The 2026 college football season is underway! We’ve already started seeing some action at lower divisions of the sport, but FBS football is getting rolling this weekend. And with that getting started, we’re about to start having more chatter about the College Football Playoff (in a slightly more serious manner, that is).
There’s a lot of football to be played and a lot of football to enjoy and love between now and when the College Football Playoff actually starts this season. That said, it’s worth trying to understand how teams will get there and what they will need to navigate through to be able to compete among the 12 best teams in the country.
There’s going to be a ton of challenges for several top-tier competitors. Let’s start taking a look at some of the toughest schedules in the country and how that could impact the College Football Playoff this season.
Texas, Ohio State have some of the toughest schedules for CFP competitors
Depending on how much you trust ESPN’s Football Power Index and its ability to help quantify how tough a schedule might be, you’ll be inclined (or not) to believe that the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Oklahoma Sooners have some of the toughest college football schedules in the country.
And interestingly enough, all three of those teams could find themselves competing in the College Football Playoff this year.
Team | Strength of Schedule | Preseason AP Top 25 Ranking |
|---|---|---|
Texas Longhorns | 2nd | 5th |
Ohio State Buckeyes | 8th | 1st |
Oklahoma Sooners | 3rd | 10th |
From the start of the season, it doesn’t look like any of those teams have easy paths to get to the College Football Playoff. And interestingly enough, Texas will play both Ohio State and Oklahoma this season.
Here’s what the Longhorns’ schedule looks like:
- September 5 vs. Texas State
- September 12 vs. Ohio State
- September 19 vs. UTSA
- September 26 at Tennessee
- October 10 vs. Oklahoma (neutral)
- October 17 vs. Florida
- October 24 vs. Ole Miss
- October 31 vs. Mississippi State
- November 7 at Missouri
- November 14 at LSU
- November 21 vs. Arkansas
- November 27 at Texas A&M
That’s not exactly an easy slate of games. And folks, it’s such a good encapsulation of the trio of teams that were named here. Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas are going to be facing some of the toughest competition in the country. And that includes one another.
But they’re not the only teams in that sort of situation. The Ole Miss Rebels have the No. 7 SOS in the country, according to ESPN’s FPI, and they’re the No. 9 ranked team in the AP poll. The Texas A&M Aggies have the No. 9 SOS and are the No. 8 ranked team.
How does all of this impact the College Football Playoff this year?
It will be absolutely fascinating to see if that cluster of teams beats up on one another to the point where several of them are left on the fringe of being able to make it into the College Football Playoff this season. And I guess the biggest question that I have there is just how many teams would be on the cusp of getting in but coming up just short?
A small collection of notable games on those other team’s schedules:
- Louisville at Ole Miss on September 6
- Arizona State at Texas A&M on September 12
- LSU at Ole Miss on September 19
- Ohio State at Indiana on October 17
- Texas A&M at Alabama on October 24
- Ohio State at USC on October 31
- Oregon at Ohio State on November 7
- Georgia at Ole Miss on November 7
- Ole Miss at Oklahoma on November 14
- Tennessee at Texas A&M on November 14
- Texas A&M at Oklahoma on November 21
- Ohio State at Michigan on November 28
And that’s not getting into the various different rivalries and trap games and all of the other high levels of competition that this collection of teams is playing.
If Texas, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M don’t just experience some degree of cannibalization amongst one another and they can get to double-digit wins, they certainly deserve to make it into the College Football Playoff. But don’t be surprised if this group (plus Ohio State by a semi-tangential extension here) somehow experiences some interesting bumps in the road along the way.
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