Long update today. Lots of things have been floating around in my head, and I'm going to let it all out.

The SEC spring meetings were a waste of time.

We got no info on what they think about playoff expansion (more on that later). Instead, we got some silliness from Kirby Smart about the SEC breaking away. And we got some chest thumping from Greg Sankey

Kirby Smart

Let's deal with Kirby Smart first. That's an idle threat, and a stupid one. Am I the only one who remembers way back in the Bowl Alliance days when the Big Ten wouldn't participate because the Rose Bowl didn't want it?

How did that work out for the Big Ten? Not well.

Suddenly the Big Ten found themselves not participating in the National Championship discussions, or at least to the degree they wanted, because they were prevented from participating in the biggest game of the year. The Big Ten quickly caved on this and meekly joined up. And this was a smaller breakaway than what Kirby Smart is talking about. Breaking away like this would be a disaster for the SEC.

Greg Sankey

I really shouldn't wade into this. It just doesn't matter. Sankey says that the SEC is still by far the best conference. Ok, it's his job to promote his conference, but "by far" is quite a stretch there. You might argue that they're still the best conference. Many people do. But certainly not "by far". My computer has had the Big Ten as the best conference the last two seasons. I calculate conference ratings a bit differently than most everyone else, and I know a lot of other sites don't see it that way. The SEC claims that despite the Big Ten winning the last three National Championships (with three different teams), that the SEC is much deeper.

Ok, there are two problems with that. First, we were told for 20 years that the SEC was the best because of their national titles, and they weren't always very deep during that run. Now Greg Sankey suddenly wants to change the definition of best when his old definition doesn't work for him anymore.

The second problem is that the data doesn't support the claim. The Big Ten vs. SEC is 5-0 in college football playoffs over the last three years, and has been beating the SEC pretty handily in the Bowls as well.

However, to be fair, Jim Delaney was making similar arguments about the Big Ten when the SEC was winning titles. No one believed Delaney then, but apparently Sankey's propaganda still carries some weight.

A 24-team playoff is coming. It's inevitable. And it might be soon.

I'm, not saying I'm a fan of the idea. I hate it, in fact. But I can read the writing on the wall.

I know. All the talking heads are saying it's not inevitable. And since the Big Ten and the SEC have to agree, and the SEC isn't saying anything, it looks like things are a long way off.

The talking heads are wrong.

The SEC isn't saying much because they don't have consensus. But they do have consensus among the coaches on one thing. All of them want playoff expansion.

See, here's the deal. As predicted years ago, playoff expansion has severely diminished the Bowls. But the people really getting hurt by this are the coaches. Coaches used to use bowl games as markers for a successful season. They could go to their AD's and boosters at the end of the year and say "hey, we had a great season and we went to the Citrus Bowl". But now those same coaches are being told that it's not a successful season unless they make the playoff.

There's about 30 or so programs that fit into this niche. Schools that could be counted on to make a decent bowl game most every year and are now expected to make the playoff. But there's only 12 spots available for these 30 schools.

So, all the coaches of the upper tier programs want playoff expansion.

The Big Ten is unanimous in their backing of the 24-team playoff. And they've made it clear that unless an agreement on a 24-team playoff can be reached, they're fine with staying at 12.

But Sankey is getting pressure from his coaches. They might not be thrilled about 24 teams, but they hate 12. They are going to press Sankey to accept the Big Ten deal. Bank on it.

Brendan Sorsby has played his last college football game

Look, I feel for the kid. He has problems. And I really hope they can be resolved. I also hope that there's an NFL team out there willing to take a chance on him, and that it works out well for him and whatever team that is.

But the rule against gambling on your own sport, and your own team is one of the few areas where the NCAA has been entirely consistent across their entire history. Caving on this would set a precedent that they don't want to set. It would destroy college sports.

I wish Sorsby good luck in his future. Just not as a Red Raider.

CBS Sports has released their post-Spring CBS Sports 138 rankings.

Check them out for yourself.

I have concerns about Ohio State at #1. They lost too much on defense. I know they lost a lot on defense the year before and were even better, but I still expect some fallout. Also, while I expect their offense to be great, there are concerns there. They lost some key players from their stacked receiver room to other schools and the NFL, and I'm no longer sure who the #2 receiver is alongside Jeremiah Smith. And who is the 3rd down safety blanket receiver? Is that Smith also? Usually, it's a Tight End. But they're thin there too.

