Big Ten Vibe Check: What Mayyyyy Happen in 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses potential scenarios for the 2026 college football season, focusing on Big Ten teams and their prospects.

We’re midway through May, which means it’s time to start talking ourselves into, and out of, what the 2026 college football season could become. In this episode, we turn the month itself into a game with a Big Ten “Mayyyyybe” vibe check, asking which scenarios feel realistic, which ones feel like offseason nonsense, and which ones might look strangely prescient by November. Could Ohio State’s schedule create a real College Football Playoff problem? Is Maryland quietly positioned to take a step forward? Can Wisconsin stabilize things for Luke Fickell, Iowa mess around with a playoff run, or UCLA become one of the more interesting teams in the conference under Bob Chesney? We also dig into Oregon’s internal coordinator hires, Michigan’s tricky first year under Kyle Whittingham, and USC’s unlucky, unforgiving schedule. Along the way, there are schedule sandwiches, quarterback questions, offensive line concerns, coaching crush rankings, a surprising amount of hernia talk, and more. Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 5:01 - Ohio State misses the CFP 14:22 - Maryland wins a game after September 20:42 - Wisconsin saves Luke Fickell's job 27:23…

People in this episode

Host: The Solid Verbal

Topics covered

• Big Ten football
• 2026 college football season
• College Football Playoff
• team analysis
• coaching changes
• schedule challenges

Keywords

• Big Ten
• Ohio State
• Maryland
• Wisconsin
• Iowa
• UCLA
• Oregon
• Michigan
• USC
• College Football Playoff

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ohio State, Maryland, Wisconsin, Luke Fickell, Iowa, UCLA, Oregon, Michigan, USC

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