Last night, I was watching a YouTube video of a guy ranking his top 10 teams in the next five years, and it made me think and my gears started to turn so I wanted to make a post about my top 10. Now, I think I am going to do this a bit differently, instead of just a standard 1-10 or 10-1 list that I will, in real time, lay down my thoughts and opinions on teams and why I may be high on them or low on them and then at the bottom will be my top 10. If you are only here for my top 10 then you can scroll down, if not, enjoy my brain work!
Safe Bets
When I think about top teams in the next five years, I am trying to think of teams of the past five years and if they have enough longevity to continue their success. Two teams come to mind that feel like an instant yes, and that is Georgia and Ohio State. Both have won at least one championship in the last five years and both have maintained recruiting in a high level (Ohio State finished fifth and Georgia finished ninth in the 2026 recruiting class). Even with the transfer portal and NIL, Ohio State and Georgia have been able to grow, maintain, and win with the majority of their starting lineup as homegrown talent, and with that I find it hard they lose a grip they currently have and I feel confident in saying they are top two.
Another team that have had success in the past five years that I believe belong in my top 10 is Notre Dame. Since both Ian Book then Brian Kelly left, it honestly felt they will start to lose a grip with Marcus Freeman being an unknown guy as a head coach, we knew what he can do as a DC but what about HC? When he started cooking, his QB's were transfer portal guys in Sam Hartman and Riley Leonard and the main issue when it came to the offensive side is can he continue having success with one year rentals? And the answer right now is no, because he was able to start homegrown talent at QB in CJ Carr. After Carr is another question mark because is he going to continue with another guy on the roster like a Blake Herbert or Noah Grubbs or is he going to go back into the portal? Then receiver room is another question as it felt like they have struggled to find transformative receivers that other teams have found and succeeded in, and you can blame 2019 Alabama and LSU for that as they made it the norm. Something they have to fix is losing winnable games early. Since Marcus Freeman has been there, 5 of his 12 losses were in September and three of them were to Marshall, Stanford, and Northern Illinois. I still think they will be top 10 in the next five years, but they are not my three and right now I am feeling like they are a five or six.
"It's Our Year" Teams
I think this is an obvious Texas and Oregon space. Starting with Texas, every year they have high expectations and every year they somehow feel like they under perform. 2024 may be an exception, but they did lose to Georgia twice, one in the SEC Championship Game. They have Arch Manning who is part of football royalty and suppose to be this generational talent, which same was said about his predecessor in Quinn Ewers and he never lived up to the hype, so much so that he was a projected second round pick that fell to the seventh due to injury history and underwhelming performances in his three years as the starter. I don't see Arch living up to the Heisman potential and will do enough to at least get drafted this draft and expect Texas to have a downfall enough so that Sark won't be there in five years and they hire their next head coach, so I don't have them in my top 10. Oregon, on the other hand, they have done fantastic in the regular season and then just completely fold in the playoffs. I don't know if they will ever get it done, but I also don't expect their explosive offense to fade so quickly either. I have Oregon in my top 10, but don't know how high yet.
Alabama, Tennessee, and USC feels like they fall into this category as well. Tennessee feels like if they can't get the QB situation between Faizon Brandon or George McIntyre figured out or neither pan out, then Tennessee may fall back into mediocrity they were in post Fulmer and we may see both Texas and Tennessee in the coaching carousel at the same time again very soon. USC may be in a coaching carousel this season if they don't get over the hump, and that hump is CFP. I actually do want to put USC in my top 10, but I am having a hard time believing USC makes it to the CFP this season and if they do fire Riley than who better than they go after without poaching another blue blood's coach, we think Eliah Drinkwitz can get USC over the hump when he couldn't get Mizzou over himself despite how close he has been the last two seasons? We think Rhett Lashlee leave his oil money for Southern California? USC has question marks, but I feel like having them on the outside looking in is probably a safe bet and best position to prove me wrong in. Alabama, on the flip side, hasn't won a CFP since 2020 and despite the struggles Kalen DeBoer has had early into his tenure, they most likely will be in the top 10 solely because they are Alabama. I think bottom three is a good spot as I see them as a constant CFP team but probably won't do any better than maybe one semi finals appearance.
