Indiana's historic national championship has every college football team believing they have the right stuff to bring home their own surprise title. That's raised expectations for programs that may not be ready to meet them.
There was a lot of turnover at big programs in the offseason, which meant new head coaches, dozens of transfers and a whole new approach to winning. That will either yield the desired results or disappointing returns. Let's take a look at the schools that have the resources to push for a College Football Playoff berth but haven't quite showed they have what it takes to execute. The 2026-27 season will be boom or bust for them.
Penn State Nittany Lions
James Franklin couldn't beat good teams. Penn State fans were tired of that narrative and finally decided to move on. However, there's absolutely no way for anyone to know if new head coach Matt Campbell is going to make an immediate difference. He took Iowa State to the Big 12 title game in 2024 with quarterback Rocco Becht and now the pair are going to try to translate that success to the Big Ten.
Best of luck to them. Becht is capable of navigating tough defenses and willing an offense to victory, but the Big Ten is a different beast entirely. That being said, Penn State's schedule is quite favorable too this year. Only two opponents are considered true contenders — Michigan and USC — otherwise the Nittany Lions are staring down a 10-2 campaign that could earn an at-large bid to the CFP. Or there's ample opportunity for Campbell and Becht to feel some growing pains with losses against totally beatable opponents.
USC Trojans
Head coach Lincoln Riley's seat should be warm-ish, but it could get hot should the program's self-imposed high expectations not be met this year. That would include reaching the CFP for the first time in school history. Senior quarterback Jayden Maiava could be a Heisman Trophy dark horse, but it's going to depend on whether he improves upon his 2025 turnover problem (10 interceptions). Competing in the Big Ten requires near perfection, as Indiana demonstrated last year.
USC's schedule should see the Trojans 4-0 as they enter a critical Week 5 tussle with former Pac-12 rival Oregon. A loss there would be acceptable (though not in the eyes of the fans) as long as the Ducks are CFP-bound by the end of the year. Down the stretch, Riley and Maiava are going to have to win the games they previously haven't, including against Ohio State and the defending champions. Riley's team could either be a two-loss national title contender or a four- to five-loss mid-program yet again.
Clemson Tigers
Head coach Dabo Swinney won't be fired or dismissed from Clemson until he decides he's done with college football. The convincing argument for them to walk away may present its latest example this year should the Tigers repeat the stale nature of their play from 2025. Clemson failed to dominate the ACC like it usually does. Nothing short of a CFP bid will be acceptable in 2026, especially given the chaotic nature of its title race last year and Miami's run to the national championship game.
Quarterback Cade Klubnik was a disappointment, but he's in the NFL now. Swinney will be leaning on junior Christopher Vizzina, who doesn't have much starting experience, and a minimal transfer class. That probably doesn't inspire much confidence, but a Swinney-led team cannot be counted out of any season. The Tigers' schedule, however, is a grueling mix of top competition and trap games. Week 1 against LSU will set the pace for whether this will be a year to pay attention to Clemson or disappointingly put them on the backburner yet again.
Missouri Tigers
The SEC has been ripe for a new title challenger and right now that appears to include programs like Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and LSU. Missouri has been dying to add itself to that list but head coach Eli Drinkwitz hasn't been able to put together a strong enough roster to make it to November as a contender. The 2026-27 campaign is his next opportunity to breakthrough but it's another 50-50 shot.
Three teams from that new challenger list are on Missouri's schedule, and the Tigers will be required to beat at least two of them to break the narrative they're destined to hang in the middle of the pack indefinitely. A Week 2 bout with Kansas will be a pace setter, but should they emerge victorious, there's a good chance the Tigers build momentum entering SEC play. Potential stumbles against Mississippi State, Florida or Arkansas could spell the early end of Missouri's potential breakthrough campaign.
LSU Tigers
Unlike Missouri, LSU got a major boost in changing out literally everything about itself. New head coach Lane Kiffin plus a surge of top transfers have these Tigers poised to push for the SEC title. Although, those high expectations could be the program's doom. LSU is quite literally the definition of a boom-or-bust team.
New quarterback Sam Leavitt has a history of performing at the biggest moments but crashing against lower competition. He may be able to pull off big wins over Clemson, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama and Texas, but he's bound to have a stinker or two against someone like Kentucky or Arkansas. That inconsistency may stall Kiffin and LSU's dreams of announcing to the college football world that fans can dream of a return to its 2019 glory once again.
Arizona State Sun Devils
Speaking of Leavitt, an Arizona State transfer, the Sun Devils are about to begin life without him. Head coach Kenny Dillingham will be hoping he's worked his transfer magic again with either Mikey Keene or Cutter Boley. ASU fans should be excited to see them work with two of the top receivers in the transfer portal — Colorado's Omarion Miller and Boston College's Reed Harris — because they have the potential to see two Jordyn Tyson-like talents at Mountain America Stadium.
The only problem is, ASU has never been able to recapture the kind of national title run it saw back in 1996. Even the 2024 campaign that saw it win the Big 12 and nearly win a CFP quarterfinal was done by a three-loss team. The Sun Devils are capable of shocking their new conference again, but with so many unproven talents in one place, their tough 2025 schedule may not be the right opportunity to produce minimal losses.
Add us as a preferred source on Google