College Football
LSU To Be Ousted From SEC?
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Welcome to college football in 2026.
On Saturday night, LSU looked like one of the best teams in America, dismantling Clemson 51-10 in Lane Kiffin’s debut.
By Tuesday, the Tigers had climbed to No. 8 in the AP poll. And on that same day, the Southeastern Conference was preparing for a meeting that could potentially result in LSU being kicked out of the league. You can’t make this stuff up.
The dispute centers around Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, two former Ole Miss players who signed NFL contracts and spent time with professional teams this summer before attempting to return to college football at LSU.
The SEC says they shouldn’t be eligible. A Louisiana judge has ruled, at least temporarily, that they can play. LSU didn’t use either player against Clemson, but the fight has continued anyway.
And naturally, Lane Kiffin couldn’t resist having a little fun with it.
With LSU leading Clemson 31-3 at halftime Saturday, Kiffin joked during his television interview, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
I’m guessing SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey didn’t find that nearly as funny as Kiffin did.
Now the situation has escalated to the point where SEC presidents and chancellors are scheduled to meet and potentially consider LSU’s future in the conference.
We’re talking about LSU here. A founding member of the SEC. One of the biggest brands in college football; Tiger Stadium, national championships and generations of SEC history.
Personally, I think kicking LSU out would be a massive overreaction. But I also understand the SEC’s position.
A conference has to be able to make rules and expect its members to follow them. If the schools agree on an eligibility rule and one member can simply go to court and have that rule blocked, how does the conference govern itself?
But that’s also why this story is about much more than LSU. College football has changed almost everything about itself in a remarkably short period of time without developing a system capable of governing what it has become.
NIL changed the financial landscape. The transfer portal changed roster building. Revenue sharing changed the relationship between players and schools. Eligibility rules continue to be challenged in court.
And every time the NCAA or a conference tries to draw a line, someone seems ready to file another lawsuit.
So, who’s actually in charge of college football? The NCAA? The conferences? The schools? The courts? I’m not sure anybody knows anymore.
I don’t blame the players for taking advantage of every opportunity available to them. I don’t necessarily blame LSU for challenging a rule it believes is wrong. And I certainly don’t blame the SEC for believing membership in its conference should require following conference rules.
But college football desperately needs some consistency. That’s the bigger story here.
The crazy part is that LSU might actually be really good. The Tigers just embarrassed Clemson and suddenly look like a legitimate playoff contender.
Yet only a few days later, we’re barely talking about football.
Instead, we’re wondering whether one of the SEC’s founding members could actually be thrown out of the conference.
That’s college football in 2026. LSU may be ready to compete for an SEC championship.
First, apparently, the Tigers have to make sure they’re still in the SEC.
Clemson Tigers: A Declining Program
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season has officially kicked off. I want to discuss Clemson’s head coach, Dabo Swinney. He’s had a lot of success at Clemson but the current era of college football seems to have passed him by.
Clemson traveled to Baton Rouge to face #11 LSU recently. After that performance, LSU looks like the best team in the country. They beat up on the other Tigers, 51-10. This was Clemson’s worst loss since falling 41-0 to Syracuse in the 1996 Gator Bowl
“The best thing about that game is it’s over,” Dabo Swinney said. “Just really poor performance, not what we worked for or expected.”
They played in front of a sellout crowd of 102,000 at Tiger Stadium. The game was delayed almost two hours due to a weather delay.
Clemson did tie the game 3-3 in the first quarter. They briefly looked like they had a chance. LSU finished with 644 yards of offense. Clemson finished with 145 yards.
That led to LSU head coach Lane Kiffin taking shots at Clemson. “I didn’t expect their offense to be that dysfunctional,” Kiffin said after the game. “Our [scout] team scored more than they did against us.”
“We got our asses kicked,” Swinney said. “We gotta go win next week. It’s an embarrassing performance, coaching and playing. We’re going to have to own that. We can’t let that lead to another loss.”
LSU rushed for 309 yards. RB Dilin Jones, who transferred from Wisconsin, rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona State transfer QB, Sam Leavitt, rushed for 113 yards and two scores. He also passed for 230 yards and a TD.
“You’re not going to win if you can’t stop the run,” Swinney added. “We just did a really poor job of setting the edge, especially versus the quarterback run, which really killed us.”
