College football midseason report: Best coach, worst moment and what to watch in the second half

College football midseason report: Best coach, worst moment and what to watch in the second half originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

College football is the best.

For all the talk about the future of the sport, from NIL to the transfer portal to the specter of the 24-team College Football Playoff, there are a lot of gripes off the field. The first half of the season was wild, including Week 7 when five of the top-10 teams lost.

Who is the best team in the country? That answer remains unclear – even if No. 1 Miami is the third different team on the top of the AP Top 25 in as many weeks. Who is the best player? We're pretty sure we know the answer there – but a key injury could shape how we feel in the second half of the season. Who are the best coaches? Biggest disappointments? What can we look forward to in the second half of the season, which promises to turn us upside down for six more weeks before conference championship weekend?

Here are our midseason grades for the 2026 college football season.

MORE: SN's Midseason All-America team

College football midseason report

Best player: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State

Smith has 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 TDs for No. 3 Ohio State and he's lived up to the label as the best player in college football. In three games against ranked teams, Smith has 23 catches for 438 yards, an average of 19.0 yards per catch, and four TDs. It's a taken-for-granted highlight package each week because Smith makes it look so easy.

HOW JEREMIAH SMITH?! https://t.co/eF3qGIFC2a

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 10, 2026

It will be more difficult without quarterback Julian Sayin, but Smith will make the plays necessary to push the Buckeyes to the CFP with backup quarterback Luke Fahey.

Honorable mention: Darian Mensah, Miami; Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss

Best team: Miami

The Hurricanes lead the FBS with an offense that averages 48.5 points per game under coach Mario Cristobal, and Darian Mensah leads the FBS with a 204.2 passer rating. Malachi Toney, who has 50 catches for 758 yards and eight TDs, continues to dominate, and the defense ranks seventh in the FBS at 14.0 points per game. The only other team in the FBS that has a top-10 scoring offense and scoring defense is Notre Dame.

Honorable mention: BYU

MORE: College Football Playoff forecast entering Week 8

Best Group of 6 team: Boise State

No. 21 Boise State could easily make the College Football Playoff in their first season in the Pac-12. Maddux Madsen and Dylan Riley have been a dynamic combination in the backfield, and the 34-27 loss in the season opener to Oregon does not hurt. Of course, James Madison is 7-0 under first-year coach Billy Napier in the Sun Belt and there are contenders in the Mountain West Conference, where the Broncos left before this season.

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Best coach: Bob Chesney, UCLA

Chesney, 49, lifted UCLA to No. 9 in the AP Poll with a 6-0 start that included a 17-15 win as a double-digit underdog at Oregon on Oct. 10. The Bruins average 231 rushing yards per game behind do-everything running back Wayne Knight, and the defense is not getting enough attention. Linebacker Sam Omosigho leads the Big Ten with 32 solo tackles, and safety Tai'Shawn James has four interceptions. Chesney had the second-best pregame speech behind Kirby Smart of the first half of the season.

Honorable mention: Will Stein, Kentucky

Best game: No. 7 Ole Miss 32, No. 8 LSU 24 (Sept. 19)

"Saturday Night Football" produced some fantastic games – but none had more drama than LSU coach Lane Kiffin's return to Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 19. For all the hype, the game delivered around Trinidad Chambliss, who had 363 passing yards and led the game-winning 14-yard TD run with 6:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Rebels had a goal-line stand, and Abby Miller – a 20 year old junior at Ole Miss – snapped the most iconic picture of the season.

Honorable mention: No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23 (Sept. 12), No. 2 Georgia 20, No. 6 Alabama 17 (Oct. 11), No. 8 BYU 28, No. 2 Notre Dame 24 (Oct. 18), No. 4 Ohio State 19, No. 5 Indiana 15 (Oct. 18)

Best conference: Big 12

This is going to be a take. The SEC remains the best top-to-bottom conference, and the non-conference matchups against Power 4 teams backs that up:

Non-conference records against Power 4 teams SEC 10-2 Big 12 6-7 ACC 6-11 Big Ten 4-10 Mountain West 1-8 American 1-11 MAC 1-17 CUSA 0-9 Pac-12 0-12 Sun Belt 0-15

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 18, 2026

But the Big 12 had the best first half of the season from a perception standpoint. No. 2 BYU (6-0), No. 8 Texas Tech (6-0) and No. 10 Utah (6-0) give the conference three unbeaten teams, the most of any Power 4 conference. No. 14 Houston (6-1) and No. 25 Arizona (5-1) add depth. The Big 12 has as many teams with one less as the SEC – and is one behind the Big Ten. The Red Raiders do not play BYU or Utah. All this means the conference is in position to land multiple College Football Playoff teams, and that might come at the expense of a SEC contender.