I'm also not confident in Texas at #2. I know Arch improved down the stretch last season, and they had a great portal class, but the O-line needs to really step up from last season. I believe that Texas can be one of the top teams in the country next year, but I'm not yet convinced they will be one. I'm in more of a "I'll believe it when I see it" mood on this one.

Still, the Buckeyes and the Longhorns play in week 2, so we will learn something about both teams then.

Texas Tech at #9 seems a little high since they'll be without QB Brendan Sorsby, but they're still probably the class of the Big 12.

Other issues? Penn State at #18. Color me skeptical on the Matt Campbell era in Happy Valley. A few years ago, I was quite the Matt Campbell fan, but he never managed to take Iowa State to the next level. I feel like the bloom is off that rose. He'll have better resources at Penn State and will be able to recruit better, so it's possible he succeeds there, but much like Texas this year, I need to see it to believe it. I would have been much more excited for the Nittany Lions if they'd nabbed Kalani Sitake from BYU.

Since I brought up Penn State, it's fair to bring up Virginia Tech at #37 next. James Franklin's new stomping ground. I do think it was time for Penn State and Franklin to part ways, but overall I think Franklin's a better coach than Campbell. And Franklin is taking his talent with him to VT while Campbell brought his Iowa State talent to PSU. I think at season's end, Virginia Tech will be ranked higher than Penn State.

Finally, North Dakota State at #109 is a complete insult to the Bison. The computer has their preseason ranking at #24, which may be a bit high, but is probably in the right neighborhood. I would be surprised if they finish this season outside the top 40. I know it's their first year in the FBS, but this is an amazingly strong FCS program. I would not be surprised at all if the Bison are the best Group of 6 team this year and force the NCAA to suspend their postseason eligibility requirements and allow them into the playoff. I don't expect that to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. North Dakota State is that good. They're the reason I have wanted to add FCS teams to the rankings for quite some time. Ironically, I finally get that done just as they move to the FBS.

Schedules for the 2026-2027 season for the NFL have been loaded along with preseason projections for every game.

Good luck to all of your teams.

As I have said before, I am including FCS football in my rankings for 2026. This has nearly doubled the number of teams from 136 to 266. But there are other noteworthy changes which will affect the rankings. This is another big year for conference realignment.

Team	From Conference	To Conference	Notes
Boise State	Mountain West (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
Chicago State	New program	FCS Independent	First season 2026
Colorado State	Mountain West (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
Fresno State	Mountain West (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
Hawai‘i	MWC (football-only)	Mountain West (all sports)	Becomes full member
Louisiana Tech	C-USA (FBS)	Sun Belt (FBS)	—
North Dakota State	MVFC (FCS)	Mountain West (FBS)	Football-only move
Northern Illinois	MAC (FBS)	Mountain West (FBS)	—
Sacramento State	Big Sky (FCS)	MAC (football)	Big West for non-football
Sacred Heart	FCS Independent	CAA (FCS)	Football move
San Diego State	Mountain West (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
Southern Utah	UAC (FCS)	Big Sky (FCS)	Returning to Big Sky
St. Francis (PA)	NEC (FCS)	Division III (PAC)	All sports
Tennessee Tech	Big South–OVC (FCS)	Southern Conference (FCS)	—
Texas State	Sun Belt (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
UTEP	C-USA (FBS)	Mountain West (FBS)	—
Utah State	Mountain West (FBS)	Pac-12 (FBS)	—
Villanova	CAA (FCS)	Patriot League (FCS)	Football-only
West Florida	Division II	United Athletic Conference (FCS)	—
William & Mary	CAA (FCS)	Patriot League (FCS)	Football-only

FCS teams have been added to NCAA Football, effective with the 2025 season. 2026 schedules are still being updated, and there is something squirrelly with the 2025 Sanders ratings page. I'll work on getting both of these things updated.

The various ratings pages have been updated to show whether the teams are in the FBS or FCS and you can filter out either subdivision should you wish it.

The preseason schedules and projections for the 2026 season of NCAA FBS football are now available. I am still working on adding FCS teams to the mix. That will happen over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, you can find the 2026 schedule here.

Enjoy the season and good luck to your teams!

CJB Ratings, AKA Sports Ratings III, is a data-driven analytics platform designed to evaluate teams, project future performance, and provide transparent, reproducible rating systems across multiple sports. We currently do three sports:

• NCAA FBS College Football
• NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball
• NFL football

Watch this space for more information about what's available and what's coming!