Every year national pundits and talking heads make themselves look like doofuses because they picked your team to do poorly and your team out paces their prediction OR they “know ball” because they picked your team to do great (but your team struggled, but we don’t need to include that) OR OR OR they picked your rival to do great, but that can’t happen. Regardless, I am not one of those doofuses (or is it doofusi?). When picking Dark Horses, I have had a bit of a hot streak (humbly of course) – need evidence? In 2024, I picked Indiana (before it was cool) to go 8-4 – they went 10-2 and made the playoffs. In 2025 I picked Virginia to go 9-3 and flirt with the ACC Championship – they went 11-3 and flirted with the ACC Championship, one might say they almost went all the way…to win the championship. I digress. Every year, teams come out of the dark, if you will, and shock the everyday fan by outperforming the national opinion on said team. Here are my dark horses, to prevent that shock from you in 2026!
ACC: Clemson
This seems blasphemous to say, but with the Vegas win total over / under set at 7.5, this is the spot the Tigers are in – coincidentally this is a spot Dabo revels in. New/Old Offensive Coordinator comes into an offensive room with a plethora of talent – WRs TJ Moore and Bryant Wesco, TEs Olsen Patt-Henry and Christian Bentancur, RBs Gideon Davidson and Chris Johnson Jr., and a big Offensive Line room. Can Morris take that cupboard and make a smorgasbord with a question mark at head chef (quarterback)? That’s the biggest question for the offense. Defensively the Tigers were one of the worst teams in the country in stopping the pass (120th out of 136 to be exact). Tom Allen called out the entire group in October of last year and said that he needs players who are long, fast, and love football. Well, here comes DL Markus Strong (6-3), DE London Merritt (6-3), S Corey Myrick (6-3), S Jerome Carter III (6-1), CB Elliot Washington II (6-1) …there’s a trend here, do I need to keep going? I think the defense takes a huge step forward and gives a team that lost 6 games by an average of 8 points, a huge boost, and an opportunity in those 1-score games. Give me the Tigers to go 10-2 and have a shot at the ACC title come December.
· Vegas Win Total Over / Under: 7.5
· My Prediction: 10-2
· Strength of Schedule (according to SP+ Rankings): 23 / 138
· Schedule: @LSU, Georgia Southern, UNC, @Cal, Charleston Southern, Virginia Tech, @Florida St., @Syracuse, Georgia Tech, @Duke, South Carolina
Big 10: Rutgers
This seems blasphemous but for the opposite reasons listed above. Rutgers is sitting at 4.5 wins according to Vegas but the weapons the Scarlet Knights will have in 2026 with RB Antwan Raymond and WR KJ Duff, this offense will be scary. The biggest question marks on this team, and to be fair, they are big, bolded question marks, are QB and the defense – can they replace, now NFL QB, Athan Kaliakmanis and can they improve from the 127th ranked defense in the country. The defense will be improved as new DC Travis Johansen, who is coming from being a Head Coach for FCS juggernaut South Dakota will come in and fix a team that allowed 7.9 yards per play. I like the Paladins of Piscataway to be at the 8-4 mark.
· Vegas Win Total Over / Under: 4.5
· My Prediction: 8-4
· Strength of Schedule (according to SP+ Rankings): 62 / 138
· Schedule: UMass, @Boston College, USC, Howard, Indiana, @Maryland, @Northwestern, Michigan, @Wisconsin, Nebraska, @Penn St., Michigan St.
Big 12: Oklahoma St.
The Cowboys say goodbye to Mike Gundy, and hello to the red dead revolver in Eric Morris. Morris, QB Drew Mestemaker who led the NCAA in passing yards in 2025 with 4,379 yards, WR Wyatt Young who was 3rd in the NCAA in receiving yards in 2025 with 1,264 yards, RB Caleb Hawkins who was 5th in the NCAA in rushing yards with 1,434 yards. The big 3 offensive players plus the other Stillwater gunslingers have an opportunity to make some serious noise of their offense translates to the P4 – some Another key item to note, yes this team struggled mightily last year, winning an abysmal 1 game (yes that’s 1, like One, or Obi ONE Kenobi, or ONEder why they fired their coach, or…never mind), so naturally, this team only brought back 25 players from 2025 and refilled the roster with 60+ transfers and 19 freshman. Vegas has the Cowboys at 5.5 wins; I’ve got them at 9-3 and in contention for the Big12 title.
· Vegas Win Total Over / Under: 5.5
· My Prediction: 9-3
· Strength of Schedule (according to SP+ Rankings): 38 / 138
· Schedule: @Tulsa, Oregon, Murray St., @West Virginia, UCF, @Houston, Colorado, @Iowa St., @Kansas St., Texas Tech, @Arizona St., Kansas
SEC: Florida
Vegas has the Gators at 7.5 wins which is reasonable given the gents from Gainsville won an abysmal 4 games last year, got a new head coach and play in the SEC. However, Jon Sumrall is a proven winner, Buster Faulkner is an OC who gets the most out of his playmakers and Aaron Philo is an unknown QB who has a great arm and when has had opportunity, has been serviceable and has flashed arm talent. Surround Philo with RB Jadan Baugh (a top 3 running back in the SEC), uber-talented WR Dallas Wilson, familiar target and speedster WR Eric Singleton Jr., and another familiar target in TE Luke Harping and this offense has a chance to take a huge step forward. Pair, what I think will be a more consistent offense than 2025 with a defense that ranked 55th in the country (ranked low due to rush defense and being on the field a lot) and I think this group of Gators can legitimately make it to the SEC title game if they win some of 3 of their big time games. Give me Florida to finish 9-3 and be on the cusp of the playoff.
· Vegas Win Total Over / Under: 7.5
· My Prediction: 9-3
· Strength of Schedule (according to SP+ Rankings): 19 / 138
Schedule: Long Island, USF, @LSU, @Miami, Texas, @Texas A&M, Mississippi St., @Georgia, @Kentucky, @Ole Miss, Tennessee, Florida St.
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