Add The New York Post on Google The Post’s Zach Braziller makes five predictions for the 2026 season, including his Heisman winner, a surprise CFP team and a coaching legend’s exit.
You have to go all the way back to 1987 for the last Notre Dame Heisman Trophy winner: wide receiver Tim Brown. CJ Carr — the grandson of legendary Michigan coach Lloyd Carr — was overshadowed by his star running backs, Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, last year.
He’ll be the headliner this fall in his second year under center, aided by three returning starters on the offensive line, and top receivers Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse.
His candidacy takes off in early November, when he leads the Irish to a rout of Miami in a meeting of two undefeated teams.
Coach Dan Lanning has arguably the best quarterback in the country in Dante Moore and I believe the premier defense, a unit that returns five All-Big Ten selections from a year ago.
Oregon has disappointed in the playoff the past two seasons, losing by a combined 54 points to Ohio State and Indiana.
They are the last team standing this year, making it four straight years in which a Big Ten program has won it all.
The defense will be suffocating and the offense will be explosive — Moore’s surprising decision to return to school results in a title. (My apologies in advance to Oregon and its fans. My champion at this time last year was Clemson. We know how that turned out.)
In the College Football Playoff for the first time, BYU pulls off back-to-back upsets over Indiana and Notre Dame.
The two-loss, Big 12 champion Cougars are predictably under-seeded after narrow setbacks to Notre Dame and Utah in the regular season. But, behind their experienced defense and Heisman Trophy finalist running back LJ Martin, beat two of the country’s best teams, including a rematch with the Irish, before a hard-fought loss in the semifinals to Texas.
It will be two and done for Bill Belichick in Chapel Hill. After going 4-8 in Year 1, it gets worse this fall, leading to the 74-year-old Hall of Fame coach stepping away.
The Tar Heels’ schedule is difficult: games against national championship contender Notre Dame, and three of the ACC’s best in Miami, Louisville and Clemson.
Belichick’s general manager, Mike Lombardi, is on paid administrative leave following a human resources complaint, and his defensive coordinator, son Steve, was on medical leave for most of fall camp and has yet to return.
The Tar Heels didn’t have a single player named to the All-ACC preseason team.
A year ago, three top 10 teams — Penn State, Clemson and LSU — failed to finish in the Top 25. This year’s preseason flop will be Texas A&M.
A soft schedule inflated the Aggies a year ago, and they were predictably one-and-done in the playoff. They won’t come close to matching last season’s 11 wins this year, having to deal with the likes of LSU and Oklahoma on the road, and Alabama, Tennessee and Texas at home.
Coach Mike Elko’s program also dealt with several key losses, from star receiver KC Concepcion to four starting offensive linemen and leading tackler Taurean York to top pass rusher Cashius Howell.
