Way-Too-Early 2026 College Football Playoff Brackets: Expert Picks, Imaginative Scenarios

The Indiana Hoosiers have barely lifted the College Football Playoff national championship trophy, but it’s never too early (right?) to look ahead to next season. As it stands, the format remains the same for 2026 with a 12-team field featuring the five highest-ranked conference champions and the top four seeds receiving first-round byes. Sports Illustrated writers Pat Forde and Bryan Fischer give their picks on who will make a playoff run next season, then delve into some imaginative scenarios for additional brackets. 

Pat Forde’s way-too-early 2026 College Football Playoff bracket

How I see the 2026–27 CFP playing out. More Big Ten hardware, fewer SEC teams in the mix, and a repeat of the 2024 championship game.

Sports Illustrated Graphic

Seeding

1. Ohio State
2. Notre Dame
3. Indiana
4. Georgia
5. Texas
6. Oregon
7. Miami
8. Texas Tech
9. Texas A&M
10. USC
11. BYU
12. Boise State 

Championship: No. 1 Ohio State over No. 2 Notre Dame

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Bryan Fischer’s way-too-early 2026 College Football Playoff bracket

Dan Lanning has made year-over-year progress every season since taking over and finally gets an elusive title for Phil Knight in 2026, with the sport’s biggest upstart topping its greatest old-school brand. The Ducks have a ton coming back on both sides of the ball and also have a rare bit of QB depth with Dylan Raiola backing up Dante Moore. Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish should be properly motivated to go on another long CFP run (and have the schedule to do so) while there’s a reason that Texas is once again getting a ton of preseason hype around Arch Manning & Co.

I think this is finally the season where BYU gets over the hump in the Big 12 and Miami actually makes it to Charlotte for the ACC title game if the Hurricanes really do land Darian Mensah at quarterback. SMU is my sneaky at-large pick outside the Power 2 conferences with Kevin Jennings in his third year as a starter while Alabama and Michigan have enough talent and coaching acumen to navigate their difficult schedules to make it to the first round.

Sports Illustrated Graphic

Seeding

1. Oregon
2. Texas
3. Notre Dame
4. Indiana 
5. Ohio State
6. Georgia
7. BYU
8. Miami 
9. Alabama
10. Michigan
11. SMU
12. Boise State

Championship: No. 1 Oregon over No. 3 Notre Dame

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Much like we did before the season, we turned into bracketologists and have four additional brackets looking at some of the major storylines for this offseason and heading into next season.

The Cignetti Domination Bracket 

Operating under the theory that Curt Cignetti is now an unstoppable overlord who will continue to trample college football, here is who the Indiana Hoosiers will dominate next season. Cignetti’s coattails will become so powerful that three of his former schools (North Carolina State, West Virginia and James Madison) will be dragged upward. Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Oregon, among others in the league, will be sufficiently demoralized that they will falter.

In this bracket, Cignetti will get to destroy another SEC blueblood in the Rose Bowl (Texas), another big-dollar NIL machine in the semifinals (Texas Tech) and the last team to defeat him in the final (Notre Dame). At that point, he and the Hoosiers will be on a 32-game winning streak.

Will the Curt Cignetti domination tour roll on in 2026? | Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

Seeding

1. Indiana
2. Notre Dame
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech 
5. Miami
6. Ohio State
7. Texas A&M
8. Texas
9. Oregon
10. NC State 
11. West Virginia 
12. James Madison 

First Round

• No. 12 James Madison over No. 5 Miami
• No. 11 West Virginia over No. 6 Ohio State
• No. 10 NC State over No. 7 Texas A&M
• No. 8 Texas over No. 9 Oregon

Quarterfinals

• No. 1 Indiana over No. 8 Texas
• No. 2 Notre Dame over No. 10 NC State
• No. 3 Georgia over No. 11 West Virginia 
• No. 4 Texas Tech over No. 12 James Madison

Semifinals

• No. 1 Indiana over No. 4 Texas Tech
• No. 2 Notre Dame over No. 3 Georgia

Championship

• No. 1 Indiana over No. 2 Notre Dame 

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Next Indiana Bracket

Which historic loser could be the next to rise all the way up through the ranks? Selecting and seeding 12 programs with all-time losing records, according to sports-reference.com, that can dare to dream.

The Northwestern Wildcats are now the losingest college football program after Indiana stopped its skid and won a title. | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Seeding

1. Northwestern
2. Vanderbilt 
3. Illinois
4. Kentucky
5. Virginia
6. Wake Forest
7. Kansas State
8. Rutgers
9. Iowa State
10. Mississippi State 
11. Kansas
12. Colorado State

First Round

• No. 5 Virginia over No. 12 Colorado State
• No. 6 Wake Forest over No. 11 Kansas
• No. 7 Kansas State over No. 10 Mississippi State
• No. 8 Rutgers over No. 9 Iowa State 

Quarterfinals

• No. 1 Northwestern over No. 8 Rutgers
• No. 2 Vanderbilt over No. 7 Kansas State
• No. 3 Illinois over No. 6 Wake Forest
• No. 4 Kentucky over No. 5 Virginia

Semifinals

• No. 1 Northwestern over No. 4 Kentucky
• No. 2 Vanderbilt over No. 3 Illinois

Championship

• No. 1 Northwestern over No. 2 Vanderbilt

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Hot Seat Bracket

An overly active coaching carousel in 2025 dwindled the number of firmly hot seats, but there are still plenty of coaches feeling the fire from their fan bases. Perhaps if huge buyouts were not an obstacle, guys like Mike Norvell, Dave Aranda and Luke Fickell would have already been shown the door, but there’s little question that the group will all be coaching for their jobs this season.

