Sunday Morning QB – 9/27/2026
Little late today. More like Sunday Afternoon or Sunday Evening QB. While College Football went to a 12 team playoff recently, each game is essentially like a playoff game each week. USC played Oregon. If the Ducks lost they would have had two on the season and basically been out of the playoffs before the first month of the season ended. USC fans think they should fire Lincoln Riley. Michigan got lucky against Western Michigan but that same luck ran out against Iowa. Ole Miss beat LSU last week but got run over the Sumrall train. The sport has never been in a better spot. It is pure drama each game, each week and will be till the end of the season. We will give you some thoughts on college football.
Can’t win the BIG GAME. Yup that label is out for Lincoln Riley who is 94-29 as a head coach. He has a 39-19 record at USC. The 94 wins don’t count as big wins. Only the losses count. Riley took over USC with the understanding that USC fans want one thing, NATIONAL TITLES. I get it but reality is 1) National Titles are harder now to win than ever before, 2) USC did not adjust to the current landscape of college football until this past year, 3). It took Dabo Swinney 7 years to play for a National Title. It took 8 years for him to win won. People forget that he went 6-7 in year three at Clemson. Yes, Curt Cignetti won a national title at IU but that is not the norm. USC fans have a ton of freshman talent on that team. If they can come together USC will most likely win 9-10 games this year and be set up to make a run in 2027.
Florida once tried to hire Bob Stoops. They ended up with a relatively unknown coach from Utah named Urban Meyer. This past cycle they got turned down by Lane Kiffin. Their fan base wanted no part of Jon Sumrall. Funny how after a 4-0 start the Gator Nation believed they got the best end of that deal. The Gators will come back down to earth this year and probably lose 2-3 games. That being said the foundation has been set and the Gators have found their guy. This s a program heading in the right direction.
THE EXTENSION. When you look at the buyouts across college football they are HUGE. Jimbo Fisher was paid 75 million to leave Texas A&M. They hire Mike Elko, he has success and before the chance to really prove himself the Aggies give him a monster raise and extension and now 4-5 games into this season they look no different than they did under the prior two coaches. Schools need to smarten up. Give a guy an extra year, give them a bigger signing bonus but DON’T destroy your future by handing out a contract that the buyout is so large you can’t overcome it.
Wake Forest – They stand at 3-1 after their upset win over Louisville. Their head coach Jake Dickert is quickly becoming a rising star amongst coaches in college football. Wake is not an easy school to win at under the current landscape of college football. He won 9 games a year ago and look to be on pace to win 8-9 this year. Very impressive for coach Dickert.
The Big 12 could be the most underrated conference this year. Texas Tech, Utah, BYU and Cincinnati all look like legit teams that could make the playoffs. Baylor, Oklahoma State and Houston are all teams that could sneak into the playoffs if things fall their way. More than 2/3 of their conference could make a bowl game this year.
Indiana: For the first time in three seasons, IU looked vulnerable under coach Cignetti. They had to hold on to beat Northwestern at home. We picked them to not make the playoffs in 2026.
UMASS – 4-0 – Not much else to say.
North Dakota State- 4-0 –They could end up an at large bid for the playoffs.
Coaches Hot Seat – Mike Locksley – University of Maryland – Honestly shocked he has not been let go. He lost to Virginia Tech who has a new coach and got blown out by UCLA who is also being led by a first year head coach at UCLA. Locksley time in Maryland looks to run out.
Dave Doeren – NC State – He did a good job at NC State but like all good things it must come to an end.
Heisman Front Runner: Darian Mensah – Miami – He was one of my favorite quarterbacks at Tulane. It continued while at Duke and now at Miami he has the weapons to dominate.
Rankings:
1)UGA
2)Miami
3)Notre Dame
4)Texas
5)Indiana
6)Ohio State
7)UF
8)Oregon
9)Texas Tech
10)Alabama
11) Utah
12) BYU
13) Mississippi State
14) Ole Miss
15) UCLA
16) Iowa
17)Nebraska
18) Boise State
19) Oklahoma State
20) Auburn
21) Minnesota
22) Michigan
23) Baylor
24) Pittsburgh
25) USC
Playoffs – Did someone say PLAYOFFS!!!
- UGA – Bye
- Miami – Bye
- Notre Dame – Bye
- Texas – Bye
- IU vs. 12) North Dakota State
- Ohio State vs. 11) Texas Tech
- Oregon vs. 10) BYU
- UF vs. 9) Alabama