2026 College Football Odds: Will Oregon, Miami Both Make Playoff?

As you probably know by now, diving into regular-season win totals for college football might be one of my favorite pastimes. 

And I believe where I've landed recently could get us a return on our investment when it comes to one squad's Under.

I also believe that my Oregon Ducks and last year's championship runner-up, the Miami Hurricanes, are bound to make deep postseason runs.

Here's my latest.

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Memphis Tigers regular-season win total

Will head coach Charles Huff lead Memphis to at least eight wins in 2026 (Getty Images)?

Memphis won at least eight regular-season games in the last three seasons under former coach Ryan Silverfield. 

Silverfield left for Arkansas and nearly 50 players left the program. Memphis hired Charles Huff to lead the squad and Huff has a proven track record of rebuilding programs. He just took Southern Mississippi from a one-win team to being a bowl team before joining Memphis. 

However, I don’t think he’s going to see the same success as Tigers head coach in Year 1.

It used to be that returning production was a favorite of mine when previewing a team’s early-season success. But the portal has changed how I view it. 

If you lose snaps to the portal, then acquiring players with starting experience and snaps should count as returning production. Memphis only returns 42% of its production from 2025, which is near the bottom of the sport. The Tigers' quarterback graduated, and they lost their most prized backup to Arkansas. They also lost their top three running backs and receivers, and most of their offensive line will be new this season. 

Huff addressed some of these areas with portal additions, but there are still so many questions. 

Who is the quarterback? Well, Dylan Stokes transferred from West Florida and appears to have the lead for the job. Memphis has a handful of productive portal additions as skill players. It appears the offensive line is going to start four transfer players. 

In other words, there are lots of unknowns on offense.

The defense hovered at just below average for most of Silverfield’s time at Memphis, so it’s possible that nearly everyone who could tackle left in the portal. The defense projects to start 11 new players. Even most of the backups are new players. There are some high-upside athletes, like J’Mond Tapp who followed Huff to Memphis. He recorded 7.5 sacks and 67 tackles last season. The rest of the defensive line needs players to emerge as playmakers. One of the linebacker spots is set with Michael Montgomery transferring from Southern Miss, as well as some of the secondary pieces. 

But just like the offense, there are so many unknowns.

The Memphis schedule does have wins built into it. The Tigers are over a touchdown favorite against UNLV in Week 1 and will be a big favorite in Week 2 against Arkansas State. They will not win at Boise State but should beat UT Martin in the final out-of-conference game. 

Ultimately, they should be 3-1 to start the season.

The Tigers have two wins on paper in conference games with Charlotte and UAB. At least I hope so. 

The rest of their schedule looks like 50-50 games. However, with so many new pieces on the roster, uncertainty at quarterback and an entirely new depth chart, I could see this season being a struggle.

Because of inexperience, Memphis could lose games that it actually should win.

PICK: Memphis Under 7.5 regular-season wins

Will Oregon and Miami make the College Football Playoff?

Oregon head coach Dan Lanning will look to build on his program's success in 2026 (Getty Images).

Oregon has been a Playoff team two straight seasons. 

In 2024, the Ducks went 13-0 in the regular season (including the conference title game) and followed that up with 11-1 last season, when their only loss was to eventual champion Indiana. 

Oregon also went 11-2 in 2023 but did not make a four-team playoff after losing to Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Ducks don't lose games against teams they shouldn’t lose to. In fact, most of the games against those types of teams aren’t particularly close. 

Their schedule is set up for success again and this might be the best Oregon roster in school history. 

The Ducks will be underdogs just once this season, when they travel to Ohio State. Oregon does travel to USC and hosts Michigan. Otherwise, the Ducks' schedule is full of wins. Get one win of those three games (even though it'll be more like two) and Oregon is into the Playoff.

Miami head Coach Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes could end up making another deep Playoff run next season (Getty Images).

A few weeks back, I wrote about Miami’s chances to win the ACC. I love it. 

The Hurricanes might be more complete this season. They lost quarterback Carson Beck but Duke transfer Darian Mensah is better. They return their outstanding running back and their best receiver, who’s also one of the best in the country. 

We know that staff can replace offensive and defensive linemen that they lost. The Miami defensive line and secondary will also be outstanding. The Canes are just far better than anyone in the ACC. And after losing in the national title game, they will be thirsty to get back there again. 

Both of these teams are making the Playoff.

PICK: Oregon and Miami (-120) both to make College Football Playoff