Simulating the season using EA Sports College Football 26

There’s no want to attend 5 months to search out out the ending of this upcoming faculty soccer season. We can simply ask EA Sports’ College Football 26.

We’ve simulated the 2025 season a number of occasions in Dynasty mode seeking solutions to all the huge questions. Who’s moving into the 12-team College Football Playoff? Who’s taking house the Heisman Trophy? Which packages can win all of it and which of them are heading towards a training search?

Trying to collect as a lot information as potential, we simulated this season 25 occasions. We did not play any of the video games, did not regulate rosters or rankings and did not alter default settings. We put our religion and belief in the recreation to forecast the future, and the outcomes may very well be slightly astounding. Here is CFB 26’s tackle the season forward.

Who will get into the College Football Playoff?

Over 25 simulations of this 2025 season, 52 totally different packages earned not less than one College Football Playoff look. We like to see that chaos.

The groups that the majority often made the playoff in all probability will not shock anybody: Georgia (19), Penn State (19), Miami (18), Oregon (17), Texas Tech (17) and Texas (15). Though that is plenty of love for the Hurricanes, the recreation was additionally fairly assured in Clemson (14) and Duke (14) incomes CFP bids out of the ACC. Notre Dame earned an at-large spot in the CFP in 10 of the 25 seasons.

Some of the most profitable packages of the College Football Playoff period had a more durable time persistently contending in these simulations. Defending nationwide champ Ohio State appeared in 11 of the 25 brackets and reached the nationwide championship recreation simply thrice. Alabama earned simply 5 CFP bids and by no means performed for a title.

The record of Power 4 groups that made a number of CFP appearances included Baylor, Auburn, Nebraska, Kansas State, Colorado, Mississippi State, Pitt, SMU and Utah. One slightly gorgeous consequence: LSU’s loaded preseason top-10 workforce made it in solely twice.

Every SEC program obtained into the CFP not less than as soon as — besides Kentucky. Florida State, North Carolina, BYU, TCU, Iowa, UCLA and Wisconsin had been additionally amongst the 23 Power 4 groups that made zero playoff appearances in 25 makes an attempt.

Over all these simulations, the recreation generated a number of situations with 9-3 groups making the bracket. In reality, 50% of all at-large bids (35) went to groups with 9-3 data. In 4 of these seasons, a 9-3 squad — Georgia twice, Ohio State and Oregon as soon as — gained the nationwide championship.

In 4 cases, the digital committee put a 9-4 workforce in the bracket. During one excessive season, a CFP featured six SEC groups that included an 8-4 Auburn squad.

The Big Ten scored extra CFP bids (87) than the SEC (83) over our 25 sims, put extra groups in the semifinals and gained extra nationwide titles. The ACC outpaced the Big 12 54-40 in CFP bids earned.

Georgia vs. Penn State title race

Fourteen packages gained CFP nationwide championships over the 25 simulations, and nobody program was taking part in for nationwide titles each time. But two clearly moved to the entrance of the pack: Georgia and Penn State.

The Bulldogs reached the semifinals in 12 of their 19 playoff seasons and delivered Kirby Smart’s third nationwide championship in 5 of their seven nationwide title video games. James Franklin’s squad was simply as spectacular with 11 semifinals, 9 journeys to the title recreation and 5 championships.

Who else took house the trophy? Oregon (three) and Ohio State (two) gained a number of nationwide titles, however the mixture of packages that gained all of it as soon as was way more compelling: Clemson, Florida, Illinois, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and USC.

Just like in actual life in 2024, incomes a top-four seed and a first-round bye didn’t show exceedingly useful in these 12-team CFP sims. Only seven top-four seeds gained nationwide championships.

Just one No. 1 seed went all the method in a simulation: Oklahoma. John Mateer and the Sooners rolled to a 12-1 season and an SEC title win over Georgia, dominated their first two playoff video games and pulled off a 24-16 comeback win over Oregon in the championship.

The chaos brackets

Texas Tech has championship ambitions for 2025 and has invested a ton of cash in its roster to assemble a contender. In one among our simulations — let’s refer to those as Seasons A by means of Y, so this was Season O — the Red Raiders made Cody Campbell’s goals come true with a 15-1 season and the program’s first nationwide championship.

Clemson’s 13-0 season, led by Heisman Trophy winner Cade Klubnik, fell aside in the Orange Bowl with a 44-9 loss to Miami. That upset helped clear the path for the Big 12 champs to take down Indiana and Miami and advance to the title recreation, the place they bumped into … Nebraska!

The 10-2 Huskers earned a No. 6 seed, gained their first-round house recreation in opposition to Iowa State, defeated outdated rival Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and blew out Big Ten champ Penn State in the semifinals. In a showdown between Joey McGuire and his mentor Matt Rhule, the Red Raiders prevailed 35-13.

