Glass Joe

I agree with the point, but ultimately it doesn’t really matter as the ACC will only get one team into the Playoffs (so pick whatever school you’d like to replace Miami in this conversation.)

1776.07.04% ??

You’re basing this 9-3 premise on a sample size of two. And you’re not considering this will be the first season the SEC plays 9 conference games - which guarantees an additional 8 losses on the collective record of SEC teams. In addition, there are now new rules making it easier for Notre Dame to make the Playoffs, and the guaranteed Playoff spot for the P4 conference champs has returned. The silliness of the first two seasons of the Playoff selection process / committee won’t move forward in perpetuity. There won’t be another season of Tulane and James Madison making the playoffs while Notre Dame and Texas watch from home as two of the first three teams to miss the cut. The new rules will mean 2026 season will be different. This is pretty simple: Rank the top 5 teams in the SEC: Let’s use a ballpark consensus of Georgia, Texas, LSU, OU, and Ole Miss. Now, look at the schedules for each of these teams in 2026. There’s a very good case to be made that only Georgia will win 10 or more games. Maybe Texas. That means the 3rd place team in the SEC will be 9-3, as will the 4th place team. At best. Rank the top 5 teams in the Big Ten: Oregon, Ohio St, Indiana, USC, Michigan. Again, look at the schedules of all 5 teams. There’s a very good case that only two of these teams will finish with 10 wins. And (again), that means the 3rd place team in the Big Ten will be a 9-3 record, and very likely for the 4th place team too. This is the impact of adding an additional conference game to the SEC schedules, while the Big Ten already does. Combine this with the exponentially increasing gap in team quality between the SEC & Big Ten over the other P4 conferences (ACC and Big 12), and it will be inevitable that 9-3 records from the SEC and Big Ten will be awarded Playoff spots over the 10-win records of teams from lesser conferences. This is why I posit that two of the most consequential games of the season are LSU v Clemson, and Ole Miss v Louisville in week #1. Both Ole Miss and LSU will likely lose 3 SEC conference games this season, but both will hammer top quartile ACC programs in Week #1. The empirical evidence will show the ACC is a one team Playoff conference (especially after Notre Dame beats both SMU and Miami as well). As long as the ACC remains a 1-Playoff team conference, that means the SEC & Big Ten will get a collective 7-8 Playoff spots. And since we discussed above that both the 3rd place and 4th place teams in both the SEC and Big Ten will likely be 3-loss teams this season, the simple math says you’ll get at least TWO at-large teams into the Playoffs with 3 losses this season. It is difficult for me to envision a scenario where isn’t a 3-loss at large spot in the 2026 Playoffs (probably at least two spots).

Oregon and Indiana do not play each other this year. Scratch #2 off your list. Miami will not be a top 7 team in 2026, but they will be in the Playoffs by default (ACC champs after all). The loser of the Ohio St - Texas game will still make the CFB Playoffs even with 3 losses on their record. In fact, there’s a great chance this season that TWO teams with 3 losses will make the Playoffs. The Big 12 has a really good chance of getting two teams into the Playoffs this season (due to such a putrid bottom half of their league). Watch BYU here. People are assuming way too much about 3-loss teams not making the playoffs based on a sample size 2 previous years. That assumption won’t hold in 2026. At least one Big Ten team will make the Playoffs this season with 3 losses (just look at the schedules), and there’s a really good chance an SEC team with 3 losses will as well (the SEC moving to a 9-game schedule has a huge impact here). 2026 Playoffs breakdown: Big Ten - 4 teams SEC - 3 teams ACC - 1 team Big 12 - 2 teams G5 - 1 team Notre Dame

I’m not a Klatt fan any longer, so I’ll offer some criticism of the list. USC vs Penn State?? A battle of 4-loss teams featuring Iowa State’s roster and Lincoln Riley awaiting an NFL OC offer! Wow! I’d argue the Houston vs Tech game has far broader Playoff implications than USC vs. Penn State. And where is the Oregon vs Ohio State game?! One of those two teams is winning the Big Ten and getting a top 4 playoff seed. Clemson vs LSU is a playoff elimination game (for the loser) in week #1. Michigan has no chance of making the playoffs but has two games on this top 10 list?

As long as he doesn’t walk batters or HBP, I’m fine with him being like Burns.

In Georgia’s tiny ballpark, this guy may hit 50 HRs next season.

Or Gator-bait?

Agreed. Replacing Pendergast / Duplantier with a much better OBP and not losing any speed / defensive capabilities. Plus, 3+ seasons potentially on the roster (good for culture).

My guess for the 3 outstanding HI’s J.Tu’upo B. Sherrard M. Jackson

Trevor Goldenetz? 😉

Add Laya (14 HRs), retain Borba (18 HRs), and get a full season of ABs from ARod, and I’m guessing we have 5-6 players with double digit HRs in the lineup next season. I also expect the Frosh on this list (Pack, Laya, Garcia) to see their HR numbers go up in year 2 of their careers.

Remind me who Nolan Cain is again?

Adding the guy from Oregon would be awesome…and timely.

"What we did today was say we're not going to let the most powerful, richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what's going to happen to 500,000 athletes," Cantwell said during the Commerce Committee voting session. This is a direct quote from the bills co-sponsor (M.Cantwell, Senator from Washington state). This pretty much captures the essence and the perspective of the senator(s) pushing this bill through the legislative process. Notice Sen Cantwell doesn’t even mention anything about the bill’s other major features (transfer rules, compensation issues, anti-trust exemption), but instead is singularly focused on protecting the poor little 500,000 athletes from the big, bad P2 conferences (SEC / B1G). Like it or not, this is the prevailing narrative and clearly this is how the legislation is being framed. Whether or not this becomes the law of the land is still to be determined, but we are certainly not winning the battle of public opinion here.