The 2026 College Football season is right around the corner, which means it is time to start looking for the best College Football Playoff and conference title prop bets for the upcoming season.
Check out the rest of the series for my favorite college football picks for the 2026 season:
| 2026 College Football Win Totals & Futures |
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| College Football Win Totals 2026: Odds, Picks & Best Bets |
| Big Ten Win Totals 2026: Odds, Picks & Best Bet Predictions |
| SEC Win Totals 2026: Odds, Picks, Predictions & Best Bets |
| ACC Win Totals 2026: Odds, Picks, Predictions & Best Bets |
| Big 12 Win Totals 2026: Odds, Picks & Best Bet Predictions |
| 2026 College Football Playoff Odds: Picks & Best Bets (Coming Soon) |
Best 2026 College Futures Bet: Oregon to Win the Big Ten (+270)
It would be a shock if Oregon lost more than one conference game this year, with a November road game at Ohio State being the only potential hiccup.
That doesn’t guarantee the Ducks a Big Ten title, but it does put them in the driver's seat to get to Indianapolis for the Championship Game.
Meanwhile, Ohio State, the favorite at +180, has that game against the Ducks plus a road game at Indiana on the schedule.
Even if you believe Ohio State is the best team, the Buckeyes are likely to drop at least one conference game this year, which should diminish their Big Ten title odds.
So if we assume Oregon has the cleanest path to the title game, we’re getting pretty good odds here because the Ducks almost certainly won’t be listed at +270 to win that game regardless of who they face for the conference championship.
Best 2026 College Futures Bet: Michigan to Miss the College Football Playoff (-325)
Michigan is going to look more competent on offense now that Jason Beck has taken over.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that Bryce Underwood looked unprepared at quarterback last year, and the team did little to upgrade the talent around him through the portal.
As a result, Kyle Whittingham will be trying to win with defense 一 something he did often and with great success at Utah 一 but he’ll be doing it without his longtime coordinator Morgan Scalley.
Jay Hill, who spent the last three years as BYU’s coordinator before this year, takes over as Whittingham’s coordinator.
Although Whittingham brought some key defenders from Utah with him, the value of those transfers is slightly diminished given the change in coordinator.
Michigan also draws a tough schedule this year, with six opponents ranked in the preseason AP poll.
With road games against Oregon and Ohio State, the Wolverines will have almost no margin for error in contests against Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn State, and Indiana.
Getting to nine wins will likely require an upset or two, and 10 wins seems almost out of the question unless Underwood makes a spectacular leap.
Best 2026 College Futures Bet: Ole Miss to Miss the College Football Playoff (-210)
Ole Miss’ playoff run from last year is likely boosting their 2026 odds, giving us good value to bet against a team with very little chance of making another trip to the postseason.
Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy are back to lead the offense, but the effect of losing Lane Kiffin and coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will be significant.
The team appeared to move on without Kiffin just fine in the postseason, but the offense was already in place and Weis, the primary play-caller, stayed behind.
That won’t be the case this year.
The schedule also sets up poorly for Ole Miss, who skated into the playoff last year in part due to a regular-season schedule that pitted them against just three teams in the final CFP rankings (and one of those was Tulane).
This year, Ole Miss will face what should be the three best teams in the SEC (Texas, Georgia, and LSU) in addition to a tough road game at Oklahoma and a challenging season-opener against Louisville.
An 8-4 record for Ole Miss seems dramatically more likely than 10-2 and a playoff berth.
Best 2026 College Futures Bet: SMU to Reach the ACC Title Game (+145)
SMU only lost two conference games last year by a combined four points.
They were both on the road, and both were lost in the final minute.
Take away one or two mistakes in those games, and SMU is likely coming off consecutive trips to the playoff.
Quarterback Kevin Jennings is back, and SMU should be taken seriously as an ACC contender given his experience and the team’s schedule.
SMU avoids Miami and gets Virginia and Cal at home.
A Week 3 road game against Louisville will be challenging, but if the Mustangs win that contest, they will become heavy favorites to advance to the ACC title game.
Their only remaining conference road games would be against Syracuse and Stanford.