6 College Football Teams That Could Make Their First Playoff in 2026

Only one dream of winning a national championship can come true, but earning a place in the College Football Playoff is a major accomplishment, too.

Sure, annual powerhouses like Georgia and Ohio State judge themselves on whether they bring home the title at the end of the season. Those programs, among a few others, are exceptions to the rule.

The simple truth is there are about 100 teams in the country that would be thrilled to have a spot at the CFP table.

Based on preseason outlooks, the following programs seem to have the greatest chance at a first-ever Playoff trip.

BYU Cougars

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LJ Martin

Love 'em or hate 'em, Texas Tech opens the year as the Big 12 favorite.

Behind the Red Raiders, though, the conference is wide open. BYU is among the several well-respected teams fighting for that theoretical second spot.

More importantly, a tweak to the College Football Playoff format now ensures a ticket for each Power Four champion. That means the path is a bit less complicated, even if a program like Texas Tech dominates the regular season.

Given BYU has posted 11-plus wins in consecutive years and returns QB Bear Bachmeier and star running back LJ Martin, expectations are similarly high.

Win the Big 12 Championship Game, and you're in. BYU certainly has that upside.

Kansas State Wildcats

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Avery Johnson

The same perspective applies for Kansas State, which is aiming to rebound from a rough offensive year as part of a frustrating 6-6 campaign.

On the bright side, there may not be anyone in the country better suited to coach Avery Johnson than Collin Klein. The former bully of a QB is back at his alma mater after helping Texas A&M reach the CFP last season.

Both as a player and coach, Klein clearly knows what it takes.

That does not guarantee the Cats will excel in 2026, of course, but they have a decent foundation—with a very favorable slate, on paper. K-State avoids Texas Tech, BYU and Utah during the regular season.

Get yourself to the league championship and see what happens.

Louisville Cardinals

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Jeff Brohm

Similar to the Big 12, the ACC is approaching the campaign with a perceived heavyweight in Miami and a hazy second tier.

Clemson and SMU are part of that, yet both programs have previously made the CFP. Louisville has come close to crashing the Playoff party, notching eight regular-season wins in each of the last two years.

But will the Cardinals rise to 10-win territory? There's no Miami, Clemson or Virginia on the docket this season.

The critical piece is avoiding that exasperating loss—think Cal and Clemson last year and Stanford in 2024. In today's large, division-less conferences, the margin for error is especially thin when tiebreakers are involved.

Although the leap from eight wins to 10 is far more difficult than six to eight, Louisville is a stable, well-coached program in an inviting conference.

Navy Midshipmen

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Braxton Woodson

In terms of bragging rights, becoming the first military academy to make the Playoff seems like it would be a lot of fun.

That is a real possibility in 2026.

Navy, on the heels of consecutive years with double-digit wins, is the preseason favorite in the American. Only a tiebreaker kept the Midshipmen out of the conference championship last season, too.

Needing to replace Blake Horvath under center won't be a breeze, but Braxton Woodson is potentially an electric dual-threat QB.

This is a lofty ceiling, but Navy is worth watching closely.

USC Trojans

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Jayden Maiava

Is this finally the moment?

After a near-miss in Lincoln Riley's debut 2022 season, USC hasn't had a compelling CFP case. That could have changed with a win at Oregon last year but would have required a massive upset as double-digit underdogs.

Unfortunately for USC fans, a similar campaign is plausible. The schedule is tough, particularly the six-game stretch of Oregon, Washington, at Penn State, at Wisconsin, Ohio State and at Indiana. Can the Trojans go 4-2 or better against them and avoid a bad loss elsewhere?

USC returns QB Jayden Maiava behind an experienced blocking unit. As long as a new-look receiving corps settles in, the offense will score.

The key is marked defensive improvement—no easy task. I'm willing to give new coordinator Gary Patterson the benefit of the doubt, though.

Everything needs to come together perfectly, and that rarely happens. But it can happen—and for USC, that's the most important thing.

Utah Utes

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Devon Dampier

Back to the Big 12, Utah is yet another team in the conference's second tier looking to chase down Texas Tech.

Last year, the Utes had their opportunity. During the biggest games against Tech and rival BYU, however, they misfired. Texas Tech rolled to a 34-10 victory, and BYU scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 24-21.

No bad losses? Fantastic. Perhaps that's a great sign for the fall, especially since the Utes avoid big, bad Tech and host BYU in 2026.

But those marquee wins would certainly help in Big 12 tiebreakers.

New coach Morgan Scalley, the school's defensive coordinator for the last decade, has an intriguing team for his debut as the full-time boss.