Week 0 first impressions: USC rolls, Virginia dominates and North Carolina stuns TCU
Three games, three different messages, and at least two preseason assumptions that already need revisiting.
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August 2026
Arch Manning and Sark: is 2026 the year Texas finally wins it all?
Manning has thirteen games of evidence now, the roster is loaded, and the schedule may be the hardest in the country.
Notre Dame preview: is this the year the Irish finish on top?
CJ Carr returns, Leonard Moore may be the best corner in the country, and the schedule ranks 66th in difficulty.
Northwestern preview: a new Ryan Field, a new offense and a chance to change the program
Chip Kelly runs the offense, Aidan Chiles runs the huddle, and the stadium opens against Penn State on a Friday night in October.
Georgia preview: is this the team that finishes the job?
Gunner Stockton is proven, the secondary could be the best in the country, and the schedule sends the Bulldogs to Tuscaloosa and Oxford.
Penn State preview: what will Matt Campbell change in Happy Valley?
He brought two dozen Iowa State players with him, including his quarterback. The schedule skips Ohio State, Oregon and Indiana.
USC preview: is this Lincoln Riley's best team yet?
Seventeen starters return and Gary Patterson takes over the defense. The schedule will answer the question by Halloween.
Cal preview: is this a Top 25 team?
The Bears got two AP votes and were picked twelfth in the ACC. The quarterback and the schedule both argue otherwise.
Big 12 preview: can Texas Tech do it again?
The Red Raiders won all twelve of their wins by at least twenty points and never see BYU or Utah this year. The quarterback is the question.
Oklahoma gives Brent Venables a contract extension
Video coverage of the Sooners' decision to extend their head coach.
2026 Pitt preview: Mason Heintschel gives the Panthers a chance to surprise
The ACC media picked Pitt ninth. Returning the quarterback who took over the offense is the reason that may be too low.
The top five gauntlet: why Notre Dame has a clearer path than Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia and Texas
All five open within a poll spot of each other. Their routes through the season look nothing alike.
The AP poll is back, and so is the debate over whether it matters
Every team is 0-0, and the rankings are already shaping how the season gets sold, argued over, and eventually judged.
Last year's preseason AP poll was a miss
The ballot ranked reputation rather than improvement, and missed the eventual national champion by nineteen spots.
The realignment map keeps moving into 2026
What changed, who moved, and which leagues are still negotiating the next round.
Another Ohio State decision with the Michigan game in mind
Stephen Means on how the season's final week is already shaping the choices being made in August.
The Standard and the Strangers: Can Curt Cignetti, Indiana win big again with 17 newcomers?
The Hoosiers won a title with players who followed their coach from James Madison. This roster is almost entirely new.
Athlon names its top ten contenders for the 2026 Heisman
A preseason field heavy on quarterbacks, with a handful of two way players in the mix.
Ranking every SEC helmet, from the classics down
LSU, Texas, and Alabama all place, though not where their fans would put them.
Jayden Daniels wants his Heisman Trophy back from LSU
The dispute between the quarterback and his old school is now about who keeps the statue.
Where the national championship futures sit before Week 0
The board opens with a familiar top tier and a wider middle than last preseason.
ESPN's final preseason projections put Clemson atop the ACC
The model likes the Tigers' returning front seven and a schedule that keeps them home in October.
Transfer portal tracker: every move for the 2026 cycle
A running list of entries, commitments, and where each player lands.