Turns out it's not easy making preseason College Football Playoff bracket predictions.
Before the season started, our nine CBS Sports college football experts took their best shots at predicting the 12-team College Football Playoff field and national champion. After an especially wild coaching carousel and transfer portal cycles that completely remade some of the biggest programs in the country, that endeavor wasn't easy.
As one can imagine, there were some hits and there were misses.
Miami, Georgia and Ohio State were popular preseason picks to earn seeds among the top four, which remains very much in play. Unfortunately, so, too, were Texas and Oregon, which are presently more likely to miss the field than earn a first-round bye.
All but two of our experts (Brad Crawford and myself) predicted Oklahoma to make the field. The Sooners, sitting at 3-3, have 0.4 percent odds to make the field, according to CBS Sports' forecasting model. If only this expert hadn't included Michigan (1% odds) in Oklahoma's place.
Fortunately, our kind bosses are giving us a midseason redo on our picks. Those who no longer wanted to keep Texas as their national champion pick were free to pick another option. (Spoiler: They picked another option.)
Check out our updated CFP and national champion predictions, plus picks for Coach of the Year and the Heisman Trophy.
College Football Playoff predictions
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2026 national champion
Georgia: Except for two bad quarters against Auburn, the Bulldogs have been the most consistent -- and dominant -- team in the FBS this season. They feature a top-15 offense and a top-15 defense with the depth to survive a brutal SEC slate. Consistency is key with Georgia. It's been nine years since it finished outside the top 12 of the final College Football Playoff ranking. So, despite the stumble against Auburn, I feel good about the Bulldogs making it into the playoff.
Once there, I trust that Georgia, more than any other team, is capable of hitting its ceiling from week to week. There are no guarantees in college football. Teams like Miami and Ohio State might actually be more talented than the Bulldogs. But in a three or four-game playoff format, I like Georgia's consistency, even if it's fallen short two years in a row. This is the Bulldogs' best team in that stretch, and I think that shows up in January. -- Chris Hummer (also Tom Fornelli, John Talty)
Miami: The Hurricanes have mostly looked even better than their national finalist squad from last season. Quarterback Darian Mensah is a massive upgrade at the quarterback position from Carson Beck, and receiver Malachi Toney is one of the most dangerous in the sport.
The defense still has a few question marks to work through, but the path is set for the Hurricanes to finish as the No. 1 overall seed if they beat Notre Dame. If the passing defense can get up to speed, the Hurricanes can enter the postseason as the most complete team in college football. -- Shehan Jeyarajah (also Richard Johnson, Brad Crawford)
Ohio State: Ohio State has the best player in the country, a dominant defense and a favorable path in the Big Ten to reach the CFP and win its second national title in three years. The big question is whether quarterback Julian Sayin (shoulder) returns in November to help guide the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Championship Game. Luke Fahey is set to take over as Sayin heals, but the former three-star prospect has attempted only 13 passes in his college career.
The Buckeyes need more from the running backs (rushing ranks 7th nationally) until Sayin returns, and Heisman Trophy frontrunner Jeremiah Smith is already working hard during this bye week to strengthen his connection with Fahey. That's the good news buried in the bad: the Buckeyes have two weeks to wrap their arms around Fahey and lean on their strengths before traveling to USC on Halloween. Also, coordinator Matt Patricia deserves more credit for rebuilding the defense for a second consecutive season. Ohio State ranks fifth in scoring defense and eighth in total defense heading into the back half of the schedule despite breaking in eight new starters.
Ohio State has been the country's most consistent team since it lost on the road to Texas in a massive comeback. That should continue through the postseason, too, especially if Sayin returns. -- Brandon Marcello (also Chip Patterson)
Notre Dame: Notre Dame's loss to BYU required a fumbled spike, BYU's quarterback catching a touchdown pass, two late officiating blunders and some uncharacteristic inaccuracy from quarterback CJ Carr. In short, the Fighting Irish are fine. They haven't lost the chip on their shoulder which they brought into the season after getting snubbed from last year's playoff. In fact, it should only be growing as the stakes of their Nov. 7 game with No. 1 Miami come into focus. A road loss to the Hurricanes kept Notre Dame out of last year's CFP. It will be a home win over the 'Canes that cements Notre Dame's place in the field this year and ignites a title run that this program has been plotting since it was jilted on Selection Sunday a year ago. -- David Cobb
Midseason Coach of the Year
Bob Chesney, UCLA: Bob Chesney has changed the attitude around UCLA football in a formative and dramatic way that will continue through the second half of the season as the Bruins chase a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance. This unprecedented level of contention for UCLA comes not just with an import of JMU coaches and players but with a deep-rooted re-wiring of how the program expects to handle its business. That's how UCLA can endure losing Nico Iamaleava to a season-ending injury and not miss a beat with Ty Dieffenbach. That's how a defense that, in the preseason, was a question mark has become an absolute strength, and why you are starting to see the Rose Bowl fill out a little more for these home games. From X's and O's on Saturdays to the 365-day mindset that Chesney is working to transform around Westwood, all of the skills of the modern power conference coach are on display with his work at UCLA here in Year 1. -- Patterson (also Fornelli, Johnson, Cobb, Hummer)
Will Stein, Kentucky: In his first head coaching opportunity, Will Stein took over a program that went 5-7 a season ago and was projected to win 4.5 games in 2026. Through seven games, Stein has already exceeded those totals. What Stein has accomplished at Kentucky this season is stunning. The 6-1 Wildcats are ranked No. 12 in the country and look like a College Football Playoff team. To do all that in the SEC just makes it even more impressive.
Stein already has two wins over top-10 opponents (Texas A&M, LSU) and two tough road wins over South Carolina and Oklahoma. It's a credit to the roster Stein built on the fly that emphasized the offensive line and getting the right quarterback out of the transfer portal. Stein flipping Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey away from Nebraska looks like one of the great coups of the offseason.
If Kentucky makes the playoff in Year 1, Stein should be your Coach of the Year. -- Talty (also Marcello, Jeyarajah, Crawford)
Heisman Trophy frontrunner
Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State: Jeremiah Smith is a cheat code for Ohio State. Through most of the season, the Ohio State offense has been, "get the ball to Jeremiah Smith, and if for some reason that's not good enough to win, we'll just have to figure it out."
He's even found a way to win games for this team when the opponent has figured out how to remove him from the equation. He finished with only four catches in a win over Indiana, but the one touchdown he caught was a perfect encapsulation of who he is. It was a fourth down, and Julian Sayin heaved a prayer toward the end zone because he knew Smith was down there somewhere. The ball was in the air for what seemed like 10 minutes. Enough time for half the state of Indiana to get onto the field and break it up. Yet who was it who figured out a way to separate from the defense around him and pull the ball out of the air with ease? Jeremiah Smith. It was another instance of Smith looking like the 18-year-old playing against all his 12-year-old cousins at a family picnic.
And that's what Smith seemingly does every week. Whether it's against an overmatched opponent or a future NFL player like himself, he dominates his competition week in and week out. There isn't a better or more valuable player in the country this season. -- Fornelli (also Patterson, Marcello, Talty, Johnson, Jeyarajah, Cobb, Crawford, Hummer)
