College Football Powerhouse Receives Unexpected Hype Despite Questionable QB Addition

A Power Four college football program has received surprising hype heading into 2026 despite an odd quarterback acquisition from the NCAA transfer portal.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Ashton Daniels (12) pump fakes a pass against the Kentucky Wildcats | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Almost six and a half months separate the middle of February from the first weekend of the 2026 college football season.

Many college football programs hope to keep up their good work from the 2025 season and carry it into 2026. Other college football programs are in the midst of a soul search, plotting the best strategies to dig themselves out of the holes they created.

Florida State is among the programs in desperate need of a turnaround in 2026. A pair of transfer quarterbacks in D.J. Uiagalelei and Tommy Castellanos did not pan out the way the Seminoles anticipated, resulting in a combined 7-17 mark in 2024 and 2025. Florida State hopes for a better result with its acquisition of former Auburn quarterback Ashton Daniels in 2026.

The 6-foot-2, 219-pounder arrived at Stanford as a three-star recruit in the Cardinal's 2022 signing class. Daniels appeared in eight games for the Cardinal his freshman season, although his primary use came in the run game. He completed five of six pass attempts for 39 yards and logged 25 carries for 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

Daniels became the Cardinal's starter in the 2023 season. In his first year as Stanford's starter, he threw for 2,247 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions and ran for 296 yards and three more touchdowns.

Stanford Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels (14) runs the ball against the San Jose State Spartans | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

In his last season at Stanford, Daniels' passing numbers took a hit as he threw for only 1,700 yards, 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. However, his ground production increased in the form of 669 rush yards and three touchdowns.

Daniels transferred from Stanford to Auburn in the 2025 offseason. Hugh Freeze opted to start Oklahoma transfer Jackson Arnold to open the season, but the Tigers shifted to Daniels as their starter around the time of Freeze's firing. In four games, Daniels completed 68 of 119 passes for 797 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for 280 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

While the last two seasons did not go according to plan for the Seminoles, some in the college football media landscape are optimistic about what they may achieve in 2026.

Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy voiced his opinion on Florida State's odds as a fringe College Football Playoff contender on his show "Always College Football."

“I know that we have gone down this path before in kind of hyping Florida State a little bit, but if you look at their talent profile—just their talent profile—they have weapons, they have dudes, they have speed, they have athleticism, what they haven’t had is consistency,” McElroy said.

“When you look at Florida State as a sleeper, the expectation is often uncertainty, because there have been such ups and downs; they’ve been a hard team to trust. But, the upside is clear.”

The Seminoles play a pair of marquee non-conference foes in Alabama and Florida out of the SEC in 2026. Boston College is the only program on Florida State's 2026 ACC slate that did not play in the 2025 postseason.