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Penn State and Texas will be the last two teams standing, according to Colin Cowherd

On Colin Cowherd's podcast "The Herd," he predicted the five teams that will absolutely be contenders for the 2026 College Football Playoff title and three that could work their way into the picture. Cowherd then said that Penn State and Texas will play in the championship, and gave his thoughts earlier in the summer on which team he favors.
BySydney Ciano|
Penn State football head coach James Franklin
Penn State football head coach James Franklin | Tom Pennington/GettyImages

Only fine or six teams can win the 2026 College Football Playoff, at least according to Colin Cowherd.

On Wednesday's episode of "The Herd," Cowherd said that Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, and Oregon have the greatest chance to win the national championship with Notre Dame, Alabama, and Clemson on the outskirts with potential to squeeze into that group of five.

The Nittany Lions have experience to their advantage, especially in the Big Ten specifically as opponents are bringing in new faces to start under center. According to Cowherd, the Buckeyes have the best offensive and defensive players in the country, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs.

Coaching-wise, he praised the Longhorns' Steve Sarkisian and the Ducks' Dan Lansing. On top of the Bulldogs' Kirby Smart being up there as well, Cowherd said "Georgia — it's a factory," with the reminder that it "blew out Texas twice last year."

Only two teams will play for the title, though, and "The Herd" host didn't shy away from making his prediction.

Colin Cowherd says Penn State and Texas will play for the CFP title on "The Herd"

"I think Penn State and Texas are going to play for the national championship," Cowherd said.

In late June with Ryen Russillo on his podcast, he said that while the SEC used to run college football almost by a landslide, the Big Ten has slowly worked its way up to give the CFB powerhouse a run of its money. Specifically looking at the 2025-26 season ahead, the Big Ten is defending a national title for the second consecutive year, and Cowherd believes it's very likely that it takes it home again.

College football analysts have put a lot of faith in Penn State being a legit contender for the title since the end of the 2024-25 season, especially as the season nears. Cowherd's recent episode wasn't the first time the Nittany Lions were on were mind either.

Colin Cowherd says Penn state will win the 2026 CFP championship

"I got Penn State winning it," Cowherd said. "[Nicholas] Singleton's amazing, Drew Allar's getting better. I think they're the best backfield by a mile in college [football]."

He then doubled down on his Allar expectations three weeks later, saying on Wednesday that the Nittany Lion will "be the second best quarterback in the country to [Texas'] Arch Manning."

The Nittany Lions are an early favorite to win the Big Ten and CFP in 2025-26. They're currently +750 on FanDuel behind three teams the Longhorns, Buckeyes, and Bulldogs. As long as they can take those big wins in the regular season (i.e. Oregon in Week 5, Ohio State in Week 10, and Indiana Week 11), a national championship run isn't out of the picture.

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