The Tigers (Clemson) struggled so much on offense they pulled starting QB Christopher Vizzina out of the game for freshman Tait Reynolds late in the second quarter.
“The start of the game was great for us, but we couldn’t truly capitalize on it,” Vizzina said, referring to his offense’s stumbles. “We’re not helping our defense at all.”
I have to start with the good things Swinney has done. He took over as the interim head coach in 2008. Since then, he’s gone 187-55, which includes two national championships in 2016 and 2018. He turned the Tigers into an elite program.
He’s competing against what he’s previously done. In the new era of college football, which includes NIL and the transfer portal, he’s been slow to adapt. He went several years without having a player transfer to Clemson.
He’s been adamant that he only wants to build his team through high school recruiting. That blueprint worked about 8-10 years ago.
They have been on a steady decline. After 12 consecutive seasons with double digit wins, they were 9-4 in 2023. They did bounce back in 2024, going 10-4 and making the College Football Playoff.
That season started with a 34-3 loss to #1 Georgia. That showed the talent gap between the Tigers and an elite program. #5 Texas beat them in the CFP 38-24 and the final score makes the game seem closer than what it was.
Last season the Tigers started the season ranked #4 in the AP poll. They returned senior QB Cade Klubnik and several starters from the previous year. They went 7-6, with one of the losses in the Pinstripe Bowl to Penn State.
The next game is against Georgia Southern. I think this will be another long season.
Mercer Bears 2026 Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There is one overlooked FCS football program in the state of Georgia.
Mercer reinstated their football program in 2013 after a 72-year hiatus. The Bears have been pretty successful since returning.
They won the Southern Conference championship the last two seasons.
In 2024 they finished 10-2, with one of those losses at #10 Alabama. The Bears were ranked #8 and they won their first-round playoff game against #10 Rhode Island.
The following week they were beaten by powerhouse, #3 North Dakota State. Of course, NDSU went on to win another FCS national championship that season.
Last season they finished 9-3. One of the losses was at Auburn, which is expected. They were ranked #7 and hosted a playoff game against #11 South Dakota. They were beaten 47-0.
They are looking to build on that momentum and win the SoCon again.
This season they are led by 6’4, 210 lbs. senior QB, Jaylen King. He’s from Folkston, GA and he attended Charlton County High. He’s attended a different college every season. He started at Gardner-Webb, then transferred to East Tennessee State and Florida State.
He redshirted last year at FSU and played in one game. As a sophomore at ETSU in 2024, he started 10 games. King threw for 1,536 yards and 9 touchdowns on 116-for-221 (.525) passing with 11 interceptions. He also carried the ball 105 times for 422 yards and five additional scores. As you can see, he’s a dual threat quarterback.
Senior WR Brayden Smith is a Macon native. He’s attended Mercer all four years, which is rare in the transfer portal era of college football.
He’s been named the Southern Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. He’s also one of 30 players named to the Walter Payton Award watch list.
In 2025, Smith accounted for 1,267 all-purpose yards, leading the team in return yards and finishing second in receiving yards (712 yards). He had seven games where he accounted for more than 100 yards.
The coaches also picked the Bears to win the SoCon. They received six first place votes from the ten head coaches.
They also have a few more players that were named to the 2026 Preseason All-Southern Conference First Team. They are OL Brody Balliew, OL Tyler Murray, DL Kobe McInnis and LB Jyarius Carter.
Mercer started the season ranked #21. Week 0 for FBS is the opening weekend for FCS. The Bears played East Texas A&M on ESPN. They won the game, 23-15. They had a 23-0 lead going into halftime and held on to win.
King threw a 12-yard touchdown to TE Jackson Kostmayer. Senior CB Cameron Goggins returned an interception 38 yards for a pick-6. Sophomore K Simon Zeidan made 3-of-4 field goal attempts. After the win Mercer has moved up to #19.
King passed for 177 yards and a touchdown, completing 53.6% of his passes. Smith had 9 receptions for 131 yards. RB Zahmari Palode-Gary had 8 carries for 87 yards.
The remaining schedule is:
9/5 vs Presbyterian*
9/12 vs Furman
9/19 @ Georgia Tech*
9/26 @ #20 Abilene Christian*
10/3 @ VMI
10/10 vs # 24 Western Carolina
10/17 @ Samford
10/31 vs The Citadel
11/7 @ Chattanooga
11/14 @ #12 Tennessee Tech
11/21 vs East Tennessee State
Non-conference games are indicated with an asterisk.
