Everything College Football Fan Need To Know Before Week 0

Curt Weiler|published: Sat 29th August, 10:07 2026

Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Brandon Inniss (1) celebrates a touchdown by wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4) during the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas for the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against the Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 31, 2025. Ohio State lost 24-14.

After months of anticipation, college football is (kind of) back this week.

We get a Week 0 appetizer this weekend before diving into the smorgasbord that is Week 1 next week.

For those who have not been glued to all the preseason magazines and are just getting reacquainted now, here’s a crash course of things to know for the 2026 season.

Ohio State should be very good again

Not exactly a bold proclamation to say about a program that has lost more than three games just once in the last 21 seasons, but the Buckeyes appear to be very much back this season.

Despite having four players taken in the first 11 picks of April’s NFL Draft, Ohio State is the consensus preseason No. 1 team in the AP and Coaches polls.

The Buckeyes may very well have the best quarterback and wide receiver in all of college football in Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith.

Sayin had a sensational debut season, completing 77% of his passes for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while Smith may be the single-best player in college football, amassing 2,558 receiving yards and 27 touchdown catches over his first two seasons in college football.

The defense has a lot of holes to fill, but with how well Ohio State recruits, it’s entirely possible we’re talking in January about a second national title in three years for the Buckeyes.

New faces galore in SEC

Florida Head Coach Jon Sumrall, left, watches practice with referees at Heavener Football Complex in Gainesville, FL on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]

After the Southeastern Conference won 13 of 17 national titles between 2006 and 2022, the last three national champions have come from the Big Ten.

Perhaps reflective of that lapse, six of the 16 SEC teams have new head coaches this season.

The most notable new face, Lane Kiffin, isn’t new at all. He left Ole Miss ahead of its College Football Playoff appearance to take over at LSU. His replacement, Pete Golding, led the Rebels to the CFP semifinals and earned the full-time job.

Jon Sumrall (Florida) and Alex Golesh (Auburn) are G6 coaches getting a chance to revitalize sleeping power programs, while Will Stein (Kentucky) and Ryan Silverfield (Arkansas) have tougher tasks at programs with worse track records.

All in all, it’s an intriguing year of new blood in the SEC, which also has seven teams in the top 13 of the preseason AP poll.

No NFL returnees

A major talking point of the last few weeks has been the impact of the new five-for-five eligibility rule in June.

Some players who would have otherwise been out of eligibility, like former Boston College and Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who committed to Texas Tech this week, will be back.

But after LSU tried to add a few players who have been on NFL rosters this offseason, most notably former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, the conferences all stepped in and prohibited such moves.

LSU’s own conference, the SEC, instituted a penalty that would suspend a coach for half a season and fine the school for 50% of its annual football budget if they were to roster one of these players, essentially the final nail in this failed saga.

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