www.nytimes.com

Relevant to us:
6 @ Texas
8 @ LSU
10 Oklahoma
12 @ Ole Miss
15 Alabama
32 @ South Carolina
35 Missouri
36 Auburn
39 @ Minnesota
51 Vanderbilt
68 Mississippi State

I definitely disagree with this and think we should be somewhere around 40 or maybe a bit better. But it hurts the narrative that people around the country respect Lebby and our program more than our own fans do. For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

I doubt fairly seriously that this guy knows anything more about Mississippi State than the name of the quarterback.

85Bears · Monday at 11:10 PM

patdog said:
I don’t think it’s a must win. It’s a very big game. But win or lose, Carolina, Vandy & Auburn are all winnable games. And who knows we might upset someone. But zero room for any slip ups if we lose that one.

I think Auburn is going to improved quite a bit. Golesh is a good coach and Byrum Brown is going to be productive. I have no idea about Vandy , S Carolina depends on their O line rebuild.

leeinator · Tuesday at 12:01 AM

downwarddawg said:
Most people I've talked to expect a close loss to Minnesota. But all agree it's almost a must win.
I think we beat them. Our defense makes them make mistakes and our offense capitalizes which puts them in a bad spot due to their offensive game plan.

Not a must win. If we played them late in the season, we have a great chance to win. This early is gonna be difficult. I have Oklahoma as a win because I think by then, our team will have improved that much. Now, I would say S. Carolina is more of a must win than Minnesota.

PBRME · Tuesday at 2:49 AM

QuaoarsKing said:
I mean, if we lose to Minnesota, we're probably looking at 3-9 or 2-10. It doesn't get any easier, other than maybe Vanderbilt.

3-9 1-8 is my prediction in the prediction thread.

patdog · Tuesday at 8:20 AM

85Bears said:
I think Auburn is going to improved quite a bit. Golesh is a good coach and Byrum Brown is going to be productive. I have no idea about Vandy , S Carolina depends on their O line rebuild.

I think Auburn is overrated. G5 coached coming into the sec is very hit & miss with more misses than hits. This hire looks no different than Sunbelt Billy at Florida to me. But who knows? I think Vsndy will take a pretty big step back but still be a decent team. We get both of those at home so I’m predicting we win both. On the road I’d predict losses. Carolina I’m predicting a loss because it’s on the road. All 3 could easily go either way.

aTotal360 · Tuesday at 8:23 AM

QuaoarsKing said:
For example, I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

ETK99 · Tuesday at 8:27 AM

I think we'll destroy MN

thatsbaseball · Tuesday at 8:28 AM

dickiedawg said:
I doubt fairly seriously that this guy knows anything more about Mississippi State than the name of the quarterback.

LOL you just described most of SPS .

85Bears · Tuesday at 8:29 AM

patdog said:
I think Auburn is overrated. G5 coached coming into the sec is very hit & miss with more misses than hits. This hire looks no different than Sunbelt Billy at Florida to me. But who knows? I think Vsndy will take a pretty big step back but still be a decent team. We get both of those at home so I’m predicting we win both. On the road I’d predict losses. Carolina I’m predicting a loss because it’s on the road. All 3 could easily go either way.

Auburn was 5-7/1-7 last year, they will finish better than that. USF had the #3 offense last year and Golesh is a better coach than Lebby. he brought Brown and 11 players with him. Durkin returns most of the defense.

patdog · Tuesday at 8:49 AM

85Bears said:
Golesh is a better coach than Lebby.

Well that goes without saying. Seriously I could be completely wrong about Auburn. But I’m just not sold on them like everyone else seems to be. Golesh has 1 good season. He looks like just another 1-year mid major wonder to me until he backed it up. And I know USF was bad before he got there. But that’s an easy league and they have more resources than just about anyone else in that league.

JacksonCPAdawg · Tuesday at 8:51 AM

DT4248 said:
I'm anti-Lebby and I think we win by 21+

just curious...why?

615dawg · Tuesday at 9:21 AM

preacher_dawg said:
If true, then we are toast.

Minnesota is very good on the defensive line. They don't have much of an offense though.

Walkthedawg · Tuesday at 9:31 AM

QuaoarsKing said:
I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

I fully expect to beat MN... but comfortably? At their house? I don't see that being the narrative at all.

Remember that this team squeaked out a win against a pathetic Arkansas on the road last year. And needed some bounces our way to do that.

patdog · Tuesday at 9:51 AM

85Bears said:
Auburn was 5-7/1-7 last year, they will finish better than that. USF had the #3 offense last year and Golesh is a better coach than Lebby. he brought Brown and 11 players with him. Durkin returns most of the defense.

One other thing I’m not sold on. Is it really a good idea to bring 12 players from one G5 team into the SEC?

DT4248 · Tuesday at 9:58 AM

JacksonCPAdawg said:
just curious...why?

i said lower in the thread.

i'm very low on minnesota. i live in wisconsin. i'm biased.

lebby has won one sec game in two years and oklahoma was all too happy to get rid of him as OC.

places get better after he leaves in the sec. i'm excited to see us get a post-lebby bump.

but maybe im wrong and we rattle off 8+ wins.

85Bears · Tuesday at 10:11 AM

patdog said:
One other thing I’m not sold on. Is it really a good idea to bring 12 players from one G5 team into the SEC?

Seems to have worked for Cignetti

Baddog11 · Tuesday at 1:17 PM

QuaoarsKing said:
I don't know any fans, anti-Lebby or otherwise, who are expecting less than a comfortable win at Minnesota.

What? After seeing Lebby’s coaching ability the past 2 years, everybody will be hammering the Minnesota ML for easy money

Drebin · Tuesday at 1:55 PM

leeinator said:
I've got Minnesota as a close loss. Probably less than 10 pts. Can we win?....yes, but an on the road game at a B10 middle of the pack school would be a very tough pull for a near-to-bottom SEC team. We'll have to have them make 2-3 critical mistakes to give us a chance. If they play a clean ball control game........oh well. Next!

If we lose that game, we are legitimately looking at 2-10. It's an absolute must win.

johnson86-1 · Tuesday at 2:08 PM

leeinator said:
I've got Minnesota as a close loss. Probably less than 10 pts. Can we win?....yes, but an on the road game at a B10 middle of the pack school would be a very tough pull for a near-to-bottom SEC team. We'll have to have them make 2-3 critical mistakes to give us a chance. If they play a clean ball control game........oh well. Next!

I'm just going by how they performed last year, and how we performed, which may not be relevant with what each team has done in the off season, but it seems like that is conceding that we suck and possibly worse than last year. If anything, we just have to not 17 it up and we should win. We showed a pulse against some good teams. We were just really poorly coached and had atrocious OL play to go along with a subpar DC. They got destroyed by teams with a pulse and snuck out some wins against 6 and 7 win teams.

It's certainly possible that we do suck worse than last year. I think this game will tell the tale pretty early for us. If Arnett has our defense average, and our OLine has improved to be average, we should win. Even if we just lose because of players not having gelled yet, I just don't think there are enough winnable games on our schedule for us to have a decent season if we lose this one. Would need somebody else to be surprisingly bad, or would need the loss to look inexplicable in hindsight.

dickiedawg · Tuesday at 4:44 PM

thatsbaseball said:
LOL you just described most of SPS .

Yes, and I wouldn’t put any stock in their rankings either.

The Athletic ranks all 138 teams for 2026

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