New Playoff Teams This Season? - Josh Pate's College Football Show

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These are all solid picks for first-timers, I can't wait for the 2026 editions of Saturdays in the Fall

SMU has a roster of guys and coaching staff that were actually in the playoff just 2 seasons ago. Jennings is still like that, the offense will perform. I think SMU and Louisville will duke it out for who makes the ACC title game against Miami, and ultimately potentially a second CFP spot for the conference

BYU, Louisville, Vatech, USC, Florida.

People forget Louisville was a top 20 team last year before injuries sank their campaign.

USC’s biggest issue right now isn’t talent—it’s impatience. The constant focus on negatives fuels reactionary decisions: firing coaches every few years, paying massive buyouts, and restarting before anything can take hold. That cycle doesn’t build contenders; it creates instability. The program has already seen how this plays out. Coaches like Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian went on to succeed elsewhere, and the decision to pass on Ed Orgeron for Clay Helton only reinforced how costly those moves can be. At some point, the pattern is clear. Now the same pressure is building around Lincoln Riley, even though he’s still early in his tenure and working through a rebuild. Expecting immediate success —especially in the Big Ten—is unrealistic. There’s also no obvious upgrade waiting in the wings, and allegedly reported 90 million buyout makes another reset even harder to justify. USC doesn’t need another coaching search. It needs stability, patience, and a commitment to letting a proven coach build something over time. Otherwise, it risks repeating the same cycle that has held the program back for years.

I’m no Florida fan but the last two years they’ve had one of the hardest schedules… this schedule looks manageable. If they take a step forward under the new coach - They get Oklahoma and old misery at home. Texas and Georgia their toughest games. If they lose to Texas & Georgia, 10–2 is a reality.

So we”re getting back to “the same teams”, just with a bigger number.

The Big 12 needs a playoff run. It would be really good for the sport. The more parity between the P4 the more fun college football will be to watch. Otherwise we are just looking at 2 super conferences that keep expanding until conferences are ridiculous in size. At that point its hard to compare schedules even within conference play. My ideal world would be one where the conferences become much smaller, so a team in any given conference plays every team in their conference every season.

Louisville is very dangerous! Watched a few games last season and whew 🥵