Biggest Takeaways from 2026 College Football Media Days

Prior to the beginning of fall camp around college football, the final landmark on the summer calendar is talking season.

And wouldn't you know it, every team is bigger, stronger and faster. The culture, the brotherhood—it's thriving right now. Coaches are confident, players are ready and optimism for a great year is the norm.

Mixed in with tropes from coaches who are trying to not divulge too much, however, there is legitimately useful information to glean.

Some of our major takeaways in the 2026 cycle include notes on the ACC Championship Game, College Football Playoff expansion, rivalries and more.

SEC Breakaway Threat Lingers

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At various points this offseason, there've been rumors and rumblings of the SEC considering a "breakaway" from the NCAA. In short, the conference is exploring the idea of creating its own rules and championship.

Is that good for college football? Decidedly no.

But would eyeballs follow? Absolutely yes—which is why this is a serious topic.

"[Breakaway conversations] are real," SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. "People have talked about that. They've opined about the frustrations that bring them to the point of saying we should look at something significantly different. I do not believe that is a leverage point. I think that's just honest communication."

In all likelihood, contrary to Sankey's statement, this is more a leverage point than anything. A true breakaway would seriously damage the sport.

Unfortunately for us, that doesn't mean it's not a real conversation.

Curt Cignetti Rips SEC Perception

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Starting with Florida's championship in 2006 through Georgia's back-to-back crown in 2022, the SEC claimed 13 titles in a 17-year period. That spectacular run allowed the league to brag about its domination of the sport.

Even though the SEC hasn't won a national title since then—all three won by Big Ten teams—that reputation has persisted. It Just Means More, you may recall.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti is having none of that.

"The Big Ten is the best league in football, and a lot of really good football teams it's hard to win on the road, very physical football teams, very well-coached," he said. "It definitely prepares you for the Playoff. There's no doubt about it, the numbers speak for themselves."

Cignetti continued: "We don't run a hype machine up here in the Midwest. We believe everything is earned, not given. When we fall short, we say: We fell short. We don't cry a river, whine and complain. That's why we're the best."

No matter if you agree, disagree or land in between, it's undeniable Cignetti closed 2026's round of media days with bulletin-board material in SEC country.

Joey McGuire Campaigns for In-State Games

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I have observed that, generally speaking, the best version of the sport is the era in which you grew up. That's a pretty basic, uncontroversial belief.

And, yes, I yearn for parts of the 1990s and 2000s.

Ever since conference realignment gained steam in 2011, we have slowly lost pieces of college football's soul—my version, of course. Rivalries have faded as programs move to different leagues, not in the least because the CFP format essentially has penalized teams for losing marquee nonconference games.

One result is that in-state programs no longer play each other annually. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire again shared his desire to change that.

"I would love to play Texas, Texas A&M. SMU is not in [Texas Tech's] conference. I would love to play those guys just because I think it's great for the state of Texas," he said. "It's great for the high school coaches and the high school players in the state of Texas."

Money is the driving force behind what's next in college football, and understandably so. But I—we, perhaps—would love to see a surge in local rivalries.

Big 12 Advocates for CFP Expansion

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As the Big Ten and SEC continue to amass influence, the Big 12—along with the ACC—is aiming to retain some power in the sport.

Understandably, that means the conference is now spending plenty of energy campaigning for further expansion to the College Football Playoff.

"We need more access. I'm a firm believer in that," commissioner Brett Yormark said. "The Big 12 is a firm believer in that. Where that takes us, I can't tell you today. I don't have a crystal ball, but I want more access. And I think that's the right thing for us to consider."

This isn't simply an executive talking, either.

Earlier in the offseason, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez shared an informal poll of the league's 16 coaches held unanimous approval for a 24-team CFP. Under that system, the conference would've had five Playoff teams in 2025 instead of one.

You might not love the idea of more CFP expansion. I get that—and probably lean that direction, too. But it's very likely on the horizon.

Pete Golding, Ole Miss Moving On

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Because of how—and, more importantly, when—Lane Kiffin departed Ole Miss for LSU last winter, everyone had questions.

High on the list, as you'd imagine, is how that decision affected the other people involved. No coach had a greater change than Pete Golding, the defensive coordinator who immediately took on the permanent job as head coach.

It certainly would be sensible—and defensible—for Golding to have a little bitterness toward his former boss. Apparently, that's not the case.

"I have no ill will towards Coach Kiffin. He texts me on a regular basis and there are certain things we'll talk about and certain things we don't talk about. ... Now he has a new job with new responsibilities and he's going to be super competitive to be the best he can at that job, which is his job."

Those two jobs are poised to collide in Week 3 as Kiffin brings LSU to Oxford for a prime-time showdown with Golding and Ole Miss.

Manny Diaz Talks the "Duke Rule"

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As part of a messy tiebreaker last season, Duke reached the ACC Championship Game—despite being 7-5 overall with no head-to-head victories over the tied teams. The program has no responsibility to apologize for that, and the Blue Devils shouldn't feel bad for winning the conference crown.

The rules needed to be changed and this summer, the ACC announced those changes. The former system poorly accounted for what can happen in a conference that has expanded to 17 teams.

But that didn't stop Duke coach Manny Diaz from unleashing a rant.

"Been quite a week, huh? I heard we made the news," he said. "I heard we got a rule named after us. That's pretty cool, right? The Duke tiebreaker rule."

Diaz continued, noting the challenge of determining the teams in the league title game: "The most simple way to do that is if we could all play each other, right, but we can't do that. There's too many damn teams, right? It would be great to have head-to-head, but there are so many teams."

It's safe to say Duke has a chip on its shoulder in 2026.

Missouri's Ahmad Hardy Cleared to Return

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While attending a concert in May, standout Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy was shot in the upper leg. He underwent surgery for the injury.

Football is less important. We all agree on that.

Naturally, though, the question of his availability for the 2026 season soon followed. Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz shared at SEC Media Days that the All-American back has resumed football activities.

"Ahmad has been medically cleared from the bullet that struck him. He is on the road to recovery. The bullet did strike a bone in his body. That has been fully healed and cleared. Today was his first day back towards a full recovery."

Drinkwitz said the anticipated return-to-play timeline for Hardy, who rushed for 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns last season, will be between 5-8 weeks.

P.J. Fleck Embraces Minnesota's Reality

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The architect of Western Michigan's rise a decade ago, P.J. Fleck is otherwise known for his acronyms and personality quirks. Row the Boat (RTB), Enjoy the Adventure (ETA), all that good stuff.

Ordinarily, he's a master of coachspeak—an ability to say a lot while offering little. Fleck, though, had a great response about his team's reality.

"We have to continue to win in the margins. If you look at the successful seasons we had, we win one-possession games," he said. "If we don't win one-possession games, we don't have a great year, or we might have a great year, but everybody is like, 'oh, there was more meat left on the bone.'"

That level of honesty is refreshing—and a great overall reminder, too.

Winning is hard. For every Georgia or Ohio State, there are a half-dozen programs like Minnesota. They're not blowing out many opponents. They routinely have to survive 31-28, 23-20 and 20-17 final scores like the Gophers did last season.