College football’s chaos always leaves room for a couple of bluebloods to sneak into the conversation, and CBS Sports’ Austin Nivison put Florida and Michigan there on Saturday when he named the six biggest wild-card programs for 2026.
Both teams have enough talent to matter. Both also come with obvious questions.
Florida enters 2026 with a new coach in Jon Sumrall, the former Troy and Tulane head coach who won no fewer than nine games in each of his previous four seasons on the sideline. He arrives with a staff that looks built to stabilize things quickly, with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner and defensive coordinator Brad White both bringing track records from their previous stops.
The Gators’ biggest unknowns sit in the most important spots on the field: quarterback and offensive line. Even so, Florida kept a lot of pieces from a respectable 2025 defense, and the offense should have one of the SEC’s most dangerous skill groups.
The schedule helps, too. There’s no easy path in the SEC, but Florida’s slate is one of the more manageable ones in the league. Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia and Oklahoma are the obvious land mines, yet the other five conference opponents come with more uncertainty than intimidation.
Michigan’s case is different, but just as interesting. The Wolverines made one of the few coaching moves this offseason that brought in a proven winner from the Power Four ranks, hiring Kyle Whittingham. Utah went 177-88 under Whittingham, and that run included eight seasons with 10 or more wins.
As expected after a coaching change, Michigan lost some players to the NCAA transfer portal. Still, the Wolverines managed to keep several important pieces from the 2025 roster on both sides of the ball, and Whittingham also brought over multiple proven players from his 2025 Utah team.
The biggest swing factor for Michigan is quarterback Bryce Underwood. The former five-star recruit has major upside, but inconsistency showed up late in 2025 after what the source described as a lack of proper coaching. If Underwood tightens things up, the offense could jump to another level.
The schedule gives Michigan a real shot to build momentum at home. Most of the tougher games are at Michigan Stadium, and if the Wolverines can win at least two of their home matchups against Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn State and Indiana, they could head into November with a legitimate chance to challenge Oregon and Ohio State on the road.
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