Simulating the season using EA Sports College Foot...

If you're ready to skip right past one more month of preseason prognostication to find out how this college football season plays out, we have the answers. We fired up dynasty mode on EA Sports College Football 27 and simulated the upcoming season over and over again to find out who makes the College Football Playoff, who wins the Heisman Trophy, which teams can win it all and which head coaches and star players are making moves in December. When we attempted this project last August, the season simulations produced just two instances of Indiana reaching the CFP semifinals with no trips to the title game. But five simulations did have Miami playing for a national title, three had Lane Kiffin to LSU and one had Fernando Mendoza winning the Heisman. We'll consider those minor victories that prove this isn't a total waste of time. For this year's edition, we've simulated the 2026 season a total of 26 times. The results were completely up to the computer -- we didn't play any games and didn't adjust any rosters or settings -- and some of them were completely ridiculous. Here's what we learned from College Football 27's forecast for the season ahead. Who makes the College Football Playoff? This year's 26 simulations of the upcoming season resulted in 42 different programs earning at least one College Football Playoff bid, including 35 teams from Power 4 leagues. Miami led the way with 24 playoff appearances, followed by Ohio State (21), USC (19), BYU (16), Notre Dame (16), SMU (16), Oklahoma (15), Ole Miss (15) and Texas Tech (14). Defending national champ Indiana made its third consecutive CFP run in 13 of these 26 simulations. Quite a few surprise contenders popped up over the course of these simulations. There were eight CFP bids for Nebraska and six for UCLA out of the Big Ten but zero for Washington. Kansas State got into the playoff seven times and Colorado did twice, but Arizona and Houston couldn't break through in the Big 12. In the ACC, six different programs produced playoff teams, but Clemson had zero. But the biggest shock came from the SEC and the lack of CFP bids for Georgia (three), Texas (three), LSU (three) and Alabama (four). That's a clear sign of the parity among SEC teams in the game's ratings. Thirteen different SEC teams made it into at least one playoff (sorry to Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt), but no team won more than six SEC titles over 26 attempts. College Football 27 had more love for Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas A&M than the league's usual favorites. The game gave a tiny edge to the Big Ten over the SEC in total CFP bids (79 to 78) over the course of these simulations, while the ACC outpaced the Big 12. But once the playoff games kicked off, the SEC had a major advantage with more teams reaching the CFP semifinals and title game and more teams winning it all. There were seven seasons in which the Big Ten got shut out of the CFP semifinals but only two where the SEC missed out. Ohio State made 12 different runs to the semifinals, but Oklahoma and Ole Miss each had 10. We also had seven different instances of 9-3 teams getting into the College Football Playoff and going all the way to the national championship game, with three of those teams winning it all. The underdogs stepped up in quite a few of these seasons. Among the 39 teams that pulled off first-round upsets, a dozen advanced all the way to the championship game and six teams seeded 10th or 11th won national titles. Unlike in 2025, these 26 simulations did not yield any two-bid seasons for the Group of 6. Boise State earned the playoff bid in 13 of these 26 seasons and made three runs to the CFP semifinals. UNLV (five bids), Memphis (four) and UAB (two) were the only other G6 programs to get in more than once. National title race Among the dozen programs that won CFP national championships over the 26 simulations, a clear favorite emerged: Ohio State. The Buckeyes won 15 Big Ten titles and went into the CFP as a top-three seed in 13 of their 21 appearances. They made it all the way to the title game in nine simulated seasons and secured Ryan Day's second national championship in six seasons. All six of those title seasons ended with quarterback Julian Sayin and running back Bo Jackson putting up huge stats. In one of Ohio State's 16-0 seasons, Sayin threw 48 touchdown passes with two interceptions and the Buckeyes got All-America seasons out of pass rushers Beau Atkinson (18.5 