College Football Future Power Rankings through 2026 - ESPN

College football's future power rankings have been reimagined as part of a changing sport. The constant roster shuffling around the sport because of the portal made three-year projections less sensible. Instead, the rankings will examine the next two seasons — in this case, the 2025 and 2026 seasons — and function more as a snapshot of the landscape.

Rather than deliver installments before the team rankings, I'm doing them all at once for the Power 4 leagues and Notre Dame. The reason: The spring portal changes things, and QB rooms or individual units can look moderately or significantly different by late May or early June. For example, think about where Tennessee would have been on the quarterback list in February and how the outlook is now.

Teams will be evaluated in the following categories:

Returning quarterback

Likelihood of a multiyear QB on roster

Offensive line/defensive line outlook

Roster management

Star power (All-Americans, national award contenders, all-conference contenders)

Coaching staff

Not every area has to be a strength to boost a team's overall rating. Most teams likely cannot rely on having a multiyear starting quarterback on their roster, given the volatility of the position. But the most promising teams usually check at least a few of these boxes, especially overall roster management (high school recruiting and transfers), line-of-scrimmage play and at least some star power.

Let's get started with the new Power 4 version of FPR, from No. 68 all the way to No. 1.

Jump to a section:
Top 25 | Top 10

Previous future power ranking: Not ranked

Returning quarterback: No. Ashton Daniels, the team's primary starter in 2024, transferred to Auburn in December after leading the Cardinal in both passing yards