The 2026 college football season is arriving as Week 0 is less than a week away from kicking off what should be another incredible year. Heading into the season, everyone has their shortlist of championship frontrunners and playoff contenders, but this is a sport built on chaos. While plenty of teams were left outside the Top 25 polls, some dark horses could end up crashing the party this season.
The 5 unranked teams that could crash the College Football Playoff
Florida Gators
Jon Sumrall enters his first season at the helm of the Florida Gators fresh off a trip to the College Football Playoff with Tulane. While Florida fans were hopeful that the entire coaching carousel that they'd land Lane Kiffin, Jon Sumrall is quickly showing everyone he wasn't a consolation prize. Hiring elite offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech was the first sign the Gators would be contenders.
While Florida hasn't named a starting quarterback yet, having Jadan Baugh at running back and an incredibly talented wide receiver room will give the Gators an elite offense. The defense returns a ton of talent, and if some of the younger pieces can continue to develop after getting experience last season, the Gators could be a Playoff contender.
UNLV Rebels
Dan Mullen enters his second season at UNLV with one of the best rosters outside of the Power 4. Jackson Arnold transfers in looking to revive his career after a down year at Auburn, and he'll have plenty of weapons to use starting with star running back Jai'Den Thomas. The entire roster is loaded with former Power 4 talent, and it could lead to the Rebels earning the Group of 5 bid into the Playoff.
Clemson Tigers
Dabo Swinney's team is being counted out coming into the season, but as of late, he's shown the Tigers go up and down in waves. Clemson has won the ACC every other year since 2020, and coming off a disappointing season, the Tigers could bounce back in a big way. The strength of the Tigers will be known almost instantly as they go on the road to face LSU to open the season.
Clemson still hasn't named a starting quarterback, but whoever wins the job will have an elite duo to pass to with TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco back for another season. The defense returns stars in Will Heldt, Ashton Hampton, and Sammy Brown, while Dabo Swinney used the transfer portal more often than normal to help revamp the unit.
California Golden Bears
This offseason, Cal kicked off a new era, bringing in Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi to lead the program. The Golden Bears enter the year with a ton of excitement between the promise they showed last season and the buzz of the new coaching hire. Miami enters the season as the favorite in the ACC, but we saw last season that the Canes still aren't immune to trap games.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was incredible as a true freshman, and the coaching staff moved quickly to build around him. Incoming weapons Ian Strong, Chase Hendricks, Dorian Thomas, Adam Mohammed, and Cooper Perry should make this unit one of the best in the conference.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
After winning the Big 12 last season, Texas Tech has gotten all the buzz to repeat as conference champions. The hype behind the Red Raiders made a ton of sense when Brendan Sorsby was penciled in as the starting quarterback, but he's now no longer a part of the team, and Texas Tech will be asking a lot of Will Hammond coming off a torn ACL.
If there's a team in the Big 12 that can come out of nowhere to win the conference, it's the Oklahoma State Cowboys. New head coach Eric Morris brings with him the elite offensive trio of Drew Mestemaker, Caleb Hawkins, and Wyatt Young, who can be an explosive trio in the Big 12. The biggest question will be if the defense can be good enough as all the offensive talent is in place.
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