CFB insider picks one team to win college football national championship in 2026 and it's not Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes just won the national championship a couple of weeks ago, but On3 college football insider Andy Staples is already looking ahead to the 2026 season and predicting who will succeed the Buckeyes as national champion.

Staples picked a team that lost to the Buckeyes on Ohio State’s road to the national title last season: the Texas Longhorns.

According to the analyst, the Longhorns will exact revenge against Ohio State at the exact same instance they faced each other in January in the Cotton Bowl. Staples has Texaas defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the CFP national championship game to claim its first national title since 2006. Staples chose the Fighting Irish to defeat the Oregon Ducks in the other semifinal.

Texas is a popular national championship pick. Even with some key players going to the NFL, Steve Sarkisian’s team has a lot of talent all around, and Arch Manning will play his first season as the starter after Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL draft.

Besides Manning, some other notable players coming back are wide receiver Ryan Wingo, guard DJ Campbell, running back CJ Baxter, buck Trey Moore and cornerback Malik Muhammad.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes will face a transition year in 2025. Both coordinators left the team, while several seniors also played out their eligibility, including quarterback Will Howard, running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and defensive ends Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau.

While the Buckeyes could still challenge for the national championship, the talent and experience they lost may be too much against other top-tier programs.

In Staples' projected field, there are four schools from the SEC (Texas, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida) and the Big Ten (Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State), with only one from the Big 12 (BYU), ACC (Clemson), AAC (Tulane) and an independent (Notre Dame).

National championship hopeful Arch Manning gives his verdict on top QB of all time

Arch Manning is one of the most hyped players coming into the 2025 college football season. Before any of that happens, the Longhorns’ quarterback dropped by “The Broadcast Boys” YouTube channel.

There, Peyton Manning’s nephew was asked about the greatest quarterback of all time. Arch immediately went to his uncle’s archenemy for the answer.

“I think Tom Brady,” Manning said.

While both Eli and Peyton Manning competed with Brady on the field, they’ve had a good relationship off it. Arch may have just added one more layer to that relationship.