sacks) and Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (17.5). In another title year, Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin each surpassed 1,000 receiving yards on the year. Oklahoma and Miami repeatedly made deep CFP runs and each won four national titles. The Hurricanes won all four times they got back to the title game, and the Sooners won four of five. Their lone head-to-head meeting in a championship game went to Darian Mensah and the Hurricanes in a 40-28 victory. Curt Cignetti and Indiana did put together one season as back-to-back national champs. The Hoosiers were the No. 1 seed in that season after avenging their lone loss to USC in the Big Ten title game. Trinidad Chambliss was injured in their CFP semifinal showdown and the Hoosier defense grabbed four interceptions against backup Deuce Knight in a wild 42-40 victory in the Orange Bowl. Then Indiana met the Trojans yet again and pulled away late for a 24-17 victory in Las Vegas. Ole Miss (three) and Oregon (two) also won multiple national championships in our simulations, and the list of squads that joined Indiana in winning one included Boise State, BYU, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Only four of these 26 champs were No. 1 seeds in these 12-team CFP sims. Ole Miss gets revenge One particularly magical simulated season ended with a national championship showdown between Lane Kiffin's current and former squads: LSU vs. Ole Miss. The mere fact both teams got that far in this season sim -- we'll refer to these as Seasons A through Z, this one was Season O -- was rather miraculous. Ole Miss won the much-anticipated Week 3 showdown with LSU in a 47-46 thriller, then lost to Florida, Vanderbilt and Texas to drop to 4-3. The Rebels won out from there and got extreme respect from the virtual committee with the No. 4 seed. LSU also went 9-3 in Kiffin's debut season but still earned the No. 7 seed. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt broke a thumb in the first round against Duke, but the Tigers rallied and went on quite a run with upset wins over USC in the Rose Bowl and Miami in the Orange Bowl. Ole Miss lost running back Kewan Lacy to a broken wrist but kept rolling and took down No. 1 Texas in the Sugar Bowl to set up the rematch in Vegas. The news conferences and pregame drama leading up to this title bout would be incredible. The game itself? It wasn't close. Ole Miss' defense overwhelmed LSU's front and knocked Kiffin's backup QB out of the game. Then the third-string QB got hurt, too. Golding's crew held LSU to 102 total yards and racked up six sacks. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 206 yards to earn MVP honors and finished with a school-record 4,461 passing yards on the year. Final score: Ole Miss 20, LSU 0. Over our 26 simulations, Golding had six seasons in which he led the Rebels to the national title game and two seasons in which he got fired. In Kiffin's other two LSU seasons with CFP runs, the Tigers went 0-2. For both sides of the rivalry, this season was as good as it gets. The chaos bracket If you're wondering how it's possible for Boise State to win a national title in one of these simulations, we have quite a story for you. The Broncos' Cinderella run started with a 12-1 run through the new Pac-12, where they avenged their only loss to Fresno State in the league's conference title game. The committee didn't give them much love with a No. 10 seed, but they went on the road and routed Nebraska in the first round. They knocked out Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and USC in the Orange Bowl. And that all led to a CFP title game showdown with ... South Carolina. South Carolina was the No. 9 seed in the bracket after losing the SEC title game to an Oklahoma squad that was 8-4 but got to Atlanta thanks to a four-way tiebreaker. The Sooners snuck into the CFP as the No. 12 seed and then upset Utah and BYU. The Gamecocks got their revenge against OU in the Sugar Bowl despite some significant internal drama. After the SEC title game loss, Beamer evidently got fed up and accepted the Georgia Tech job, agreeing to take over a 1-11 program that had just fired Brent Key. South Carolina did let him finish out the playoff run, which came to an end with a 38-31 loss to the Broncos in which LaNorris Sellers threw three interceptions. Spencer Danielson's squad closed with an 11-game win streak and finished with the nation's No. 1 scoring defense. Maddux Madsen made the most of his second chance at the CFP, throwing for an FBS-leading 4,550 yards on the season, and the