Brian Kelly Announces Bold National Championship Pick Ahead of 2026 College Football Season

Brian Kelly never reached his goal of winning a national championship during his time at Notre Dame and then LSU, but the former head coach has gone on the record with the team he believes will win it all this season.

Kelly, who did win two Division II national titles at Grand Valley State, is making the segue into media this year as an analyst for CBS Sports after being fired mid-season by LSU a year ago.

Joining the network's studio show this week, he chose Ohio State as the team to beat in college football.

Then again, many college football pundits feel that way, as the Buckeyes were voted No. 1 in the preseason AP poll.

"I'm putting my stock on Ohio State," Kelly said. "The veteran quarterback coming back, Julian Sayin, I love their defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. I just think that they're a seasoned team -- they've been there, done that, and they play really well later in the season. We saw how they ran the table in winning their national championship a couple years [ago]."

"I'm putting my stock on Ohio State."@CoachBrianKelly picks the Buckeyes to win it all.#ICF pic.twitter.com/oov3rFsiYC
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 2, 2026

The Buckeyes received 40 of the 69 first-place votes to top the AP preseason poll, followed by No. 2 Oregon (14 first-place votes), No. 3 Georgia (0), No. 4 Notre Dame (6), No. 5 Texas (0), No. 6 Indiana (8) and No. 7 Miami (1).

Ohio State followed up its 14-2 2024 national championship season by going 12-0 in the regular season last year before losing to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and then to Miami in the CFP quarterfinals.

As Kelly highlighted, the Buckeyes return Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin at quarterback. He led all FBS QBs in completion percentage as a redshirt-freshman at 77% while passing for 3,610 yards, 32 TDs and 8 INTs.

While wide receiver Carnell Tate (the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft) and tight ends Max Klare (drafted in the second round) and Will Kacmarek (third round) are gone, Sayin has a wealth of playmakers back around him nonetheless.

Junior Jeremiah Smith is widely considered the top wide receiver in college football after catching 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 27 TDs over his first two seasons.

Meanwhile, five-star freshman Chris Henry Jr. is the No. 2 WR prospect in this class, per 247Sports' rankings; veteran Brandon Inniss (36-271-3 last season) will look to carve out a bigger role in the passing game, and senior Devin McCuin joins the Buckeyes as a transfer from UTSA after posting a 65-726-8 line last season.

Jeremiah Smith on the new Ohio State offense under Arthur Smith:

"Get me the ball" 😳

(h/t @11W) pic.twitter.com/8FkV7l8aR0
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) August 27, 2026

Running back Bo Jackson returns after rushing for 1,090 yards and 6 TDs on 6.1 yards per carry, with talented sophomore Isaiah West (59-310-2 as a true freshman) behind him.

And the Buckeyes return four starting offensive linemen in left guard Luke Montgomery, center Carson Hinzman, Austin Siereveld moving from left tackle to right guard and right tackle Phillip Daniels. Junior Ian Moore, who logged 230 snaps last season, is expected to take over at left tackle.

The biggest change on that side of the ball, really, is former NFL offensive coordinator and head coach Arthur Smith taking over as offensive coordinator, filling the void left when Brian Hartline became head coach at USF.

The Smith hiring -- bringing a longtime NFL coordinator and former head coach to the college ranks -- is similar to the move head coach Ryan Day made last year in hiring Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator.

That worked out with the Buckeyes leading the entire FBS in scoring defense (9.3 points per game) and total defense (219.1 yards per game -- 35.2 better than any other team in the country).

The defense will be the biggest variable for Ohio State in 2026 as it had seven players off that elite unit drafted, including three first-round picks in linebackers Arvell Reese (No. 5 overall), Sonny Styles (No. 7) and safety Caleb Downs (No. 11) along with defensive tackle Kayden McDonald (second round), cornerback Davison Igbinosun (second round), cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. (fifth round) and defensive end Caden Curry (sixth round).

Ohio State opens its season Saturday vs. Ball State and then quickly gets its first major test in Week 2 at No. 5 Texas -- the first of six preseason-ranked teams on the Buckeyes' schedule. The others (in order of ranking) are No. 2 Oregon, at No. 6 Indiana, at No. 14 USC, home vs. No. 16 Michigan and at No. 22 Iowa.

As for Kelly, he and Day never coached against or with each other, so there's no personal history to consider in Kelly's preseason pick.

Add us as a preferred source on Google