I think the best-case scenario for Mercer is finishing 10-2. One of those losses will be against Georgia Tech since they are a power conference FBS team. The schedule is pretty tough in addition to that, with three ranked opponents.
I think the more likely outcome is eight, maybe nine wins.
Georgia Players Commitments To Georgia Schools
By: Joseph Stuckey
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As we are less than 100 days away from Early National Signing Day on December 2nd, I thought it would be a good time to examine the recruiting rankings of the 5 FBS teams in the State of Georgia.
To start with, the Georgia Bulldogs sit at number 14 in the country with two 5-stars and eight 4-stars.
Their class is highlighted by the #1 running back in the country, Kemon Spell, and the #1 tight end, Jaxon Dollar.
They also have a local verbal commitment from Abram Eisenhower, who is a consensus 3-star offensive lineman from Lowndes County.
Next are the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who posted an impressive 9-4 record last season under head coach Brent Key. They currently have the number 26 overall recruiting class, which is headlined by nine 4-star recruits.
They do have local standout offensive lineman Jordan Dillon from Effingham County verbally committed to them; he is a 3-star. Also, 3-star wide receiver Antwan Lockett from Colquitt County is verbally committed to the Yellow Jackets.
Next, I will dive into the three Group of 6 Schools in the state. It is always interesting to see which of these 3 finishes on top each year. I say this because they are all in some of the highest recruited areas in the country.
Georgia Southern is in the 912 area code, which has produced a top-3 overall recruit for the past 2 recruiting cycles. Both Kennesaw State and Georgia State are in the Metro Atlanta area, which produces a top-25 overall recruit basically every year.
First is the Georgia Southern Eagles, who have the highest average recruit rating of the three. They do have a couple of local wide receivers verbally committed to them: 3-star MJ Knight (Calvary Day) and 3-star Billy Crider (Bulloch Academy).
They also have verbal commitments from 3-star tight end Elan Jones (Ware County) and 3-star running back Josiah Gibbons (Brunswick).
Next is fellow Sun Belt school Georgia State, which has the highest-rated overall class of the three schools on both On3 and 247Sports.
Head Coach Dell McGee was able to reel in a verbal commitment from 4-star athlete Justin Murphy, who plays at nearby North Clayton High School.
They also do have a couple of local verbal commitments: 3-star wide receiver Jamarian Mingo (Valdosta) and 3-star running back Donterrius Mincey (Toombs County).
Last but not least is the defending Conference USA Champion, the Kennesaw State Owls.
Right now the Owls are basically tied with Georgia Southern in both overall recruiting class ranking and average recruit rating.
They do have a local verbal commitment from 3-star Braylon Cone (Bulloch Academy), who is the highest-rated defensive lineman in the 912 area code for the 2027 cycle.
There is not much of a surprise with where these teams currently sit in the rankings. If you look at last year’s recruiting cycle rankings, it is very similar to this year’s rankings.
UGA is normally near the top, and Georgia Tech is trying to crack the top 25.
For the G6 schools, they usually finish close together in the rankings, so it will be interesting to see which of the 3 ends up on top this recruiting cycle.
Alabama Crimson Tide 2026 Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Alabama has been a perennial power in college football for decades. Any season where they don’t win a national championship seems like a disappointment.
Nick Saban coached the Crimson Tide from 2007-23 and was arguably the greatest coach of all time. He led them to six national championships and 9 SEC titles. As you can see, he’s a tough act to follow.
Kalen DeBoer stepped in as his replacement in 2024. He led Washington to the national championship game the year before that and had a record of 25-3 with the Huskies. So far, he has not met the expectations of Alabama fans.
They were 9-4 in 2024. In 2025, they were 11-4 and won a road College Football Playoff game against Oklahoma. They were obliterated in the Rose Bowl by Indiana, 38-3.
The Crimson Tide finished 125th in the nation in rushing in 2025, averaging 104.1 yards per game. Bama has been known for their physicality so that is surprising. The question is will that change in 2026?
They enter this season ranked #13. The offensive line has improved in Fall camp. Adrian Klemm is the new position coach and they are starting an entirely different o-line from last season.