First Year Head Coaches
I feel like this covers a lot of bases. I think Penn State and LSU will be constant top 10 teams every season, though I think this season will be rough for LSU but will be a constant 10 win team starting in 2027, Penn State will start hot and maintain it for all five seasons. Florida is a team that I feel like will be a top 25 team with Sumrall, but I'm not feeling top 10, yet. Auburn may be the same thing, though I do see Golesh kinda sliding a bit the longer he is there and if he has instant success this season. Michigan feels like a safe bet answer, but I don't see them being top 10 for the next five years. I don't see any of the first year Big 12 coaches leading their schools to the top 10 every year. But, there is a ACC school I see being top 10 every year, and that is Virginia Tech. I think this season will be a learning curve, then next season will be full throttle.
How About Indiana And Miami?
I think both will make it to the top 10 and for both different reasons. Aside from the fact Indiana won it all last season, I don't see a dynasty in the future and I do see them flattening out into more of a stable 9-3, 8-4 team from here on, but I do see them having some kind of spike in the numbers whether it is in 2026 or in 2029 which puts them up in the top 10. Miami will most likely be a top three team for the next five years whether they win a title or not. They have proven to bring homegrown talent and make instant impact, Rueben Bain is a great example of someone who stayed in town and went and played for his backyard school in Miami then turned it into a All American career that led to a first round selection, and now Miami is hoping to replicate the same thing in Malachi Toney. They have been one of the earlier faces in the transfer portal and it shows, especially now that they have turned their QB room into a one year rental turned Heisman showcase season for Cam Ward and Carson Beck, and their hope is Darian Mensah will too. I am having a hard time believing they will fall off so soon and therefore I have them pretty high on my list.
Looking For The Last Spot
I have nine of the ten teams figured out, now I am looking for a tenth team. I want to start in the ACC and just turn them all down. Georgia Tech and SMU just feels like they have reached their peak already and 2026 may be a similar record to 2025, but it won't stick in 2027 and beyond. Virginia is a team that peaked too early. Pitt and Louisville are teams I am high on the most, but I still don't see them being top 10 mainstays. Clemson has to be addressed as I do think they will have a bounce back year and may finish top 10, I don't think they will maintain top 10 every year and they are more of a top 15 team in the next five seasons.
Looking in the SEC, Ole Miss may be a team somebody is shouting at the top of their lungs, but I don't see any long term in their future and they are just a short term team. Oklahoma is the same thing, but I do expect some kind of flash in the next five seasons unlike Ole Miss. And then Texas A&M makes the most sense, but the QB after Marcel Reed is why I am the most hesitant on them. Now I am jumping to the Big 12 and only have four teams in mind that could be considered, Texas Tech, BYU, Houston, and Utah. This season is the true test for Texas Tech as they are now forced to put their QB2 as their QB1 after the Sorsby stuff, but I do see their fad going away very soon. BYU may be the most sense out of all of them, but they are just a consistent 8-4 team who had a really good two season stretch. Houston is up here because I really like Willie Fritz and the direction he has taken them, but I do see them staying outside of the top 10 practically every year. And Utah, even though their coach is a first time head coach, he has been on staff for at least 20 years, but even with that I don't think they are a top 10 team.
So now I am looking at the Big Ten where I feel like there is only one other option and that is Washington. The more I think about it, the more I like their chances. I go back and look at Jedd Fisch's three year turnaround at Arizona where they went 1-11 to 5-7 to 10-3 and his ability to coach transformative receivers there and then take over Washington who already had a treasure trove of WR talent that all he had to do is talk them into staying, and to top that, he continued to still bring in top talent. I think they will have a 10 win season this season and then have a two or three season stretch of either CFP run or one of the first teams out.
My Top 10 College Football Teams In The Next Five Seasons
Georgia
Ohio State
Miami (FL)
Penn State
LSU
Notre Dame
Indiana
Alabama
Virginia Tech
Washington
Let me know your thoughts on my list and my thought process!