College football returns in 10 days, and the 2026 season is set up to be one of the most chaotic in years. The defending national champions are chasing a repeat with a new quarterback. The Heisman race features a quarterback carrying the most famous last name in the sport. A handful of big-name coaches are starting over at new schools, the playoff format got another tweak, and the Pac-12 is back from the dead. No predictions here — just the storylines, teams and players worth watching from the moment the season kicks off Aug. 29.
The Quarterback Storylines That Define the 2026 Season
Arch Manning is the biggest name in college football, and he finally gets the stage he was promised. The Texas Longhorns quarterback threw for more than 3,100 yards and 26 touchdowns last season, but the Longhorns finished 10-3 and missed the playoff. Texas rebuilt his receiving corps with Cam Coleman, Hollywood Smothers, Raleek Brown and Melvin Siani, and Manning gets an early showcase when Ohio State visits Austin on Sept. 12. He could leave next spring as the No. 1 overall pick, so every snap he takes this fall matters.
Notre Dame's CJ Carr is the early Heisman frontrunner after a breakout redshirt freshman year. Carr threw for 2,741 yards with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, and the Fighting Irish enter the season carrying a snub from last December, when Miami leapfrogged them at the eleventh hour and knocked them out of the playoff. Their theme this year is "leave no doubt," and they open Sept. 6 against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Watch Leonard Moore too — the junior cornerback picked off five passes last season and is the best defender in the country.
Ohio State has the sport's most dangerous duo in quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Sayin was a Heisman finalist last year, and Smith is the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year who needs 39 catches, 341 yards and nine touchdowns to top Ohio State's career receiving lists. The Buckeyes' schedule is brutal — Texas, Oregon, Indiana, USC, Michigan and Iowa — but that's exactly why everyone will be watching.
Oregon's Dante Moore turned down the NFL — he was projected to the Jets — to chase a national title. He threw for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns in his first full season as a starter. Darian Mensah is the third straight transfer quarterback to take over at Miami, following Cam Ward and Carson Beck, and the Hurricanes have won 23 games over the past two seasons. Indiana replaced Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza with Josh Hoover, who leads all returning players with 9,629 career passing yards and 71 touchdowns.
New Coaches, New Eras and the Pressure That Comes With Them
Lane Kiffin is the biggest storyline in the SEC after a bitter exit from Ole Miss. He starts over at LSU with Sam Leavitt, the No. 1 quarterback in the transfer portal who reportedly landed a deal worth more than $4 million. Leavitt led Arizona State to a Big 12 title and playoff berth in 2024 before a foot injury derailed his 2025 season. Kiffin returns to Oxford on Sept. 19, a date every Ole Miss fan has circled.
Ole Miss didn't stay quiet either. The Rebels hired Pete Golding as head coach and return Trinidad Chambliss, who went from Division II Ferris State to eighth in Heisman voting and then won a court fight for a sixth season of eligibility. Chambliss gets LSU in Week 3 and Texas in Week 8 — two chances to prove the hype is real.
Kyle Whittingham opens his first season at Michigan after a long run at Utah, where Morgan Scalley takes over. Matt Campbell is rebuilding at Penn State after the James Franklin era ended mid-season last year, and Franklin landed at Virginia Tech. That's a lot of new voices in the Big Ten, and the early returns are worth watching.
The Defending Champions, a New Playoff Format and the Teams Built for January
Indiana is the defending national champion after an undefeated run, and the Hoosiers carry a 16-game winning streak into the season. Curt Cignetti's team lost its Heisman-winning quarterback but brought in Josh Hoover, who ran a similar system at TCU. The non-conference slate — North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky — gives Indiana a runway to stay undefeated before facing Ohio State on Oct. 17 and Michigan the following week.
The playoff format changed again. The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC champions all get automatic bids, and the highest-ranked Group of Six team earns a spot as well. Notre Dame is guaranteed a berth if it finishes in the top 12. The top four seeds get byes, seeds 5-8 host first-round games on campus Dec. 19-20, and the national championship is Jan. 25 in Las Vegas. Under the new rules, last year's field would have included Duke as the ACC champion and bumped James Madison out — a reminder that every conference title game matters more than ever.
Georgia opens at No. 3 in the coaches poll after winning a second straight SEC title. Kirby Smart reloaded with nine transfers and a revamped receiving corps around Gunner Stockton, who finished seventh in Heisman voting last year. Texas, LSU and Alabama are all built to make noise, and the SEC now plays nine conference games, which means more marquee matchups and more chances to stumble.
Storylines Beyond the Power Four
The Pac-12 is back. Oregon State and Washington State will be joined by Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State and Utah State in a rebuilt conference that debuts Sept. 4 when Fresno State visits USC. Boise State enters as the frontrunner for the Group of Six automatic bid, which would make the relaunched league a playoff player in year one.
Texas Tech is dealing with the fallout of the Brendan Sorsby gambling investigation and turns to Will Hammond at quarterback after winning the Big 12 last season. Conner Weigman quietly won 10 games at Houston and returns as one of the Big 12's most reliable quarterbacks. South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers gets a fresh start under new coordinator Kendal Briles after a 4-8 collapse, and Bryce Underwood at Michigan and Demond Williams Jr. at Washington are names to file away for November.
Ten days out, the storylines are everywhere: a Manning chasing greatness, a defending champion reloading, a new playoff format and a conference rising from the dead. The games start Aug. 29, and the answers start coming with them.
Rebecca Hayes
Rebecca Hayes writes sports features, previews, and event coverage with a focus on the people, trends, and storylines that fans care about.