“You can just see there’s more and more confidence,” DeBoer said. “I would just say, generally speaking, this week you are not having busts like we would have week one. You are seeing a gel. Now you are seeing holes open up for the running backs to run through, and we broke down what an explosive run play is and what it take sat the beginning of fall camp. And that’s the yards you get before contact. That’s making a missed tackle, you know? There is a formula to that when you play the percentages. And I think you are seeing more and more of that happen, but it starts all up front with the offensive line.”
The QB competition is between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack. We should find out who the starter will be in about one week.
The team is hoping talented junior WR Ryan Coleman-Williams can be more consistent in 2026. As a freshman he had 48 catches, 865 yards and 8 touchdowns. He also had 2 rushing scores. Last season, he had 49 receptions, 689 yards and 4 scores. He also had a lot of drops.
Bama lost over 20 players in the transfer portal and brought in 19 players. Some of the key players are OT Jayvin James (Miss State), Edge Desmond Umeozulu (South Carolina), IOL Nick Brooks (Texas), DL Terrance Green (Oregon), WR Noah Rogers (NC State), LB Caleb Woodson (VA Tech), TE Josh Ford (Oklahoma State), OL Kaden Strayhorn (Michigan) and DL Devan Thompkins (USC).
They also signed the top running back in the class of 2026, EJ Crowell.
Here is the schedule:
9/5 vs East Carolina
9/12 @ Kentucky
9/19 vs Florida State
9/26 vs South Carolina
10/3 @ Miss State
10/10 vs #3 Georgia
10/17 @ #20 Tennessee
10/24 vs #8 Texas A&M
11/7 @ #11 LSU
11/14 @ Vanderbilt
11/21 vs Chattanooga
11/28 vs Auburn
Alabama should start the season strong. They should get revenge against FSU after losing the season opener to them. After the first five games, the schedule gets tough.
The four game stretch against UGA, Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU could make or break the season. I think they have to win at least two of those games to make the playoffs.
I predict Alabama to win nine regular season games.
Georgia Southern Eagles 2026 Preview
By: Capers Childs
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Georgia Southern football enters the 2026 season looking to build off a 7-6 campaign that ended with a Birmingham Bowl victory over App State.
But with a number of new faces across the roster, the Eagles will have plenty to prove as they look to take the next step under head coach Clay Helton.
One of the biggest changes comes at quarterback, where seventh-year transfer Max Johnson brings plenty of experience to an Eagles offense looking to replace JC French IV and last season’s production.
Johnson, a 6-foot-5 Athens native, joins Georgia Southern after he previously played at LSU, Texas A&M and North Carolina. He steps into an offense that must replace all 11 starters from last season, making his experience especially valuable as the Eagles navigate a roster filled with new faces.
Johnson has made 24 career starts at the Power Four level, giving Georgia Southern a quarterback who has already faced some of the highest levels of competition in college football. His experience will be especially important as he works to build chemistry with a new group of offensive players and establish an identity for the Eagles early in the season.
After spending his career at Power Four programs, Johnson now gets the opportunity to lead a new-look Georgia Southern offense in his final season of college football.
Fifth-year wide receiver Josh Dallas will be a familiar face for many Eagles fans. Dallas appeared in just two games in 2025 after suffering a hip injury but returns as one of the more experienced pieces of the Georgia Southern offense.
He has appeared in 26 games during his career and will look to provide Johnson with a reliable target as the Eagles work to establish a new identity on offense.
While the Eagles have plenty of new faces on offense, a lot of experience returns on the other side of the ball.
Sixth-year defensive back Chance Gamble returns as one of Georgia Southern’s most experienced defensive leaders and will look to take a step forward.
Outside linebacker MJ Stroud also returns after recording 6.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss last season, giving the Eagles another proven playmaker on the defensive front.
With Gamble leading the secondary and Stroud providing pressure, Georgia Southern will look to its veteran defenders to anchor a defense looking to improve in 2026.
The Eagles will not have much time to find their identity before facing some of their biggest tests this season. Georgia Southern opens its season at home against Charleston Southern before traveling to Clemson on Sept. 12 for a matchup against one of the nation’s top programs.
The Eagles then return to Paulson Stadium on Sept. 26 to host Houston, giving Georgia Southern another Power Four opponent — but this time in front of its home crowd.
The matchup represents a rare opportunity for the Eagles to welcome a Power Four program to Statesboro and test themselves against that level of competition on their home field.
