Our picks are in for the 2026 college football season. So who’s going to win it all in the third installment of the 12-team College Football Playoff?“The Audible” co-hosts Bruce Feldman, Ralph Russo and Stewart Mandel are here to run through their brackets, with three different predictions to win the national championship on Jan. 25 in Las Vegas.Bruce FeldmanCan the Big Ten make it four in a row? It feels possible with three teams having a legit shot in Indiana, Ohio State and Oregon. I actually think four Big Ten teams will make the CFP. The fourth probably isn’t who you think it is. We’ll get to that in a bit.Last year, Indiana broke through and won its first national title. The three teams I feel the most confident about all felt like they were a year away in 2025: Oregon, Notre Dame and Texas. All are led by quarterbacks who were first-year starters for their schools in 2025, and each comes into this season as a Heisman Trophy contender with an improved receiving corps. Their teams all upgraded their defenses too.I’ve flip-flopped all summer. Notre Dame or Oregon? I am a big believer in both QBs, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr. A few weeks ago, I was leaning toward the Ducks, but I think this will be the Irish’s year. The schedule is pretty light with essentially three tough games: at BYU on Oct. 17, vs. Miami on Nov. 7 and vs. SMU on Nov. 21. I don’t see the Irish losing more than one regular-season game, and because they have no conference title game to deal with, it feels like they have a pretty smooth road into the Playoff.Will that work against them? It did last year, but this is a much more seasoned team and a more talented one on defense. I like their chances of running the table and building off last year’s Playoff snub.First roundNo. 5 Ohio State over No. 12 New Mexico: It wouldn’t shock me if Memphis, in Charles Huff’s debut season, earns the Group of 6 bid, but I’m going with New Mexico. Jason Eck will be one of the hottest commodities in coaching. He did a remarkable job at Idaho, and last year he led the Lobos to a 9-4 season at a place that hadn’t had a winning season in nine years. He thinks this year’s New Mexico squad is more talented than last year’s. I’m buying it. They’ll probably lose a Week 3 game at Oklahoma, but North Dakota State and UNLV, the other top programs in the revamped Mountain West, have to visit Albuquerque.Eck’s Idaho team gave Oregon all it could handle three years ago, but the Buckeyes have too much firepower on offense. The Buckeyes, who come into the CFP as battle-tested as anyone with games at Texas, Iowa, Indiana and USC plus home games against Oregon and Michigan, aren’t as formidable as they were in 2025 when they had a trio of high first-rounders in the middle of their defense, but they can score with anyone.No. 9 Oklahoma over No. 8 Texas Tech: I don’t think the Red Raiders will be as good on defense as they were last year, but Will Hammond will spark an improved offense. The Sooners, who get the SEC’s fourth bid over Alabama, also will be a lot better on offense with a deep, talented crop of tight ends and a more seasoned offensive line to go with a healthy John Mateer. This will be the best game of the opening round, with the Sooners winning in OT in Lubbock.No. 10 LSU over No. 7 Indiana: Lane Kiffin has a playmaking quarterback in Sam Leavitt, who has CFP experience at Arizona State, to go with a much-improved Tigers defense that gives the SEC a head-to-head win over the Big Ten. The young but talented LSU D-line derails the Hoosiers offense.No. 6 Georgia over No. 10 Penn State: The Nittany Lions, loaded with many of Matt Campbell’s best players from Iowa State, get into the CFP on the strength of a big home win over USC and a road win over Michigan the following week, and they have to face only one other Top 25 team the whole way (a loss at Washington). But a more physical Georgia team proves to be too much to take down, giving the SEC another win over the Big Ten.QuarterfinalsNo. 1 Oregon over No. 9 Oklahoma: This time the Big Ten gets a win. Dante Moore out-duels Mateer as the two former Pac-12 quarterbacks meet with a lot more on the line.No. 4 Miami over No. 5 Ohio State: The Buckeyes get a rematch of the Cotton Bowl after the Canes mauled the rest of the ACC. Julian Sayin has a better showing, but Darien Mensah and the Miami offense — which features a punishing ground game led by Mark Fletcher Jr. and a more explosive passing attack — give Mario Cristobal a win in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game.