USA Today named the eight most polarizing teams in college football going into the 2026 season. These programs have expectations, but are they actually going to live up to them?
Others transitioned to new eras ahead of the fall and might not be expected to be highly competitive right away. One thing’s for sure, each team has talent across the board but this is why we play the games.
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So without wasting any more time, let’s dive into USA Today’s picks for the most polarizing teams in college football. We’ll head over to the SEC first for a team that made all sorts of headlines last year.
The Rebels are a polarizing team going into 2026 with the amount of talent they have, but somewhat of an unknown at head coach. Yes, Pete Golding guided Ole Miss to the CFP semifinals last year upon Lane Kiffin’s exit, but now he has to do it over the course of an entire season.
QB Trinidad Chambliss, RB Kewan Lacy and DL Will Echoles are the stars of this team and they’ll be responsible for the success of the Rebels in 2026. New coordinators on both sides of the ball are the biggest question marks as Golding looks to prove last fall wasn’t a fluke.
UCLA? Polarizing? Sure. The Bruins make this list, per USA Today, with new head coach Bob Chesney trying to elevate the standard in Los Angeles. Coming from James Madison, there’s already a correlation to what Curt Cignetti did going from JMU to Indiana, winning a national championship in two years.
Can that be done out west? Well, never say never. But Chesney brought over some talent from JMU such as RB Wayne Knight and kept QB Nico Iamaleava in the program. He seems to have everyone bought in. But whether they’ll be really good off the bat is anyone’s guess.
Florida is polarizing simply because it feels like this program underachieves consistently. Jon Sumrall might be the guy to fix it though after the Gators slogged through the Billy Napier era. Sumrall led Tulane to the CFP last year, retained some talent, got some from the portal and could have the Gators in a good position.
Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is the biggest addition. If that offense finally clicks, then perhaps Florida will surprise some people in 2026. But in Gainesville, they want a quick turnaround. Can Sumrall do that? It remains to be seen.
Can Utah transition after being led by Kyle Whittingham for over 20 years. The Utes won at least nine games in eight of the last 12 years, too. Whittingham stepped down and then was hired quickly at Michigan, so what about Utah and that steady ship?
Morgan Scalley was the guy waiting in the wings for awhile and they brought back QB Devon Dampier for starters. Within the Big 12, it’s seemingly a crazy conference race every year, so the Utes should be competitive. But can Scalley duplicate the success on his own with a solid foundation in place?
You can pretty much pencil in Clemson to win 10 games or more in a season, since they’ve won less than that only twice since 2011. Dabo Swinney has won two national titles and made another national championship game during his time as head coach. But they are polarizing for a reason.
The Tigers refused to buy into the transfer portal early on and are only now catching up with the times in college football. They won the ACC two years ago but fell to 7-6 last year. It’s put up or shut up time for a team that still has some exciting talent, like linebacker Sammy Brown.
The Cowboys were 1-11 last year, the Mike Gundy era is over and you would think a total rebuild means this team isn’t really polarizing. USA Today disagrees with that notion. Heck, there are whispers Oklahoma State is a CFP sleeper.
No, we’re not kidding. Eric Morris comes over from North Texas where he was highly successful. He’s bringing QB Drew Mestemaker and others from an elite offense that averaged over 45 points per game. Going from the AAC to the Big 12 is a jump, but if that offense is electric, perhaps it’s time to take Oklahoma State seriously. And, we’ll have to take more G5 to Power Four jumps seriously too.
Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is the star of the show out west, but are the Golden Bears actually an ACC contender? New head coach Tosh Lupoi would make you think so. Since this team was pretty forgettable under Justin Wilcox, who was seven games under .500 in nearly 10 years, Cal is ready for a quick turnaround.
So are they polarizing? If the opinion is split between this being a middling team or an ACC contender, then yes. Cal has a favorable schedule this year and it could result in the program’s first year of more than eight wins since 2008. That’s almost back to the Aaron Rodgers days.
The Gamecocks are once again a polarizing program going into a fresh college football season. Everything on paper screams success: head coach Shane Beamer, QB LaNorris Sellers, WR Nyck Harbor and EDGE Dylan Stewart.
This team went 9-4 overall in 2024 and was arguing for a CFP spot after the regular season. But they cratered to a 4-8 record in 2025. Beamer went out and plugged holes on the offense line and hired OC Kendal Briles. Based on their pattern, South Carolina is due for a good if not great season in 2026. But once again, the expectations may outweigh the results.
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