After opening Sun Belt play, Georgia Southern will face several familiar conference opponents, including James Madison, Old Dominion, App State and Marshall, and these promise to be some intense matchups.
With Clemson waiting on the road and Houston coming to Statesboro, the Eagles will have two early opportunities to measure themselves before conference play begins.
Combined with a new-look offense and veteran defensive leaders, Georgia Southern enters 2026 with plenty of questions to answer — but also plenty of opportunities to prove it can take the next step.
Texas A&M Aggies 2026 Preview
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There has been so much excitement in College Station the past few years, only to see it get squashed at the end of the season for the Texas A&M Aggies.
At the end of the 2025 season, despite being the #7 seed in the College Football Playoff, the Aggies were one game away from playing in the SEC Championship game and likely a top 4 seed in the College Football Playoff with a bye that coincides.
Mike Elko enters his third season as head coach in the lone star state and continues to elevate the Texas A&M program each year.
Marcel Reed returns for another year leading the Aggies at quarterback and has been one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the SEC at times. Reed opens 2026 as one of eight returning FBS QBs nationally to amass 5,000+ career passing yards and 1,000+ rushing yards.
The Nashville native saw action in 3 games in 2023 before taking over in 2024 as the starting quarterback. Injuries sidelined Reed for a few games but came back strong in 2025.
The additional benefit that Texas A&M sees is so many familiar faces, especially in the skill position rooms. Receivers, particularly with All-SEC wide-out Mario Craver along with Terry Bussey, Ashton Bethel-Roman all return to be impactful pieces of the Aggie Offense.
The lone transfer into the receivers is Isaiah Horton who comes to the 12th Man from Miami making 11 starts for the Hurricanes last season.
While the skill positions are locked in with a similar cast, the trenches have been re-done. The offensive line is expected to have at least three transfers on the front.
Trovon Baugh sits at 6-4, 335 and is expected to start at right guard after spending the last 3 years at South Carolina.
The two ends of the line are high impact transfers, both standing at 6-7. Wilkin Formby transfers in from Alabama after 14 starts for the Tide last season at right tackle, and on the left side is expected to be Tyree Adams, the LSU transfer at 6-7, 310 pounds.
The biggest emphasis this offseason for TAMU has been toughness. Mike Elko has ramped up the camps to bring an added intensity to the lead-up to the season because that has been the achilles heel of the Aggies in the past few years at times.
The defense is the main side that has been tasked with cranking up the intensity. Second year Defensive Coordinator Lyle Hemphill brings in a couple of key transfers that are expected to have an immediate impact of bringing the defense to the level that is expected under Mike Elko.
Up front, CJ Mimms comes in after stops at East Carolina and North Carolina with over 30 starts between the two under his belt.
In the secondary, Rickey Gibson stays in the SEC coming over from Tennessee and linebacker Ray Coney steps up after being a first team all AAC selection last year at Tulsa.
Between the emphasis on intensity coupled with the scheming of the defensive mind of Mike Elko, it could be a match made in heaven for the 12th man this year.
Elko is someone that just fits the culture (a very unique culture at that) of College Station. He’s embraced it, he’s lived it as a defensive coordinator before going to Duke as a head coach, and now enters year 3 of his head coaching tenure at Texas A&M.
They have taken leaps every year in the past and this is a team from the SEC that I think gets over the hump and into the national spotlight deep into the College Football Playoffs.
Georgia State Panthers 2026 Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2026 college football season will start in less than a month. We will take a look at Georgia State University to see what we should expect from the Panthers.
GSU was founded in 1913 and it is also the largest in-person institution of higher education by enrollment based in Georgia, with a student enrollment of 53,144 across all of their campuses.
The football program was founded in 2010 and they are in the Sun Belt Conference. Former Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee was hired as its fourth head coach for the football program in February 2024.
In 2024, they were 3-9 and 1-7 in conference play. One of those wins was against Vanderbilt, 36-32. It was Georgia State’s first time hosting an SEC opponent, and their first victory against an SEC team since beating Tennessee in 2019.
Last season, the Panthers were 1-11 and 0-8 in the Sun Belt. The lone win was against FCS Murray State, who was also 1-11. Only two of their losses were by single digits. They were one of the worst FBS teams in the nation in 2025.
UMass was 0-12 so that’s the one program they were better than. Charlotte and Oklahoma State were also 1-11.