Season U additionally delivered an ending that may be deeply dissatisfying to SEC followers. Only three groups from the convention — SEC champ South Carolina, Texas A&M and Georgia — earned CFP bids, and all three had been bounced rapidly, with No. 12 seed Boise State taking down the Aggies and Gamecocks.

The ensuing semifinal featured the Broncos, Penn State, Oregon and Illinois and arrange a Big Ten title recreation rematch in the nationwide championship. Penn State gained 54-7 in Indianapolis, however Luke Altmyer and his three-loss Illini squad pulled off a stunner in the title recreation, a 34-31 victory for the program’s first nationwide title since 1951.

In Season T, Florida began 2-2, with losses to South Florida and Miami, which undoubtedly put digital Billy Napier’s job in jeopardy. The Gators then went on a 12-game win streak, with DJ Lagway placing up 4,736 complete yards and 42 TDs and Jadan Baugh rising as the nation’s main rusher. They met 15-0 Clemson in the nationwide title recreation and spoiled their good season with a 27-17 victory.

One extra simulation that delivered a compelling finale: Season X had Miami quarterback Carson Beck main the Hurricanes to a 16-0 season and a 47-26 rout of Georgia in a nationwide championship house recreation at the Orange Bowl. How’s that for a redemptive arc?

Boise State nonetheless the G5 favourite

Even with out famous person operating again Ashton Jeanty, Boise State was nonetheless the clear No. 1 amongst the Group of 5 groups vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Broncos earned CFP bids in 11 of our simulations, adopted by Southern Miss and Tulane getting in 4 occasions every. We additionally noticed Arkansas State, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Liberty, South Florida and UNLV nab the No. 12 seed in numerous seasons.

The G5 earned a number of College Football Playoff bids in simply one among the 25 season sims, with Boise State (12-1) and Tulane (11-2) incomes the No. 9 and No. 11 seeds, respectively. They almost obtained three in that 12 months, too, with Memphis ending thirteenth in the remaining CFP rankings.

Sadly, no G5 groups pulled off a Cinderella run to a nationwide championship. Boise State got here shut as a No. 12 seed in Season E, with a shocking 44-41 highway win at Oregon in double extra time, adopted by victories over Tennessee and Texas Tech. But the Broncos bumped into an unstoppable USC workforce, shedding 45-10 in the nationwide title recreation.

Conference title scoreboard

Curious which groups the online game likes to win every convention race? Here’s the breakdown. The SEC race was arguably the best, with 9 packages successful the league over our 25 simulations. The greatest shock was defending nationwide champ Ohio State successful only one Big Ten title regardless of being one among the highest-rated groups in the recreation, and the identical was true for Alabama and LSU.

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ACC: Miami (11), Clemson (6), Duke (5), Louisville (1), Pitt (1), SMU (1)

Big Ten: Oregon (10), Penn State (8), USC (3), Michigan (2), Indiana (1), Ohio State (1)

Big 12: Texas Tech (11), Arizona State (4), Baylor (2), Colorado (2), Iowa State (2), Kansas State (2), Utah (1), West Virginia (1)

SEC: Georgia (6), Texas (6), Texas A&M (4), Oklahoma (3), Florida (2), Alabama (1), LSU (1), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (1)

American: Tulane (11), Memphis (4), Navy (4), USF (4), North Texas (1), UTSA (1)

Conference USA: Liberty (7), Jacksonville State (5), Florida International (4), Sam Houston (4), Middle Tennessee (2), UTEP (2), Kennesaw State (1)

MAC: Toledo (10), Buffalo (8), Miami (Ohio) (5), Ball State (1), Western Michigan (1)

Mountain West: Boise State (15), UNLV (5), Colorado State (1), Hawaii (1), Nevada (1), San Jose State (1), Wyoming (1)

Sun Belt: Southern Miss (14), James Madison (6), Arkansas State (4), Old Dominion (1)

Who wins the Heisman?

Clemson’s Klubnik has the finest probabilities of taking house the Heisman Trophy this season if these simulations are to be believed. Klubnik is tied for the highest-rated QB in the recreation and gained six Heismans over these 25-season sims. The recreation has plenty of love for brand new Georgia vast receiver Zachariah Branch, too. The speedy USC switch completed as the nation’s main receiver in six of those seasons, together with a school-record 1,799 receiving yards in a single sim, and gained the Heisman 4 occasions.

Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith and (*26*), Tennessee’s Joey Aguilar and Oregon’s Makhi Hughes gained Heisman Trophies in a number of seasons of our simulation. The record of one-time winners has a powerful selection: Colorado QB Kaidon Salter, Pitt QB Eli Holstein, USC QB Jayden Maiava, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, Louisville RB Isaac Brown and even Miami WR Tony Johnson.

Texas’ Arch Manning didn’t win the Heisman in any of those seasons and by no means completed in the prime 5 in Heisman voting, even in the season by which the Longhorns gained a nationwide title. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier completed in the prime 5 solely as soon as, and Penn State’s Drew Allar did so solely twice.

