The book on the 2025 college football season closed after hundreds of contests across six months preceded Indiana defeating Miami in the College Football Playoff championship game.
That ending in Miami Gardens, Florida, brings us to a new beginning: The journey toward figuring out which teams will be national title contenders in 2026. The list of schools is long, and the situation is fluid with transfer portal closed but still not sorted. That makes assembling our too-early top 25 ranking quite difficult.
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There should be ton of star power to follow, especially among quarterbacks. Texas will have Arch Manning back for his second season as starter. Ohio State has Julian Sayin. Georgia has Gunner Stockton. Notre Dame has CJ Carr. Oregon has Dante Moore. That's just a few on the list that will compete for top honors.
