College football 2026: What you need to know about the new season

Let the games begin.

A summer packed with legal battles over Brendan Sorsby's ban for gambling and the implementation of the NCAA's new eligibility rules is about to give way to the annual rite of autumn: packed football stadiums on Saturday afternoons, grill smoke rising from pregame tailgate parties and the chase for playoff spots and the national championship. Here's a primer for fans:

There are 17 games matching Football Championship Subdivision teams on Aug. 27-28, and there are eight in the Bowl Subdivision on Aug. 29.

The big Week Zero matchup pits beleaguered Bill Belichick and his North Carolina Tar Heels against TCU in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland.

The season begins in earnest on Labor Day weekend with a handful of Top 25 games: Lane Kiffin makes his LSU coaching debut against Clemson at home that Saturday night, Wisconsin plays Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sunday night and SMU visits Florida State on Monday night.

The best early season game is Ohio State at Texas on Sept. 12.

Those six words, said in that order, are something no one would have imagined a couple years ago when the Hoosiers led college football in all-time losses.

Enter Curt Cignetti, the late-blooming coach who has won 27 of 29 games since taking over and last season led the Hoosiers to the first 16-0 campaign in the modern era of the sport.

Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 NFL draft pick Fernando Mendoza was the central figure in the championship run, and the Hoosiers scored at least 50 points in seven games.

TCU transfer Josh Hoover succeeds Mendoza at quarterback, and with Ohio State and Oregon loaded with talented returning players and transfers, the Hoosiers aren't even the favorite to win the Big Ten, let alone another national title.

ACC: No. 7 Miami is the overwhelming choice after it reached the national championship game and then upgraded at quarterback with the addition of QB Darian Mensah from Duke.

Big Ten: No. 1 Ohio State, led by returning QB Julian Sayin and WR Jeremiah Smith, is the pick in what could be a closely contested race to the conference championship game. No. 2 Oregon is right there with the Buckeyes, and everyone knows not to sleep on No. 6 Indiana.

Big 12: No. 12 Texas Tech is the favorite even though it will have to go with Will Hammond, coming off an ACL tear, rather than Sorsby at quarterback. Tech vs. No. 14 BYU in a second straight Big 12 title game is very possible.

SEC: Kirby Smart and his No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs are well-positioned to make a run at a third straight conference championship and fourth in five years. They wouldn't play Texas, their biggest threat, until the SEC title game but both schools face daunting schedules all season.

American: Navy, at 21-5, has its best two-year record in program history and can capitalize on coaching changes at schools at or near the top of the conference standings.

Conference USA: Liberty is expected to bounce back from an injury-plagued season in which it posted a losing record for the first time since it elevated to the FBS in 2018.

Mid-American: Western Michigan brings back almost all the key players from team that went 10-4 and won MAC title.

Mountain West: UNLV, with Auburn transfer Jackson Arnold at QB, assumes the favorite's role with the departure of Boise State for the Pac-12.

Pac-12: Boise State gets the nod because of the return of Maddux Madsen, who threw for 2,334 and 18 touchdowns, and 1,100-yard rusher Dylan Riley.

Sun Belt: James Madison is an established winner and picked to prevail in the East with 60 newcomers and Billy Napier back in the league as first-year coach. Troy is favored in the West.

This is the third, and possibly final, year of the 12-team playoff. Expansion could come as soon as the 2027 season depending on whether the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference can agree on how many teams would be in the field.

The Big Ten, along with the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12 and Notre Dame, want a 24-team playoff. The SEC is holding out for 16.

A 24-team playoff would require conferences to discontinue their championship games, and that's a sticking point for SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

Expansion talks are expected to continue in September, and a final decision would in theory have to be made by December. Athletic directors have said a deeper financial analysis is required to see if the revenue generated by an expanded playoff would offset the money conferences make from their championship games.

First-round games will be played at the stadium of the higher-seeded team on Dec. 18-19. Quarterfinals are Dec. 30 at the Fiesta Bowl and Jan. 1 at the Cotton, Rose and Peach bowls. Semifinals are Jan. 14 at the Orange Bowl and Jan. 15 at the Sugar Bowl.

The championship game is Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It will be the latest end date for a college football season.

The five best conference champions will earn automatic bids. This will be the second year there are no guaranteed first-round byes for conference champions. The selection committee will seed all teams according to where they sit in the final CFP rankings, which will be announced Dec. 6.

After Labor Day, the AP releases its weekly Top 25 poll every Sunday. The CFP selection committee starts releasing its weekly rankings the first week of November.

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here , visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here