There are others, like Lincoln Riley, who need to reward the investments the school have made in the program with the requisite wins on the field while the fans are bound to be agitating to get the pitchforks out if it’s more of the same from Dabo Swinney, Scott Satterfield or Mike Locksley. Like it or not, there’s plenty of pressure on first-year guys like Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding, who will forever be linked and be judged against each other on top of their meeting in Oxford, Miss., this September. While Dave Doeren and Josh Heupel seem fairly safe with their administrations, the fans have a different opinion after not meeting expectations. Thomas Hammock must navigate a new league in DeKalb, Ill., on top of the Huskies going 3–9 last season.

Florida State head coach Mike Norvell is firmly on the hot seat entering the 2026 season. | Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

Seeding

1. Mike Norvell, Florida State
2. Dave Aranda, Baylor
3. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin
4. Lincoln Riley, USC
5. Dabo Swinney, Clemson
6. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati
7. Mike Locksley, Maryland
8. Pete Golding, Ole Miss
9. Lane Kiffin, LSU
10. Dave Doeren, NC State
11. Josh Heupel, Tennessee
12. Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois

First Round 

• No. 12 Thomas Hammock vs. No. 5 Dabo Swinney
• No. 11 Josh Heupel vs. No. 6 Scott Satterfield
• No. 10 Dave Doeren vs. No. 7 Mike Locksley
• No. 9 Lane Kiffin vs. No. 8 Pete Golding

Quarterfinals

• No. 8 Pete Golding vs. No. 1 Mike Norvell
• No. 7 Mike Locksley vs. No. 2 Dave Aranda
• No. 6 Scott Satterfield vs. No. 3 Luke Fickell
• No. 5 Dabo Swinney vs. No. 4 Lincoln Riley

Semifinals

• No. 4 Lincoln Riley vs. No. 1 Mike Norvell
• No. 3 Luke Fickell vs. No. 2 Dave Aranda

Championship

• No. 1 Mike Norvell vs. No. 2 Dave Aranda

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Heisman Bracket

Have you heard about the Texas quarterback with a famous last name who is garnering quite a bit of preseason hype? No, it’s not déjà vu from last year, but it’s time to start believing in a trip to New York for Arch Manning with the number of weapons he’ll have at his disposal in 2026. He’s one of several quarterbacks in their same job for another season who should factor prominently in the Heisman Trophy race, including Dante Moore after he returned to Oregon, a highly motivated CJ Carr at Notre Dame and recent finalist Julian Sayin at Ohio State. 

There’s also a host of new faces in new places who have Heisman potential, including Sam Leavitt playing for Lane Kiffin and LSU, Brendan Sorsby making the move to Texas Tech and Josh Hoover trying to replace the current holder, Fernando Mendoza, in Bloomington, Ind. Don’t discount Jeremiah Smith or Malachi Toney either as they are so electrifying and have a chance to really make waves with even better quarterback play.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is our top Heisman seed. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Seeding

1. Arch Manning, QB, Texas
2. Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
3. CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame
4. Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
5. Sam Leavitt, QB, LSU
6. Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana
7. Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State
8. Brendan Sorsby, QB, Texas Tech
9. Gunner Stockton, QB, Georgia
10. John Mateer, QB, Oklahoma
11. Bryce Underwood, QB, Michigan
12. Malachi Toney, WR, Miami

First Round

• No. 12 Malachi Toney vs. No. 5 Sam Leavitt
• No. 11 Bryce Underwood vs. No. 6 Josh Hoover
• No. 10 John Mateer vs. No. 7 Julian Sayin
• No. 9 Gunner Stockton vs. No. 8 Brendan Sorsby

Quarterfinals

• No. 5 Sam Leavitt vs. No. 4 Jeremiah Smith
• No. 6 Josh Hoover vs. No. 3 CJ Carr
• No. 7 Julian Sayin vs. No. 2 Dante Moore
• No. 8 Brendan Sorsby vs. No. 1 Arch Manning

Semifinals

• No. 1 Arch Manning vs. No. 4 Jeremiah Smith
• No. 2 Dante Moore vs. No. 3 CJ Carr

Championship

• No. 1 Arch Manning vs. No. 2 Dante Moore

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More College Football from Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Way-Too-Early 2026 College Football Playoff Brackets: Expert Picks, Imaginative Scenarios.