The team recently started preseason camp. The first day of practice was closed to the public but we were told it went well.
“Guys had great energy, great enthusiasm,” said coach McGee, who is starting his third season. “We’ve still got a long way to go but definitely encouraged by how we started today. The kids were very dialed in in their meetings and they carried those meetings onto the field.”
They brought in 34 players via the transfer portal and signed 16 freshmen.
Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson returns and the Panthers have a new look on defense, where Cam Clark and John Haneline take over as co-coordinators.
They have several players that are coming from major programs. Some of the incoming players are: DL Kelze Howard (Oregon State), LB Jaydon Hood (Michigan), S Keenan Nelson Jr. (Ohio State), OT Jordan Brown (Arizona), IOL Kelton Smith Jr. (Georgia), WR Isiah Stone (LSU), IOL Deylin Hasert (Iowa State), IOL Marcus Mascoll (Florida), IOL Gage Stanaland (Oklahoma State) and RB Keith Adams Jr. (Clemson).
Fifth year senior QB Cameran Brown is the best returning player on the team. He played at Texas Tech in 2024 and appeared in eight games.
Last season he passed for 1,296 yards, 13 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed for 284 yards and 4 TDs. He missed two of the final three games last fall. Brown was named to the Pro Football Network Preseason All-Sun Belt Third Team.
OL Deandre Duffus is on the PFN First Team Preseason All-Sun Belt Team and RB Savion Hart is on the Second Team.
Here is the schedule:
9/4 vs North Carolina A&T
9/12 @ Kennesaw State
9/19 @ UCF
9/26 vs Northern Illinois
10/3 vs Old Dominion (Homecoming)
10/17 @ James Madison
10/24 @ Arkansas State
10/31 vs Coastal Carolina
11/7 @ Appalachian State
11/14 vs Georgia Southern (Rivalry)
11/21 @ Marshall
11/28 vs Louisiana
I think they’ll start the year with a win over North Carolina A&T because that’s an FCS opponent.
Conference play begins Week 5 against ODU. Only three SBC opponents had losing conference records last season; which were App State, Marshall and Louisiana.
On paper I think they have a chance to win 3-4 games. If that happens, they will be looking for a new coach.
Florida State Seminoles 2026 Preview
By: Garrison Ryfun
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After a disastrous 2-10 season in 2024 and a disappointing 5-7 finish in 2025, Florida State enters 2026 still looking for signs that the program is moving back in the right direction.
Following the 2024 season, Mike Norvell made sweeping changes to his coaching staff. He brought in Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator and handed over play-calling duties, while hiring Tony White away from Nebraska to take over the defense.
Those changes helped FSU improve last season, but not enough to get the Seminoles back to a bowl game.
Now, Mike Norvell enters his seventh season at Florida State firmly on the hot seat, and without the offensive coordinator who gave the Seminoles the 6th-best offense based on yards per game in 2025.
Malzahn retired in February after just one season in Tallahassee, with wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. promoted to offensive coordinator. Norvell, however, will take back over the play-calling duties in 2026 after giving them up to Malzahn last season.
At starting quarterback, Auburn transfer Ashton Daniels is expected to take over after spending his first three seasons at Stanford before playing in four games for the Tigers last year.
Daniels brings plenty of experience to the position and is also a threat with his legs, but he’ll need to take better care of the football this year as he has nearly a 1:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio over his college career.
Daniels will have a pretty decent receiving core to throw to with returning starters Duce Robinson, Micahi Danzy, and Jayvan Boggs.
Robinson returns after catching 56 passes for 1,081 yards and 6 touchdowns last season, becoming FSU’s first 1,000-yard receiver since 2019.
Micahi Danzy, the FSU track star, also gives FSU another explosive option, racking up 787 total yards and 6 touchdowns last year as a starter.
An emerging name to look out for in this group, though, is Jasen Lopez, a slot receiver who has turned a lot of heads in fall camp this year.
The Seminoles should have several options in the backfield as well. Sophomore Ousmane Kromah showed flashes as a freshman, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, RS-Junior Sam Singleton who broke out last year averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and Texas transfer Quintrevion Wisner gives FSU another talented option in the backfield.
The offensive line will be worth watching after some offseason turnover, but there should still be enough talent for FSU to once again have one of the better offenses in the ACC.
On defense, the Seminoles showed plenty of improvement in year one under White. FSU finished second in the ACC in pass defense and inside the top five in the conference in total defense and sacks per game.
