Ohio State and Oregon enter 2026 as the consensus preseason frontrunners for top College Football Playoff seeds, followed closely by Georgia, Texas, and Notre Dame, per coaches polls and power rankings. The defending champion Indiana Hoosiers and rising programs like Miami add depth to the Big Ten and ACC contention. Primary drivers include returning talent, quarterback stability, and non-conference scheduling strength, with the expanded 12-team format awarding the top four overall seeds first-round byes regardless of conference title. Early September results, injury reports, and strength-of-schedule metrics will quickly reshape the selection committee’s view, while historical conference dominance in the SEC and Big Ten continues to influence implied probabilities for the highest seeds.