College football 2026: September CFP superlatives - ESPN

Happy September, college football fans. September brings the official start of this year's 12-team College Football Playoff race, the debut of 33 new head coaches and introductions to teams that look entirely different after more than 3,000 scholarship FBS players entered the transfer portal.

What else is new?

No, really.

There are some tweaks to the CFP system. Notre Dame is guaranteed a spot if it finishes in the top 12. The Power 4 conference champions are also guaranteed bids, along with the highest-ranked team from the Group of 6. It no longer has to be a Group of 6 conference champion. And on Selection Day, the No. 1 seed gets to select its CFP quarterfinal bowl.

It all begins this month, so we've got the ultimate guide of September superlatives to get you ready, from key nonconference games that will impact Selection Day to players who will have CFP-defining moments, sleeper teams, and of course… bold CFP predictions, including which conference will hoist the trophy Jan. 25 in Las Vegas.

Like any normal college football fan, you might disagree.

And so it begins.

Jump to:
September noncon games
Questions | First-year coaches
Storylines | Players
Sleepers | Predictions

1. Ohio State at Texas, Sept. 12 (7:30 p.m. ET/ABC): A win against a top-five CFP opponent will carry a lot of weight in the selection committee meeting room. The head-to-head tiebreaker will be integral to the seeding process. The winner could also have a huge résumé booster if the loser goes on to win its conference, which is a realistic scenario for both teams. The loser won't be eliminated because it lost this game, but it will put more pressure on that team to avoid what happened to three-loss Texas last year — a bad loss at Florida, plus narrow