Connelly's Top 2026 College Football Games by Conference
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- Bill Connelly selected five games per Power 4 conference using combined SP+ ratings and a projected scoring margin under eight points, producing 20 highlighted matchups for the 2026 season.
- Clemson emerges as the ACC's "hinge team" with three of the conference's five marquee games — vs. Miami (Oct. 3), vs. Virginia Tech (Oct. 24), and at Florida State (Oct. 31) — meaning the Tigers either return to the ACC title game or decide who does instead.
- BYU anchors the Big 12 list with three appearances (vs. Arizona Sept. 12, at TCU Oct. 3, at Utah Nov. 7), while Utah draws two late road games (at Arizona Nov. 14, at TCU Nov. 21) that could eliminate the Utes or knock out title hopefuls.
- Ohio State hosts both of the only two Big Ten teams with winning records against them this decade — Michigan (4-1) and Oregon (2-1) — within the final four weeks of the regular season, per Connelly's data.
- Georgia plays two rematches from last season, facing Alabama in Tuscaloosa (Oct. 10) and Ole Miss (Nov. 7), with Connelly noting Ole Miss defensive coordinator Pete Golding is unbeaten all-time against Georgia's Kirby Smart.
- Texas plays eight games against projected top-20 teams, with the final three all on the road — at LSU (Nov. 14) and at Texas A&M (Nov. 27) — bookended by early matchups against Ohio State and Tennessee.
- The season opens in less than a month and concludes with the College Football Playoff national title game on Jan. 25, per the source.
Why it matters: Connelly's SP+-based selections highlight which conference races could hinge on a single hinge team — Clemson in the ACC, BYU in the Big 12, Ohio State's late gauntlet — while the SEC schedule puts Texas through a brutal eight top-20 gauntlet and frames a Georgia-Ole Miss rematch with a coordinator who has never lost to Kirby Smart. For fans and bettors, the list functions as a preseason watch guide built on advanced metrics rather than poll hype.
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