Power 4 teams (one loss or less)

Best bounce-back player: Gio Lopez, QB, Wake Forest

Lopez struggled at North Carolina last season, but he is on a heater with No. 17 Wake Forest and coach Jake Dickert this season. Lopez is seventh in the FBS in total offense with 314.3 total yards per game, and he's done that with 23 total TDs and one interception. According to PFF.com, Lopez is 30 of 39 (76.9%) for 493 yards, six TDs and no interception in the intermediate (10-19 yards). Mensah is the only QB doing it better in that range. It's too bad the Demon Deacons (6-1) do not have Tar Heels on the schedule.

Honorable mention: Josh Hoover, QB, Indiana

Best bounce-back coach: Bill Belichick, North Carolina

Hey, we tried to fire Belichick before the Aer Lingus College Football Classic against TCU. The Tar Heels are 4-2, and their losses to Clemson and No. 4 Notre Dame were by an average of 9.5 points. The Tar Heels have just 202 penalty yards, which ranks second for the fewest in the FBS.

North Carolina is 3-1 in one-score games, Xavier Lewis has been dominant on defense with seven sacks, and the offense is functional around Billy Edwards Jr. The schedule presents an opportunity for at least eight wins – and the Halloween matchup against Miami has meaning.

Honorable mention: Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Best call: Will Stein goes for two (twice)

First-year coach Will Stein opted to go for two in overtime in back-to-back weeks, and those calls have shape-shifted No. 12 Kentucky into the best first-half story in the SEC. A two-point pass from Kenny Minchey to Willie Rodriguez clinched a 35-34 victory against South Carolina on Oct. 3. Minchey's QB draw the following week gave the Wildcats a stunning 35-34 victory against No. 10 LSU at Kroger Field. Both calls were wide open, and the Wildcats are 6-1 as a result.

Honorable mention:Iowa's last-second TD against Michigan

Best viral video: 'Outstanding'

The AI mash-up of the losing top-10 coaches from Week 7 playing "Outstanding" by The Gap Band is just that. How would you rank these coaches' performance? We'll go Marcus Freeman, Kalen DeBoer, Curt Cignetti, Kirby Smart and Steve Sarkisian.

When AI is used properly lmfaooooooo https://t.co/bNfED3OTq4

— Get 'Em Eazy! (@ChampIAN_33) October 19, 2026

Most disappointing team: Texas A&M

Texas A&M was 11-2 and lost 10-3 in a home College Football Playoff game against Miami last season. The Aggies are 4-3, including a 1-3 record in SEC play, heading into the second half of the season. Coach Mike Elko lashed out at "Billy's cesspool" after a 27-6 loss against Missouri on Oct. 10.

Texas A&M opened the season at No. 8 in the AP Preseason Poll – so the disappointment is obvious. Marcel Reed – who has 1,227 yards, seven TDs and six interceptions – owns a 55.7% completion percentage. The Aggies did lose 10 players to the 2026 NFL Draft, so that's part of it. But it shouldn't be this bad, and the second-half of the schedule is not easy.

Dishonorable mention: Oregon, Texas, Penn State

Most disappointing call: Foul behavior

What is the worst penalty of the first half of the season?

A. Michigan cornerback Zeke Berry, who shoved Tony Diaz after a third-and-10 incompletion, which set up Iowa's miracle finish in a 20-19 loss on Sept. 26.

B. USC linebacker Desman Stephens II, whose dirty hit that knocked out Oregon quarterback Dante Moore defined a 41-27 loss.

C. Alabama cornerback Dijon Lee Jr., who received a personal foul after taking a swing at Georgia freshman receiver Craig Dandridge late in the fourth quarter of the Crimson Tide's 20-17 loss to Georgia on Oct. 10.

D. Georgia edge rusher Gabe Harris Jr., who had a roughing-the-passer penalty on Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown, which helped set up the game-winning field goal on the final drive in a 27-24 upset on Oct. 17.

E. Texas All-American defensive end Colin Simmons getting flagged for "unsportsmanlike conduct for simulating using the restroom" against Tennessee.