Broncos got 1,682 rushing yards from Dylan Riley and 22 sacks from Jayden Virgin-Morgan. South Carolina did go all the way in another simulation with Sellers putting up 356 passing yards, 96 rushing yards and five total TDs in the title game to outshine Heisman Trophy winner Arch Manning and Texas. But that magical season also bizarrely ended with Beamer leaving, this time for the Florida State job. Kansas' Lance Leipold replaced him in both instances and succeeded in convincing Sellers to stay for another year. Conference title scoreboard If you're curious which teams College Football 27 favored to win the conference races, here's the breakdown for each league. LSU, Alabama and Georgia emerged with zero SEC titles over these 26 simulations, while Texas and Oregon won their respective leagues only once. The most unpredictable Group of 6 leagues ended up being the American Conference, with 10 different teams winning its title game, and the MAC. ACC: Miami 11, Louisville 6, SMU 4, Virginia 3, Pittsburgh 2 Big Ten: Ohio State 15, USC 3, Indiana 2, UCLA 2, Michigan 1, Nebraska 1, Oregon 1, Penn State 1 Big 12: BYU 13, Texas Tech 5, Kansas State 3, Colorado 2, Baylor 1, TCU 1, Utah 1 SEC: Oklahoma 6, Ole Miss 6, Tennessee 4, Texas A&M 4, South Carolina 3, Kentucky 1, Missouri 1, Texas 1 American: Memphis 8, Tulsa 5, UTSA 5, UAB 2, Charlotte 1, Florida Atlantic 1, North Texas 1, Rice 1, South Florida 1, Tulane 1, Conference USA: Liberty 8, Delaware 6, Jacksonville State 5, Florida International 2, Missouri State 2, Kennesaw State 1, Middle Tennessee 1, Western Kentucky 1 MAC: Western Michigan 7, Bowling Green 5, Eastern Michigan 5, Ohio 3, Miami (Ohio) 2, Akron 1, Buffalo 1, Sacramento State 1, Toledo 1 Mountain West: UNLV 15, North Dakota State 5, San Jose State 2, Wyoming 2, New Mexico 1, UTEP 1 Pac-12: Boise State 21, San Diego State 2, Colorado State 1, Texas State 1, Washington State 1 Sun Belt: App State 10, Arkansas State 6, Georgia State 3, Louisiana 2, Louisiana Tech 2, Coastal Carolina 1, James Madison 1, South Alabama 1 Who wins the Heisman? EA Sports added the Heisman Trophy ceremony to dynasty mode in CFB 27, a nice new feature that creates a little more suspense around who takes home the trophy. Over the course of our 26 simulated seasons, 26 different players emerged as Heisman finalists and 12 of them won the trophy. Ole Miss' Chambliss was the most frequent recipient with six Heisman Trophy wins. Chambliss had the most second-place finishes as well and was a finalist in 16 of the 26 simulations. Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer won four Heismans, Auburn's Byrum Brown won three and fellow QBs Manning (Texas), Leavitt (LSU) and Jayden Maiava (USC) each won it twice. Brown, Maiava and Mateer joined Chambliss as the players who most frequently became finalists. Manning got the invite to New York City in only four season sims, Oregon's Dante Moore made it just twice and Sayin was strangely invited zero times despite his six national title rings. Shockingly, neither Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith nor Miami's Malachi Toney became Heisman finalists in any of the 26 simulations despite being two of the highest-rated players in the game. But Miami wide receiver Cam Vaughn, a transfer from West Virginia, did break out and win two Heisman Trophies. The biggest Heisman surprise of all was North Texas QB Tayven Jackson winning it in one season with 4,315 passing yards, 632 rushing yards and 49 total touchdowns. The UCF transfer did all that on a Mean Green team that went 11-2 but lost to UTSA in the American Conference title game and missed out on the CFP. Two other Group of 6 players did join Tayven Jackson in earning trips to New York City over our simulations. Texas State quarterback Brad Jackson achieved two top-three finishes with prolific seasons in the Sun Belt, and LSU transfer Michael Van Buren Jr. became a Heisman finalist in two different seasons at South Florida. The list of non-QBs who finished in the top four in Heisman voting wasn't long but did include running backs Lacy (Ole Miss), Martin (BYU), Ahmad Hardy (Missouri), Mark Fletcher Jr. (Miami) and Cameron Dickey (Texas Tech). New SMU wide receiver Jalen Hale was a Heisman finalist in two different seasons, and Pitt wideout Bryce Yates also earned one trip to New York. Coaching carousel madness CFB 27 once again features real likenesses for FBS head coaches and coordinators, which makes the offseason coaching carousel much more compelling to track year after year. And nobody had a