Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt named the Top 10 college football games that will shape the 2026 season, which kicks off in a couple of months. Are you ready?

Well, get ready for these 10 games and more, since they will determine a lot throughout the course of the season. These are all massive games with big-name players, coaches and brands.

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Without further ado, let’s dive into Klatt’s 10 games he’s ready for in 2026. These will shape a lot in college football.

Klatt: “Kyle Whittingham gets his first crack at a monster game as the coach of the Michigan Wolverines. Obviously, this is a rematch of last year’s game in Norman … OU was a legitimate playoff contender after that win at home over Michigan, even if they had a true freshman quarterback in that one, that was a big statement win, and I think a win in this game for either of these programs would do the exact same thing that it did for Oklahoma a year ago.”

This is a game that will flip locations compared to last year. Brent Venables and Oklahoma made a statement handling Michigan last year, but Kyle Whittingham instilling a new toughness in the Wolverines cannot be overstated. This could be a totally different game.

Klatt: “Ryan Day and Steve Sarkisian know exactly how important that game was to their teams and their programs a year ago. Look at what Ohio State was able to do. They had eight new starters on defense. They generated a ton of confidence, a ton of confidence in their brand new quarterback, Julian Sayin, in their new defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia, based on what they were able to do and how they controlled the game against Texas at home.”

This game kicked off the 2025 season and now they’ll run it back early in 2026. This time, Ohio State has to head to Austin where, one would think, the Longhorns, Arch Manning and the offense will be more prepared for the Ohio State defense.

Klatt: “I couldn’t resist, I could not resist Lane going back to Oxford. I mean, let’s go. This one’s going to be incredible. I don’t like, oh my goodness, there’s not enough security on the planet for Lane, as he’s going to go back into Oxford.”

You knew this was going to be on the list. Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford might be the most anticipated game of the season and we get it in September! This will be a ratings bonanza and you bet he’ll get quite the reception from the fans he spurned for LSU.

Klatt: “Certainly in the implication of these teams trying to level into that top four … in the Big Ten, to grab one of those at-large spots, and this one is a sneaky game that’s going to be really good. USC at Penn State, this one’s going to be fantastic.”

This could be a look at which of these teams will be legit halfway through the season. Can Lincoln Riley get over the hump? Is Matt Campbell the answer to get Penn State over their own hump? We could get a lot of answers in this one.

Klatt: “I think this one’s going to be a huge game. Red River is always one of the best games in the sport. It’s one of my favorite games in college football, and this one’s going to be huge for SEC implications, college football playoff implications. Once again, Oklahoma will have already played at Michigan and at Georgia. So, are they going to have one loss, two losses, no losses at that point. What if they have two losses on week six, october 10? That’s a huge weekend, huge weekend.”

Red River is always electric and both teams will look to make deep CFP runs this year. A healthy John Mateer makes this QB battle all the more interesting against Arch Manning. Circle this on your calendars, folks.

Klatt: “You got to think about the last 12 SEC championship games. Either Georgia or Alabama have been in every single one of them, and either Georgia or Alabama has won 11 of the last 12. The only SEC team to win an SEC title not named Georgia or Alabama is LSU with Joe Burrow.”

Georgia and Alabama have run the SEC for the last decade-plus. Things might not change this year either. Heck, they could play each other for a second time in the SEC Championship later this year. But this feels like Kalen DeBoer needs it more than Kirby Smart based on vibes this coming fall.

Klatt: “Don’t go to a wedding on October 17th either. You’ve got Ohio State-Indiana. Indiana can run the Big Ten; they beat Ohio State a year ago; they are the reigning national champions. They have not lost at home under Curt Cignetti. They are 15-0. If Indiana beats Ohio State, all of a sudden the premier program in the Big Ten is Indiana at the moment, which is, which is wild.”

The Buckeyes will look to take back Big Ten supremacy with a win on the road in the middle of the season. It’s hard to say the Hoosiers will be as good as last year, but Curt Cignetti will still have quite the squad going into 2026 competing for another Big Ten title and a CFP spot.

Klatt: “I can’t wait for this one. Notre Dame fans watched Miami get that last playoff spot, jumped them in the last rankings, they went all the way to the championship game, there is some saltiness in South Bend. There’s no doubt about that. Marcus Freeman, this is a program that believes that they can go and win a national title

There could be bad blood here considering Notre Dame still feels like they were snubbed last year. You know, despite losing head-to-head to Miami to start the year? This time, there will be plenty of football played between the two before the Hurricanes make the trip to South Bend.

Klatt: “I mean, they don’t like each other. This is such a good game. It’s a great rivalry. Two of my top 10 teams in my post-spring rankings. Mike Elko was 11-0 going into the Texas game a year ago. Texas got the big win, but they were kept out of the playoff. I think there’s a real chance that the winner of this game is going to go to the SEC Championship game.”

Another late-season game with playoff implications here. Texas A&M was shell-shocked by Texas last year, but still got in. Klatt thinks more could be on the line in 2026 with both programs hunting for a national title.

Klatt: “It is absolutely my honor to call this game the game. Kyle Whittingham’s first in his stint as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, and he’s going to find out real quick what Ryan Day knows all too well, which is you are judged based on this game.”

This game means everything to these two programs. Ryan Day got rid of the Michigan stink last year, but Kyle Whittingham can turn things around in a hurry, especially if he gets a win to end the regular season and puts Michigan into the CFP.