Mel Kiper Jr. Reveals CFP Title, Super Bowl Picks in New Predictions Ahead of 2026 Season

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. picked one favorite and one surprise in his championship predictions for the 2026 football season.

Kiper wrote Friday he's expecting Oregon to defeat Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff title game.

The draft analyst predicted Oregon's title odds will be better now that Evan Stewart, who missed the 2025 season with a knee injury, is back to catch passes from quarterback Dante Moore.

Kiper's predictions for which NFL teams will be playing in Super Bowl LXI might have come as more of a surprise.

Kiper also predicted the Cincinnati Bengals will defeat the Dallas Cowboys to claim the franchise's first Super Bowl title this winter.

"This feels like a big Bengals season to me," Kiper wrote. "Joe Burrow is healthy with two elite receivers at his disposal, and Cincinnati put some resources into the defense this offseason."

That matches expectations shared frequently by Burrow himself this offseason. The quarterback has repeatedly said throughout the offseason he thinks the Bengals are ready to compete for a Super Bowl after adding players including Dexter Lawrence and Bryan Cook.

"I'm tired of saying 'Next year, next year, next year,'" Burrow said in an Aug. 20 press conference. "This is it. Life is too short to keep pushing things down the road."

The Cowboys are similarly hoping to have improved after adding players including Caleb Downs, Cobie Durant and Von Miller this offseason. Both teams will need to have significantly improved on defense in 2025 in order to fulfill Kiper's prediction and make it to SoFi Stadium next February.