Ohio State projected 2026 CFP champion over Texas
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- Ohio State is projected to win the 2026 College Football Playoff national championship, beating Texas in the Las Vegas title game — a rematch of a Week 2 regular-season matchup the projection has Texas winning at home.
- Notre Dame, Georgia, Ohio State, and Miami earn the four first-round byes as the top seeds in the projected 12-team field, with Georgia (SEC), Ohio State (Big Ten), Miami (ACC), and Texas Tech (Big 12) projected as conference champions and Boise State as the top Group of Six entry.
- Indiana, the reigning national champion, is seeded 7th and projected to beat Texas A&M at home in the first round before falling to Georgia in the quarterfinals, with the article noting the defending champs 'still don't seem to be getting the benefit of the doubt' despite retaining coach Curt Cignetti.
- Lane Kiffin is projected to navigate a 10-2 first season at LSU, including a road playoff win at Texas Tech in the first round, before his Tigers lose to Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
- Ole Miss is projected to host and beat Oregon in the first round, then upset top-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals — leveraging the Chambliss-to-Lacy one-two punch — before falling to Texas in the semifinals.
- Boise State is projected as the top Group of Six team but draws a road trip to Austin for the first round, where Texas is projected to handily advance.
Why it matters: By projecting Ohio State over Texas in the title game, the bracket frames the 2026 season's marquee potential storyline as a showdown between Arch Manning's Longhorns and the Buckeyes' Julian Sayin-Jeremiah Smith duo. It also seeds defending champion Indiana at No. 7 despite retaining Cignetti, signaling national skepticism about the Hoosiers' ability to repeat after losing key contributors.
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