more fascinating journey through these season simulations than Clemson's Dabo Swinney. Clemson failed to make the College Football Playoff in every simulation. In 20 of these 26 seasons, this ends up being Swinney's final season leading the Tigers. But he doesn't always get fired. In five different seasons, Texas brought in Swinney to replace Steve Sarkisian. In three of them, he took over for Kalen DeBoer at Alabama. There were even multiple timelines in which Marcus Freeman goes to the NFL and Swinney takes the Notre Dame job, and one where he succeeds a retiring Kyle Whittingham at Michigan. The cast of coaches in the mix for the Clemson job was all over the place, too, including Beamer, Riley, Kenny Dillingham, Eli Drinkwitz, Jeff Brohm and James Franklin but also Sarkisian and DeBoer. There was even one year in which LSU fired Lane Kiffin and hired Swinney, which led to Clemson scooping up Kiffin. In another year, Kiffin added to his résumé of memorable exits by departing LSU after a 9-3 debut season for an NFL job. The Tigers once again swung for the fences with their coaching search and hired DeBoer away from Alabama, clearing the way for Swinney to land the Bama job. Season W delivered a truly ridiculous coaching carousel with 34 new head coaching hires and a massive reset in the Lone Star State. Sarkisian went to the NFL and Texas hired Swinney. Mike Elko also went off to the NFL, so Texas A&M hired Josh Heupel. Clemson pulled off a stunner by landing Joey McGuire, and Texas Tech responded with a rather off-the-radar hire in Texas State OC Landon Keopple. SMU's job also opened when Lashlee took the Tennessee job and the Mustangs picked App State's Dowell Loggains. This major reshuffle of coaches across the country included Dillingham to Illinois, Beamer to Utah, Bret Bielema to Arizona State, Brohm to Georgia Tech and Clark Lea to Louisville. Season N featured another chaotic postseason with head coaching changes for three of the top four teams in the College Football Playoff. Brohm took No. 4 Louisville to the national championship game and then moved on to Oklahoma after Brent Venables went to the NFL. Heupel also moved on to the NFL after leading the No. 3 Vols to the CFP semis. SMU was the No. 1 seed that season but lost Lashlee to Ole Miss after Golding went one-and-done. In that year, Swinney got Michigan, Elko left for Clemson and Franklin became the next head coach in College Station. Transfer portal transactions The arrival of NIL in dynasty mode is a new wrinkle for CFB 27 that triggered an awful lot of player movement at the end of each season we simulated. There was one big portal sweepstakes every year: Bryce Underwood transferred out of Michigan in all 26 of our simulations. The competition for his talents typically came down to Tennessee vs. LSU, with the Vols winning the battle 10 times and the Tigers winning eight, but USC, SMU, Clemson and Ole Miss also ended up being destinations for the former No. 1 overall recruit. Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker was another big name who reliably popped up in the portal. Ohio State was the most popular destination but Georgia, Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss also won out for him in other simulations. His star running back Caleb Hawkins frequently transferred to Oklahoma or Texas Tech, too. Oregon wide receiver Dakorien Moore was also consistently on the move and had LSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Ohio State and Alabama battling for him. There was even one season in which Missouri shoved its chips all-in and made Moore the highest-paid receiver in the country. At Texas, Manning was a bit of a wild card as well between going pro, returning to Texas or testing the portal. One offseason had Manning transferring to Georgia after a 4-8 season with the Longhorns, and another sent him to LSU after Sarkisian was fired. Then there was Season K, where Manning opted to continue his family's legacy by playing his senior season at Ole Miss. The boldest portal transaction of all of these simulations, though, was probably the one made by Marcel Reed. In Season Q, Reed put up 4,570 total yards and 43 touchdowns while leading Texas A&M to a CFP championship victory over Tennessee. After delivering the program's first national title since 1939, Reed entered the portal and Ohio State made him the highest-paid player in the sport. Is that all a little too far-fetched? Or does it sound about right given the current state of college football? We're a few months away from finding out.