Who are you picking to be Conference Champs in 2026 season?

If you've ever seen a livestream of mine, you know that I like to trash talk before and during the game, sometimes even after if the fanbase is annoying enough (I'm looking at you, Georgia). However, most of the time when people see me, a Michigan fan, livestreaming, they think to themselves "Man, he is awfully polite to Ohio State fans, Michigan State fans, etc." In a world where it's a sin to pay your enemy a compliment, why is that? The answer for me is simple- I am a person who believes in community and kindness, and I'm a Christian. What I signed up for doesn't allow me to dislike a human-being based solely off of who they cheer for. In fact, somehow, some way, Buckeye Nation has overtaken my subscriber base and Michigan fans seem to be playing second fiddle. I have a lot of proud "Go Blue!" chanters in the chats, but you'll see more "O-H's and I-O's." I'm down with it. We may cheer for opposite sides, rivals even, but this community has been, is, and forever will be so much more than that. College football should be an escape from all of the issues this world and this country have. Watching football, to me, is such an amazing privilege because it is not lost on me that other countries either have no REAL football, or very little of it (and at a much lower talent level). Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever considered how great we have it that on a crisp September evening we can wake up to some coffee, turn on College Gameday, get to work on some wings, pizza and chips (maybe a brew or two or three), and relax (unless you're a Spartan fan. In that case there is no relaxing)? What would be the point in making the team we follow our full identity? Nah. Not me! Could never be me. My identity is in Christ, as that is the only topic serious enough to me that has implications to life after death. No, this isn't going to turn into some Christianity page. I'm not THAT Christian. But there will be mentions of it plenty because it is just the truth as to why I am the way I am. I am kind to stupid Buckeye fans because Christ taught me to be kind to stupid Buckeye fans (hahaha, I'm kidding, obviously...kind of)!

I'm going to miss Derrick Moore, Rayshaun Benny, Justice Haynes and Jaishawn Barham, but look at all the talent from Utah and BYU that Kyle Whittingham is bringing in! I'm excited for this season, man. I don't think it's going to happen overnight, but I do believe that the 2026 season will bring us hope moving forward after the Sherrone Moore debacle and collapse. Jordan Marshall is a very, VERY good running back. Savion Hiter is a STUD in the making. We found a capable #1 WR in Andrew Marsh, and our starting O-Line now has experience and starts under their belt. We have a lot we need to work out from the last two seasons, but the pieces are there. Of course, you can't make a Michigan preview video without discussing Bryce Underwood. What will we see out of him this season? Will Whit be able to develop him better than Sherrone and his staff did? Or will we see the Ohio State, Texas and Spring Game version of Bryce? Talking to my buddy Travis the other day we both agreed- if Bryce doesn't get it together, Kyle Whittingham is experienced and made bold enough to put someone else in. He knows what winning quarterback play looks like, and if he doesn't see it, he won't be afraid to mix things up. That's the benefit you get out of a proven coach. They'll make decisions that the unproven are too scared to make. We'll see how things play out but put simply, 10-2 is probably the ceiling here, 8-4 the floor. Anything better would be a welcomed surprise, and anything worse would be a disappointment.

If you're part of the Oregon Duck faithful and you've watched your football team win 12 or more games in 8-of-the-last-16 seasons, you have to at this point be wondering "if not now, when?" It'd be a fair question to ask. You've now watched your new Big Ten counterparts win the Natty three seasons in a row with Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana, respectively. So when is it your turn? Could THIS be the season? I'm on the record saying that if the Wolverines don't win it all in 2026, I want it to be Oregon. I was pleased with this in mind to see that Dante Moore felt like there was unfinished business and decided to come back for another round, and I was happy to watch Dylan Raiola transfer over as he can add another dimension to that offense when necessary. I was also glad for the Ducks when they brought in Iverson Hooks out of UAB, who had 72 receptions last season for 972 yards and 7 touchdowns. He's a welcome addition indeed. But man, it is absolutely tough to watch Malik Benson and Kenyon Sadiq leave when they still had eligibility, especially now in the NIL era of college football. You need people like that to be more loyal to the mission, and I stand by that. For Michigan prior to our championship year, we had a handful of guys who chose "The Team" over self, despite the fact that they would indeed go early in the draft had they chosen to do so. It paid off. We won it all! I would have liked to have seen Benson and Sadiq make the same choice. Oregon also loses their OC and DC from recent year's teams, so they'll be trying to figure that out as well. They come in with the 5th best Vegas odds in the nation to win the big one, behind Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, and Indiana. This is not unusual for them. They're typically among the Top 5 options, Top 10 at worst. But when will they end in the 1 spot? I've been wondering it for a long time now, going back as far as their Championship loss to Auburn in 2011, and I fear that if this isn't it, we may never see it. I mean, I'm sure we will, but at some point that lack of faith creeps in. As a Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers fan who was born in 1987, I know that to be true.

I've created a Playoff Model because last season really PISSED ME OFF! I'm all for smaller schools getting their shot. I went to Winthrop University for goodness sake! However, Tulane had 2 losses out of a Group of 5 Conference, and James Madison lost it's only real challenge of the season to Louisville. Yes, the same Louisville that went 8-4 out of the nation's weakest Power 5 Conference (the ACC). So, no- those teams should not have been in it. Bump this automatic bid crap! And bump this new "Notre Dame Exception." For those who don't know, it is an amendment made in light of last year's results which states that if Notre Dame, a team who refuses to join a conference, ends up in the Top 12 of the CFP Rankings, they are automatically in the playoffs. Right. Let's reward a team for being... Nevermind! I digress! Despite my opposition to that rule, Notre Dame should have been in last season in my opinion. They lost by 3 in Week 1 of the season to eventual National Runner-Up Miami and then by 1 to the team Miami knocked out of the playoffs, Texas A&M. From there they simply spanked everybody, with a particularly impressive win 70-7 over Syracuse the week before Rivalry Week. They were a Top 12 team, absolutely. But in running this model, without giving too much away, I found another team that should have been in and would have been in under my calculations. Before we get there, let's first show you how this model works. Gentlemen, I present to you "The LPM!"