Joel Klatt Names Two Powerhouse Programs That Could Stun College Football in 2026

On his latest podcast episode Wednesday morning, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt dissected "10 burning questions" to hype up the 2026 college football season as it begins in full this week.

As for whether college football is better than ever, Klatt enthusiastically answered his own question with an emphatic: "The answer is yes, it's absolutely yes."

One major reason for that opinion is how wide open the national championship race -- and of course the College Football Playoff picture with the 12-team field -- seems in 2026.

On that note, Klatt suggested two teams he believes could be this season's version of the national champion 2025 Indiana Hoosiers -- the program that sort of came out of nowhere a year ago, wasn't quite ready to win it all just yet, but may now be ready to finish the job in 2026.

"How about Texas Tech taking the next step? How about Ole Miss taking the next step? I don't hear many people talking about Texas Tech and Ole Miss as potential national champions," Klatt said. "Granted ... there are really talented teams above them, but I would not have told you at this point last year that Indiana had the roster or the chemistry or the experience or any of that to go win the national championship, and they did."

Texas Tech Red Raiders running back Cameron Dickey returns after a breakout 2025 season. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Case For Texas Tech

After going 8-5, 7-6 and 8-5 in coach Joey McGuire's first three seasons in Lubbock, the Red Raiders broke out with 12 wins last year, their first CFP berth and highest final AP ranking in program history (No. 7).

There's every reason to believe Texas Tech's emergence as a national power is sustainable, with the program considered to have among the strongest NIL backing in the sport.

Even though the Red Raiders' big-ticket transfer this year, quarterback Brendan Sorsby, won't be playing for them (or any school) in the wake of his sports gambling scandal, McGuire's got plenty of talent on the roster to make another run at the playoffs nonetheless.

Junior Will Hammond takes the reins at quarterback after serving as a backup the last two years, passing for 1,151 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions and rushing for 348 yards and 7 TDs in that time. Recovered from a torn ACL sustained last fall, he gets the shot he's been waiting for all this time.

Texas Tech also returns one of the most loaded running back groups in the country with Cameron Dickey (1,124 rushing yards and 14 TDs; 224 receiving yards and 2 TDs), J'Koby Williams (868 rushing yards and 6 TDs; 388 receiving yards and 2 TDs) and Quinten Joyner, who was expected to have a major role before missing last season with a torn ACL.

How well the reloaded Red Raiders adapt to replacing their top two receivers, star linebacker and Heisman Trophy contender Jacob Rodriguez and their dominant defensive line led by edge rusher David Bailey (the No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft) remains to be seen.

But Klatt sees the potential for the Red Raiders to be in it until the end this year, drawing a parallel with Indiana's initial breakout in 2024 when it reached the CFP but lost in its first playoff game while building on that experience and momentum the following year. After its dominant run through the regular season and Big 12 championship game, Texas Tech was humbled in a 23-0 playoff loss to Oregon.

"Maybe that's the case for Texas Tech. They beat up on teams that they should and lost to the best team they faced in Oregon last year," Klatt said.

The Red Raiders open the season ranked No. 12 in the AP poll.

Trinidad Chambliss returns to Ole Miss as one of the top quarterbacks in college football in 2026. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Case For Ole Miss

As for the Rebels, they went 13-2 and reached the CFP semifinals in the program's best season since the 1960s, finishing No. 3 in the final AP poll.

That was, of course, despite the dramatic departure of former head coach Lane Kiffin prior to the start of the playoffs, as he left to take the LSU job. Ole Miss immediately elevated charismatic defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach, and he led the Rebels to two playoff wins before a narrow 31-27 loss to Miami in the semifinals.

With star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss back for another season after a series of appeals through the courts to restore his eligibility, why not Ole Miss?

Chambliss was as good as any quarterback in college football a year ago, emerging from a little-known Division II transfer to an SEC star in passing for 3,937 yards, 22 TDs and 3 INTs with 527 rushing yards and 8 scores.

Ole Miss, which opens the season ranked No. 9, also returns star running back Kewan Lacy, who rumbled for 1,567 yards and 24 rushing TDs, while filling other roster voids through the transfer portal.

"Ole Miss, everyone's overlooking them this season because Lane left. What if they galvanize around Pete Golding with their great quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and they move forward and win the SEC?" Klatt said. "Maybe they just run roughshod over college football, and they become this year's 2025 Indiana."

Crazier things have happened -- like, well, 2025 Indiana winning it all.

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