F. All of the above.

Imagn Images

Most disappointing moment: One second

It happened twice in prime-time games. Michigan beat Western Michigan 13-12 on Sept. 5 when officials put one second back on the clock after everybody saw zero. Bryce Underwood threw a 47-yard Hail Mary to JJ Buchanan and hell followed afterward. The MAC appealed the decision.

So, of course it happened again during BYU's 28-24 victory against Notre Dame on Oct. 17. It appeared one second should have been left on the clock, not to mention that there appeared to be a missed pass interference call on the final play from scrimmage. The reaction was less powerful because Notre Dame did not benefit from the screw-ups – but the point stands.

Put LED lights on the goalpost or tenths or hundredths of a second on the scoreboard. It's 2026. We should be able to tell when the clock hits zero.

Second-half player to watch: Big Ten backup QBs

Backup QBs will write the story in the Big Ten in the second half of the season, starting with Fahey and perhaps Tavien St. Clair at Ohio State. They were in a competition to be the backup behind Sayin in fall camp. It's a tough first assignment at No. 16 USC on Oct. 31 for the Buckeyes' quarterbacks.

That is not all. UCLA is unbeaten with Ty Dieffenbach, who will lead the Bruins with Nico Iamaleava out for the season. Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski have made starts for No. 15 Iowa. How much longer will Dylan Raiola and Brock Thomas hold down the position for the Ducks until Dante Moore returns? Will Michigan get a spark from Tommy Carr – who replaced five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood last week?

The Big Ten quarterback shuffle is intriguing, to say the least.

Second-half team to watch: Texas Tech

Remember when the Red Raiders were the villains of the offseason during the Brendan Sorsby drama? Texas Tech is quietly undefeated with quarterback Will Hammond, the defense remains formidable around defensive tackle A.J. Holmes Jr. and linebacker Ben Roberts and Texas Tech will not play BYU or Utah in the regular season. That means the Red Raiders have a decent chance at being 12-0 with another berth in the Big 12 championship game. The Halloween matchup with Arizona should be fun.

Second-half Group of 6 team to watch: New Mexico

It starts Saturday with the matchup against North Dakota State. The winner of that game could challenge for a playoff spot. Lobos coach Jason Eck will be on the radar for Power 4 programs in the next coaching carousel. New Mexico leads the FBS with a plus-17 turnover margin, but the belt is only allowed to come out when the Lobos are winning.

WOW: New Mexico HC Jason Eck was furious with his players for celebrating a turnover while losing to Hawaii. Eck walked over and took the turnover belt away from his players, clearly upset that they were celebrating despite trailing in the fourth quarter. https://t.co/9SoMBs4jJC

— MLFootball (@MLFootball) October 18, 2026

Second-half coach to watch: Steve Sarkisian, Texas

No. 19 Texas is one of five programs with at least 25 players that have been selected in the NFL Draft from 2024-26. The Longhorns are tied with Ohio State and Georgia for first with 29 players in that stretch – and another huge class is coming in 2027.

Most NFL Draft picks (2024-26)

Imagine if Texas loses three or four games and misses the playoff for the second straight season. Arch Manning will take criticism, but he has outs via the transfer portal or the NFL Draft. Sarkisian does not have the same latitude. Texas is recruiting and developing players at an elite level, and the Longhorns did make the CFP semifinals in 2023 and 2024. Still, this group was supposed to do more. Saturday's matchup against Ole Miss is a defining moment.

Second-half best game: Miami at Notre Dame

No. 4 Notre Dame suffered its first loss to BYU, so it took a little shine off this matchup. It is a rematch of last year's 27-24 opening weekend classic that had head-to-head playoff implications later. Will that be the case again? The Irish have won the last three meetings in South Bend – a streak that began with the "Catholics vs. Convicts" matchup in 1988. Notre Dame would be in a precarious playoff position again with a home loss to the Hurricanes.

Second-half debate: How many SEC playoff teams?

When projecting out the remainder of the SEC schedule, we have eight teams with postseason hopes. Sorting all this out is going to be the highest point of contention heading into the final stages of the College Football Playoff race. Here is our guess what the final records look like at the end of the regular season:

Projected final SEC standings

Will that play out that way? Probably not. If the SEC wants to get four teams in the playoff, then chances are one or two of those teams will have three losses. Get ready for a November of this conference trumpeting the high degree of difficulty of the nine-game SEC schedule.