Let’s Debate: 6 Burning Questions for College Football in 2026

The college football season ended days ago, and fans are already anticipating what next season and beyond could look like.

Will the 12-team College Football Playoff format last? Will the SEC see a surge after all the head coaching shakeups? Can the Big Ten stay on top — and for how long?

Our trio of experts at FOX Sports gathered for a discussion about the sport’s biggest burning questions right now:

Why haven’t the CFP board of managers implemented a 24-team model yet?

RJ Young: SEC commissioner Greg Sankey doesn’t like it, but he should. In the 24-team model that has been populated most by the Big Ten, Sankey’s conference receives four automatic qualifying bids, and his conference stands a good chance of getting half of his league invited to play (eight out of 16 teams). That’s a third of the proposed field.

The move to extend the CFP also removes the need for top-ranked teams to take nearly three weeks off before play, which hasn’t helped them, allows them to have a bye and to play at least one home playoff game. For once, the best teams in the country can enjoy the advantage the CFP’s board of (mis)management has only seen fit to extend to its mid-field tournament teams.

Will Indiana repeat as national champions?

Laken Litman: Curt Cignetti has quickly built a program that will contend for national championships for years to come. There’s no question about that, but going back-to-back is never easy, which is why it isn’t done often.

Indiana has one of the strongest transfer portal classes arriving on campus, which includes top players like former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh and Kansas State defensive end Tobi Osunsanmi. Plus, Cignetti has a few star players returning, like standout receiver Charlie Becker, who made critical plays in the title game against Miami (Fla.). 

Still, when you look at the Big Ten and who Indiana has to play next year — Ohio State, Michigan and USC are all on the schedule — plus the general uncertainty of the college football landscape brought on by NIL, it’s more likely than not that the Hoosiers don’t repeat in 2026.

Can the Big Ten win a fourth consecutive national title?

Michael Cohen: After his involvement in the trophy presentation on Monday night, Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti hopped down from the stage at Hard Rock Stadium and attempted to scurry off the field unnoticed. But a handful of reporters tracked him down near midfield to get his thoughts on the conference’s third consecutive national championship. In part, Petitti said, “I feel like we’re just getting started,” which is a fascinating thought for a league that only won two national titles this century prior to its current run.

Can the Big Ten do it again in 2026? The answer feels like a yes, considering just how much talent some of the leading programs is returning — including legitimate Heisman Trophy candidates at Ohio State (Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith), Oregon (Dante Moore) and maybe even USC (Jayden Maiava). Plus, an influx of high-quality coaches at Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State now gives the league a more proven collection of leaders than the SEC, which should translate to sterner tests during the regular season. The Big Ten is certainly trending up.

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Is there another Indiana lying in wait?

RJ Young: There’s a private equity firm out there asking the same question. I know this because I’ve asked this question in texts you’ll never see with powers that prefer not to be seen. 

The question doesn’t so much revolve around flipping a roster into a CFP contender in Year 1 and then a Godzilla to Lord of the sport the next. It revolves around sheer mass. When you learned Indiana has the largest living alumni base in the country, I’m sure much of the Hoosiers’ success on the field immediately made sense to you. Now, what other large universities have large alumni bases and yearn to play for championships in FBS football? We’ll all find out soon — very, very soon.

Can LSU make the CFP in head coach Lane Kiffin’s first season?

Laken Litman: No. Kiffin has owned the transfer portal and is building a competitive roster, led by former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, but LSU has a tough schedule next year that includes matchups against Texas and Kiffin’s former employer, Ole Miss. 

Plus, if you assume the SEC teams that return starting quarterbacks — Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma — are better positioned to make the CFP, then it’s very possible LSU finds itself on the outside looking in next fall. 

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Will head coach Kalen DeBoer win enough games to remain at Alabama?

Michael Cohen: When DeBoer left Washington and accepted the responsibility of replacing former Alabama head coach Nick Saban prior to the 2024 campaign, he understood the incredible — perhaps unreasonable — standard that fans expected him to meet. Saban won six national titles with the Crimson Tide. He only lost more than two games in a season once outside his debut 7-6 mark in 2007. He recruited at a level that no one else in the sport could match. 

DeBoer, meanwhile, has four games in each of his first two years at Alabama. He reached the CFP in 2025 but was barnstormed by eventual national champion Indiana in a game that was never close. A third consecutive substandard season could well result in another change of leadership for the Crimson Tide. 

With all due respect to DeBoer, who remains a fine coach, this question is less about him and more about what a vacancy at Alabama does to the sport. Saban’s departure two years ago set off an avalanche of coaching moves across the country in a cause-and-effect reaction that reflected how desirable it is to work for the Crimson Tide in any capacity. If DeBoer is fired, a similarly wide-ranging reshuffling would likely occur.