Ten Games That Will Define The 2026 College Football Season

It’s time to get out your calendars and circle these dates.

Every college football season has a handful of games that decide conference races, reshape the College Football Playoff picture and produce moments fans remember for years.

With just over two months until kickoff, FOX Sports’ Joel Klatt lists 10 matchups he believes will define the 2026 season.

Klatt: This is the first big game for Kyle Whittingham, and it’s going to be an indication of whether Michigan is going to be back in playoff form. Are the Wolverines going to compete for a Big Ten title? We’re going to find out in Week 2 on September 12th.

Both of these programs want to raise their level this year to the upper-echelon of these conferences. Oklahoma wants to be an upper-tier SEC title contender. Michigan would like to do the same in the Big Ten. This game is obviously a monster game in this direction, even if it’s not directly tied to the standings in each conference.

It’s also about the individuals in this game. What does Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer look like after an offseason to get healthy? What does the offense look like for Oklahoma? It’s the same question for Michigan. What is the marriage going to look like, what is the blueprint, what is the recipe, what do we get out of the Jason Beck- Bryce Underwood marriage?

Klatt: This is going to be an absolute monster rematch. This is not Arch Manning in his first game as a real starter. This is not Julian Sayin in his first time as a real starter. Now, you have incumbent starting quarterbacks. 

These two teams are going to start in the top five. I cannot wait for this game. I think it’s going to be a phenomenal game. The loser of this game is behind the eight-ball.

Klatt: I couldn’t resist. Lane Kiffin going back to Oxford. This could be incredible. There’s not enough security on the planet for Lane going back into Oxford. The way that he left that team in the playoff was wild. I think this game is going to have real implications in the SEC because these are two teams that I would categorize as fighting for those at-large spots. I don’t expect either of these teams to win the SEC. I think that would be reserved for my two favorites in that conference — Georgia and Texas. That doesn’t mean these two teams won’t be very good.

Obviously, there are all the questions around the transfers jelling and how Kiffin is going to do with that. He had a lot of success doing this exact thing at Ole Miss. Both Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy are back at Ole Miss. This team gained a lot of confidence under Pete Golding and that run to the national semifinal. 

These two teams are going to try to be in the top-four spots in the SEC. They’re going to be battling for those at-large spots in the 12-team playoff.

Klatt: These teams are trying to level into that top four in the Big Ten and grab one of those at-large spots. This one is a sneaky game that’s going to be really good. USC has to play Oregon, and then Washington. Both of those games are at home. Then the Trojans travel across the country and go to Beaver Stadium to face Matt Campbell and his Nittany Lions. I think Lincoln Riley is very confident about his team. I am bullish on USC. I think they’re better at the line of scrimmage.

Year 1 for Matt Campbell, I think Penn State has a real shot at 10 wins. This becomes a monumental game, at home, to try to protect Beaver Stadium for Campbell in his first year. Penn State should be 5-0 going into this game. If the Nittany Lions beat USC, their floor becomes 10 wins.

Klatt: The Red River rivalry is always one of the best games in the sport. It’s one of my favorite games in college football. And this one’s going to be huge for SEC implications and College Football Playoff implications. The pressure that will be on Brent Venables and these Sooners when they go to Dallas to face Texas is massive.

What if Texas has two losses, and now everyone’s on Steve Sarkisian’s case? There’s a scenario where one, or both of these teams, has one or two losses. This game is always great. And I think this year, it could have even more implications.

Klatt: SEC dominance is on the line. These two teams split their two matchups last season. The winner is going to be in the driver’s seat. 

I’m not down on Alabama, but I do think this is a program that’s not going to have as good of a football program as they had a year ago. They’re losing their most important player in Ty Simpson. I know their defense wasn’t great, and they’re losing a few players off that defense. Can they replenish and be better? They lost Germie Bernard. Can Ryan Coleman-Williams come back to the form he showed as a true freshman? He’s going to need to.

Klatt: Supremacy in the Big Ten is on the line as Ohio State goes to Indiana. Indiana can run the Big Ten. The Hoosiers beat Ohio State a year ago. They are the reigning national champions. They have not lost at home under Curt Cignetti. They are 14-0.

If Indiana beats Ohio State, all of a sudden, the Hoosiers are the premier program in the Big Ten, which is wild. Obviously, I think you could say that coming into the year because, again, they are the reigning Big Ten and national champs. But you do have a sense of history, whereas Ohio State really runs the conference. You have to get through Ohio State. But if Indiana wins this game, all of a sudden, that’s flipped, and the Hoosiers put themselves on the mountaintop. I just think about this game in that lens, and it just means everything in this conference.

This is a chance for Ohio State to reassert themselves as the top team in the conference. Ohio State could hand Curt Cignetti his first loss at home and remind everybody, ‘Hey, we’re the Buckeyes. We are the pre-eminent program in the Big Ten.’ 

The winner of this game is almost assuredly going to go to the Big Ten title game and has the chance to be the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff.

Klatt: Notre Dame fans watched Miami get that last playoff spot and jump them in the rankings. There is some saltiness in South Bend. There is no doubt about that. Marcus Freeman’s program believes they can go and win a national title. But the same can be said for Miami and Mario Cristobal. 

Notre Dame is going to have its quarterback back and should have one of, if not the best defenses in the country. This team is not going to have many statement opportunities, and this is one of them. That is why this game is going to be so important as it relates to the shape of the season.

Can the Hurricanes do everything they need to do regardless of the outcome of this game? Yes, because obviously they’ve got the ACC championship game backstopping them, and there’s not much in the ACC. If Miami plays clean and Darian Mensah is who we think he can be, they’ve got all these five-star players that are replacing these talented players that were draft picks off the line of scrimmage. If these guys play out, Miami is going to be right back in the top five.

Klatt: This is such a good game. It’s a great rivalry. These are two of my top-10 teams in my post-spring rankings. I think there’s a real chance that the winner of this game is going to the SEC championship game. I think there’s a real potential that it’s a win-and-in game for the playoff.

Can Texas bounce back? Remember this is a team that was in the national semifinals two straight years under Steve Sarkisian. This team missed the playoffs a year ago. A lot of people thought they were the No. 1 team in the country to start, and then they got hot late. They started playing much better, particularly at quarterback late, and beat Texas A&M, 27-17. That one was at home. Now they’ve got to go on the road and face A&M.

Klatt: It is absolutely my honor to call this game. Kyle Whittingham’s first in his stint as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. And he’s going to find out what Ryan Day knows all too well, which is, you are judged based on this game.

A lot could be on the line for the Buckeyes. If you miss the playoffs as the Ohio State Buckeyes, life is not going to be good.

Meanwhile, Michigan, this is not an easy schedule. Can the Wolverines be in a position where, if they beat Ohio State, they go to the College Football Playoff? Ohio State dominated at the line of scrimmage for the first time in a long time last year. They snapped that four-game losing streak to Michigan. They beat them in Ann Arbor, 27-9.