We don't always dive into win totals here at The Scoop, but it's a Spring Break Eve Friday in March, so why not?
The folks at FanDuel dropped their team totals for the Power 4, and considering the money involved it's definitely the most significant "stake in the ground, here's what's happening" predictions to date for the 2026 season.
Bold: 2025 CFP team
Italics: New head coach in 2026
Big Ten
10.5: Oregon, Indiana
9.5: Ohio State, Penn State
8.5: USC, Michigan
7.5: Illinois, Washington, Iowa
6.5: Wisconsin, UCLA
5.5: Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern
4.5: Rutgers, Maryland
3.5: Michigan State, Purdue
Thoughts: Ohio State hasn't won less than 10 regular season games in a non-covid, non-interim season since the expansion to 12 games in 2026, so the Buckeyes coming in at 9.5 is definitely noteworthy. It's a reflection of a non-cake walk schedule that sees the scarlet and gray go to Texas, Indiana, USC and Iowa, plus home games against Oregon and Michigan.
Other than Ohio State, the biggest wow numbers to me are Pen State at 9.5 and Nebraska at 5.5. Penn State won seven games last season in an all-time disaster of a season that got James Franklin fired in October; Matt Campbell only topped nine wins once in 14 seasons at Toledo and Iowa State, but the oddsmakers give him a 50/50 shot to do so in Year 1 in Happy Valley. Meanwhile, FanDuel has Matt Rhule winning fewer games in Year 4 at Nebraska (coming off back-to-back 7-win seasons) than Bob Chesney in Year 1 taking over a 3-9 UCLA team.
SEC
9.5: Georgia, Texas
8.5: Alabama, Texas A&M, LSU
7.5: Oklahoma, Ole Miss
6.5: Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, Vanderbilt
5.5: South Carolina, Kentucky
4.5: Arkansas, Mississippi State
Thoughts: This is the first year of the SEC's 9-game schedule, and that's clearly priced into these totals -- the SEC is the only conference that FanDuel doesn't feel confident forecasting 10 regular-season wins. Placing Georgia and Texas at 9.5 apiece is a hedge toward the Longhorns winning the SEC, given that UT hosts Ohio State in September and UGA does not have an equivalent non-conference game. (It also helps that Texas doesn't have to play Georgia after going 0-3 and failing to crack 20 points in any game in 2024-25.)
Oklahoma hit the over on its 6.5 total in 2025 on the first day of November, but FanDuel remains skeptical about a Brent Venables Sooners outfit that should be better in 2026. It would be interesting to see where Ole Miss's total lands if Trinidad Chambliss is retroactively ruled ineligible in the coming weeks.
Missouri has won 10, nine and seven regular season games over the past three seasons, but the Tigers come in at 6.5 with an SEC slate including Florida, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia, and Oklahoma.
Shane Beamer gets fired if South Carolina does not hit the over, which would have the Gamecocks miss their third bowl game in four seasons.
ACC/Notre Dame
11.5: Notre Dame
10.5: Miami
8.5: SMU
7.5: Cal, Clemson, Louisville, Pitt, Virginia
6.5: Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
5.5: Duke
4.5: North Carolina, Syracuse
3.5: Boston College, Stanford
Thoughts: Fascinated by Florida State coming in at 6.5. The 'Noles have won seven games combined over the past two seasons, so they've got to be happy with 7-5 in 2026. Right? No?
The defending ACC champions are now a toss up to make a bowl game after losing Darian Mensah to Miami. And FanDuel has officially/unofficially picked Notre Dame to win their Nov. 7 showdown with the Mensah-led 'Canes in South Bend, since Marcus Freeman's team is the national co-leader at 11.5 with Miami just behind at 10.5.
Clemson is now Just Another Program at 7.5, equal to Cal in Year 1 under Tosh Lupoi and just one win ahead of a Georgia Tech team that lost both coordinators and its top two quarterbacks from last season.
Big 12
11.5: Texas Tech
8.5: BYU, Utah
7.5: Arizona, Houston, Kansas State
6.5: Arizona State, Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU
5.5: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, UCF, West Virginia
4.5: Colorado
Thoughts: Twelve of the Big 12's 16 teams are fall between 5.5 and 7.5... and then there's Texas Tech, at 11.5. The Red Raiders went 11-1 last season -- all 11 wins were by 22 or more, and the only loss came by four, on the road, with a backup quarterback. Essentially, FanDuel says the only Tech will lose in 2026 is if they have to play QB2 on the road again. But, given that this is the Big 12, where the floor is higher than any other league, odds are pretty good that Tech will trip up again at some point this fall. Either way, it's a fascinating number.
Kalani Sitake has won 10 games in four of his last six seasons, so oddsmakers project a slight dip this fall, while Utah is projected to pick up largely where it left off in Year 1 under Morgan Scalley.
And at 9-18 in conference play at Colorado, is it notable that Coach Prime is expected to once again field the worst team in his conference?