5 College Football Teams Primed to Make Their First Playoff Appearance in 2026

Much of the College Football Playoff talk surrounds the same handful of teams over and over. Alabama, for instance, made it top nine Playoffs, while Clemson and Ohio State have each reached seven. Georgia and Oklahoma appeared in five Playoffs, and are each in the hunt for a slot in 2026. But there are plenty of top programs still waiting for that first CFP invite. Here are five teams that could legitimately earn a first Playoff birth in 2026.

USC

The Trojans are probably the biggest-name program to not yet make a College Football Playoff appearance. But the move into the Big Ten hasn't yet paid real dividends for the Trojans. Heading into 2026, No. 14 USC is a presumed fourth behind the B1G power trio of Ohio State, Indiana, and Oregon. A fourth Big Ten team in the Playoff is possible, but USC could really help itself by jumping one of those three teams.

The good or bad news for USC is that they'll face all three. The Trojans have home games with Oregon and Ohio State and play a road game at Indiana. If Jayden Maiava can pull down a big upset, USC could well have a 10-2 season and end its Playoff drought.

BYU

Off a pair of close calls with the Playoff, BYU could be set to make its debut in 2026. The Cougars had a good shot a year ago, going 12-1 in the regular season, but not only did BYU lose the Big 12 title game, they lost it 34-7 and basically killed any talking point of a second Big 12 team.

BYU, who opens 2026 ranked No. 15 in the coaches poll, has two paths-- either take down Texas Tech, who BYU doesn't play in the regular season, or be a worthy second Big 12 team. That's a spot where upsetting Notre Dame on October 17th could be a game changer for the entire league. Bear Bachmeier could write BYU's ticket then... or over the course of the Big 12 schedule.

Utah

That said, BYU isn't the only Big 12 team with a good shot at a second spot from the league. Utah, preseason No. 21, also has an eye on a Big 12 run. A season ago, the 11-2 Utah Utes lost only to Texas Tech and BYU. Tech rolls off the schedule for Utah, so the Utes' shots at grabbing the league depend heavily on a November 7th home game against BYU.

Devon Dampier is back at QB and the Utes, with an offense that scored 41.3 points per game a year ago, could certainly be an entertaining and successful enough team that even if they don't win the league, the Utes might just nab the potential second Big 12 CFP spot.

Iowa

The sleeper path is probably most likely for the giants of the Big Ten and SEC. So one Big Ten sleeper is No. 22 Iowa. The Hawkeyes always have a dangerous defense, but have struggled to put up enough firepower offensively to finish at the top of the Big Ten. A year ago, Iowa was 9-4, but those four losses came by a combined 15 points and two of the losses were to Indiana and Oregon. Another TD against Indiana and another field goal against Oregon and Iowa would have topped the CFP.

Offensive coordinator Tim Lester has seen Iowa's scoring improve from 15.4 points per game in 2023 before he was hired to 27.7 and 29.3 per game over the past two years. A surprisingly efficient QB could be the only thing between Iowa and gate-crashing the Playoff.

Missouri

The most likely SEC first-time party crasher is Missouri. The Tigers started 5-0 a year ago and finished a humble 8-5. The preseason No. 25 faces a murderers' row in the SEC schedule that could doom them, but could also give them a chance to make a playoff claim.

QB Austin Simmons will face Texas A&M and go to Ole Miss in October while also facing Texas and Oklahoma at home in November, with a trip to Georgia in between. That's five brutal games. But with three at home, if Mizzou can go 3-2 or even 4-1, they might just sneak into the CFP conversation.

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