South Florida QB Byrum Brown completed in the prime 5 of Heisman voting in 5 sims. One season, his prime receiver Chas Nimrod completed second for the Heisman. Miami (Ohio) veteran QB Dequan Finn additionally earned a second-place end in one other season.

The biggest season of all time

Ohio State phenom Jeremiah Smith was a Heisman finalist in 11 of our 25 simulations and gained thrice, which is sensible given he is the highest-rated participant in the online game. In a number of of those seasons, Smith put up ridiculous stats and set single-season program data.

In Season V, the sophomore playmaker put collectively the biggest season by a large receiver in FBS historical past. Smith’s remaining stat line: 170 catches for two,382 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.

His quarterback, Sayin, additionally broke the FBS single-season passing file with 6,312 yards. Yes, they did it over 16 video games. But how they did it was extra dramatic than their title run in 2024. The Buckeyes went 9-3 with losses to Wisconsin, Penn State and Rutgers. They barely defeated Michigan 20-19 however nonetheless obtained the No. 8 seed in the CFP.

The Buckeyes needed to beat Michigan once more in a first-round rematch in Columbus, knocked out a 13-0 Oklahoma workforce in the Sugar Bowl quarterfinals, returned to the championship recreation and pulled off a 42-35 extra time win over Georgia for back-to-back nationwide titles.

Stars hit the portal

The switch portal in College Football 26 has expanded and now options 1000’s of gamers making strikes each season. Huge names comparable to Texas’ Colin Simmons, Colorado’s Jordan Seaton, Louisville’s Isaac Brown and Minnesota’s Koi Perich, plus a bunch of big-time beginning quarterbacks (Rocco Becht, Avery Johnson, Noah Fifita), persistently entered the portal at the finish of the season in our 25 simulations. And on uncommon events, it obtained extra inconceivable.

Texas quarterback Arch Manning hit the portal in three of our 25 simulations after coach Steve Sarkisian left for Michigan (extra on that under). Manning stayed in the SEC every time, signing with Georgia in two of the seasons and touchdown at Alabama in a single.

Florida’s Lagway entered the portal in 5 of our 25 sims with Alabama, Texas and USC rising as his most popular locations. In one season, Manning and Lagway made the weird resolution to workforce up in Tuscaloosa and compete with Ty Simpson for the beginning job.

Season N ended with Texas A&M going 15-1 and defeating Miami to win its first nationwide championship since 1939. And then, for some weird cause, Aggies beginning QB Marcel Reed entered the portal and transferred to Ole Miss. Oklahoma’s Michael Hawkins Jr. transferred in to interchange him in College Station and attempt to lead a repeat.

Carousel craziness

The addition of actual faculty soccer head coaches and coordinators makes the teaching carousel in Dynasty mode way more comical in College Football 26. In most of those 25 simulations, the recreation produced end-of-season teaching adjustments that may shake up the sport.

In 12 of the 25 seasons, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney changed Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. It’s value noting that the Crimson Tide earned simply 5 CFP appearances and took house zero nationwide titles in these simulations. Each time Swinney left, Clemson responded by hiring Shane Beamer from rival South Carolina or hiring Lane Kiffin from Ole Miss.

Michigan was one other playoff-or-bust program in these simulations and moved on from Sherrone Moore at the finish of 12 of 25 seasons. In 11 of these 12 situations, the Wolverines pulled off a stunner and employed Steve Sarkisian from Texas. The one time they did not get Sark, they grabbed Oregon’s Dan Lanning.

The Longhorns’ teaching searches sometimes centered on Kiffin however often resulted in hiring Mike Norvell, Joey McGuire or Kyle Whittingham. In one simulation, they shocked the world and picked Lincoln Riley. In three different sims, Riley left USC and moved again to Norman, Oklahoma, to guide the Sooners.

If you are rooting for an all-time loopy carousel cycle, Season U stood out. In that simulation, Alabama and Michigan had teaching vacancies after DeBoer and Moore went to the NFL. Michigan hiring Sarkisian led to Norvell at Texas, Jedd Fisch at Florida State, Kyle Whittingham at Washington and Justin Wilcox at Utah. Swinney went to Alabama, Kiffin went to Clemson and Rhett Lashlee changed him at Ole Miss. Beamer did not get the Clemson job however landed at LSU. Matt Campbell crammed the South Carolina opening on this state of affairs, and Brian Kelly landed on his ft at Auburn.

But there’s extra! Oklahoma introduced again Riley, Brent Venables took over rival Oklahoma State and the Trojans turned to Bret Bielema as their subsequent head coach — proper after he led the Illini to the nationwide championship. Eastern Michigan’s Chris Creighton was the fortunate coach who took over the defending nationwide champs.

If any of those unthinkable outcomes happen in actual life in 2025, simply bear in mind: You heard it right here first.