One of the biggest names to watch on that side of the ball will be Mandrell Desir. Desir earned Freshman All-American honors after recording 7.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks last season, and his twin brother Darryll gives the Seminoles another young piece along the defensive front.
The schedule should be manageable for the talent level Florida State brings in:
August 29th – vs New Mexico State
September 7th – vs SMU (ACC)
September 19th – @ Alabama
September 26th – vs Central Arkansas
October 3rd – vs Virginia (ACC)
October 9th – @ Louisville (ACC)
October 17th – @ Miami (ACC)
October 31st – vs Clemson (ACC)
November 7th – @ Boston College (ACC)
November 13th – @ Pittsburgh (ACC)
November 21st – vs NC State (ACC)
November 27th – vs Florida
FSU plays SMU and Alabama in its second and third games of the season, two teams which should give us a good look at how this team will fare this year.
There is enough talent on this roster for Florida State to get back to a bowl game and make some noise in the ACC in 2026.
At this point, though, simply showing improvement will not be enough. That improvement has to start showing up in the win column for Mike Norvell.
Ole Miss Rebels 2026 Preview
By: Michael Spiers
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There may not be a more fascinating team in the SEC heading into the 2026 season than Ole Miss.
The Rebels are coming off the best season in program history, winning 13 games and advancing all the way to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
They have now won at least 10 games in three consecutive seasons, something that had never happened before in Oxford.
Yet instead of entering 2026 with nothing but excitement and momentum, Ole Miss also enters with one very big question.
What does this program look like without Lane Kiffin?
Pete Golding takes over for his first full season as head coach after Kiffin left for LSU following the 2025 regular season. Golding helped guide the Rebels through their playoff run, but now this is officially his football team.
The challenge will be maintaining the expectations Kiffin helped create while establishing his own identity.
Fortunately for Golding, he inherited a roster with some serious firepower.
It starts with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. After transferring from Ferris State, Chambliss took over the starting job and became one of the biggest stories in college football.
He threw for 3,937 yards with 22 touchdowns and only three interceptions while finishing eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
He gives Ole Miss something every new head coach would love to have, an experienced quarterback capable of taking over a football game.
Then there is Kewan Lacy. Lacy rushed for a school record 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns last season and returns as one of the best running backs in America. Having Chambliss and Lacy together gives Ole Miss one of the best backfields in college football.
The biggest offensive concern is replacing production at receiver. Deuce Alexander returns after catching 44 passes for 684 yards, but Ole Miss lost Harrison Wallace III and De’Zhaun Stribling after the pair combined for more than 1,700 receiving yards.
Once again, the transfer portal became an important part of the solution, with Johntay Cook II and Darrell Gill Jr. among the new additions.
That portal success has become part of the culture at Ole Miss, and apparently it did not leave town with Kiffin. The Rebels assembled the number two ranked transfer class according to 247Sports while returning 49 letterwinners from last season.
Defense might be the bigger question. Ole Miss must replace seven defensive starters, including significant production at linebacker and safety. Golding’s defensive background should help, and there are some excellent pieces remaining.
Suntarine Perkins returns after recording 81 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss last season.
Will Echoles anchors the defensive front, while Kam Franklin returns after collecting five sacks and 15 quarterback hurries. The Rebels also added experienced transfers throughout the defense.
The problem for Ole Miss is that the schedule is brutal. The SEC opener against LSU on September 19 will receive enormous attention because it brings Kiffin back to Oxford.
Then there are road games at Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, along with matchups against Georgia and Missouri. Louisville also presents a difficult challenge to open the season.
That schedule is why I am not ready to predict another 13 win season.
I do, however, think Ole Miss is better than an eight win football team. Chambliss and Lacy give the Rebels enough offensive talent to win games when everything else is not perfect, and Golding has already shown he can lead this program on the biggest stage. My prediction is 9-3.
I think Ole Miss loses three games somewhere in that SEC gauntlet but remains in the College Football Playoff conversation deep into November. If the rebuilt defense comes together faster than expected, 10 wins is absolutely possible.
The Kiffin era may be over in Oxford, but that does not mean the winning has to end with it.
In 2026, we find out whether Ole Miss simply had a great run under one coach or whether the Rebels have truly become one of the programs that expects to compete nationally every single year.
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