Some of these choices are obvious.

Oregon and Oklahoma both came into the college football season ranked in the top-10 and are now unranked. Much hype was placed in Texas paying $2 million on Cam Coleman to get Arch Manning receiving help, but even this has faltered.

So along with those listed here, what are some other teams or players who have been busts in 2026?

Oregon Ducks

This may have played out differently had Dante Moore, a Heisman Trophy favorite and potential top five-draft pick, hadn't gotten injured on a cheap shot during the Ducks win against USC.

Since then, Oregon has not been the same whether it was Dylan Raiola or Brock Thomas behind center.

On top if this, wide receiver Jeremiah McCleelan was injured once again and is out for the season. Adding to this is the arrest of Evan Stewart — leading Dan Lanning to suspend him for one game, a game which ended up being a loss to a struggling Illinois team.

From the preseason No. 2 in the AP Poll to not even getting a vote, the Ducks wish this season were over. And it is not even Halloween yet. 

Oklahoma Sooners

John Mateer has not developed at the quarterback position the way Ben Arbuckle and coach Brent Venables hoped that he would in his second season. 

Oklahoma was able to defeat Texas in the Red River Rivalry, and this will make Sooners fans happy. But losing to Georgia in the fashion they did and to an equally bad Michigan team under Kyle Whittingham does not lead to confidence that Venables is still the right person to lead this team in the future.

After making the playoffs in 2025, Oklahoma gave Venables a ridiculous contract extension for no reason. Now they will pay for it with another year of mediocrity in 2026. The defense cannot do it all in Norman. Unless the offense can find playmakers in the transfer portal this offseason, the Sooners will be disappointed again next year.

Cal Bears and Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele 

Cal does not want to fire Tosh Lupoi after just one season. If they want to have any hopes of bringing excitement back to Memorial Stadium, they may have to.

Lupoi came into the season with a solid Cal football team who was a fun dark horse in the ACC to challenge Miami for the conference title game. Instead, the offense is one of the worst in the entire sport and offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville was striped of playcalling duties at halftime of a loss to UNLV. 

Standout freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has had an immediate sophomore slump and even been benched on a few occasions. 

Sagapolutele has thrown for 1,555 yards this year with 10 touchdowns compared to 5 interceptions. While not terrible based on the offense he was thrust into, he needs to be the type of player who can immediately elevate his team when things are not going well. Sagapolutele would be better off finding a new home for 2027. One which does include a view of the Bay Area and one which does not include a second season under Lupoi. 

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Maybe Texas Tech did not expect to go undefeated. But if they didn’t go undefeated, they were supposed to lose to a team like Utah or BYU in the conference title game. They were not supposed to lose to Cincinnati.

After taking this loss, many analysts are asking if the job of Joey McGuire is safe in Lubbock. All because of one loss. This is what the money from Cody Campbell has brought to the Red Raiders. Unrealistic expectations where one loss can get you fired. 

The year would have played out differently had transfer Brendan Sorsby been able to play. He has far more talent than Will Hammond and he was not coming off an ACL injury. Where games would have been played with no doubt of the outcome, now the games are close wins. And the games where the offense cannot be superior, where David Bailey and a talented defense were there in 2025, that elite talent is not there in 2026. 

Unlike the others on this list, Texas Tech is still the master of their own destiny. If they win out, they can still make their goal of another playoff berth. But it will not be with a bye and achallenging opening round game will be in store, maybe against Texas.

Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers at Texas,

The talk all offseason was Texas has paid $50 million for their roster, and they spent $2 million of that to get Cam Coleman from Auburn for one season. Another player the team signed was running back Hollywood Smothers from NC State, and neither has lived up to the billing due to inconsistent play from Arch Manning and from injuries hampering the pair.

Coleman, who is explosive when on the field, has just 21 catches for 348 yards and 6 touchdowns in seven games for the Longhorns.

Smothers, who has missed some time, has 41 rushes for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground and has added 7 receptions for 51 yards and 1 touchdown through the pass game.

Had both players remained healthy all season, and had Manning been able to find them, Texas would not have lost two games already. Unfortunately, because these transfers have disappointed, Texas is on life support and must avoid another loss to feel any comfort level of making the playoff bracket at the end of the season.

Texas still has the talent to compete with any team in the country. What they do not have is consistency, an elite quarterback or a healthy team of stars — with Coleman, Smothers, and Collin Simmons all ailing.