2 College Football Programs That Can Be First-Time National Champions in 2026

College Football saw a first-time champion emerge during the 2025/2026 CFP with the Indiana Hoosiers' undefeated run to the crown this past season. There's a chance the sport could see even more parity during the 2026-27 season with another first-time winner.

Money talks in the NIL and rev-share era of the sport, making top recruits less concerned about school lineage and more preoccupied with maximizing their value in a violent sport that typically doesn't see much longevity. That's allowed more teams than ever to be considered contenders.

As we've now seen with Indiana and Heisman winner/former Cal Golden Bear Fernando Mendoza, the blueprint is buying the best players and riding their talents to the top while leaving in their wake all the blue bloods that used to beat them down on the gridiron.

Certain schools that have never won a national championship before were very aggressive this past January in the transfer portal, trying to replicate the Hoosiers' success.

These two programs that have never won it all are among the top 10 for college football futures odds for the coming campaign.

Oregon Ducks

A popular pick to finally get over the hump this fall, the Oregon Ducks were one of Indiana's victims this past January en route to a perfect championship season. Oregon brought the engine of their offense, Dante Moore, back into the fold, and though they lost offensive coordinator Will Stein and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, the Ducks have always produced a winning culture under head coach Dan Lanning.

As long as Nike founder Phil Knight continues to fund one of the most expensive rosters money can buy, Oregon will see aggressive turnover of NFL-caliber upperclassmen coming in and out of the program. The mix just needs to be right once, and it feels like Lanning keeps getting closer to his ultimate goal of bringing the Ducks their first national championship in history.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Speaking of billionaire-backed enterprises that are knocking on the door of a championship, Fort Worth oilman Cody Campbell and his alma mater, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, have emerged from a decade-long malaise of mediocrity on the football field with aggressive NIL/rev-share spend over the past two recruiting cycles.

Texas Tech spent over $6 million on Cincinnati Bearcats transfer QB Brendan Sorsby, and while figures aren't clear on what the bill was for this past January portal cycle, it likely surpassed the Red Raiders' $28 million spend in 2025.

Truth be told, the championship hype is far lower in Lubbock than in Eugene. Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire had the team hovering around six to eight wins in the Big 12 before this infusion of spending.

McGuire has yet to see his team score a single point in the CFP. With that said, if Sornsby is as good as advertised, perhaps he can be the Joe Burrow to McGuire's Ed Orgeron and lead the Red Raiders to the promised land this coming season.