The Biggest Disappointments of the 2026 College Football Season After Week 6

Halfway through the season, there are plenty of exciting teams, players and storylines in college football. On the flip side, though, there are just as many who would love a mulligan.

From teams we thought would be contenders to hot-ticket coaches laying colossal early-season eggs, lots are out there looking for the delete button on the season. Just like last year, too, some marquee quarterbacks who were set to be early-round draft selections look anything like stars.

At this point in the season, it's not a guess anymore – the next dozen slides would absolutely love a do-over. The season isn't over, but it's not looking good for them to live up to massive expectations or, in some cases, the hope of turning things around.

Midway through the season, here are CFB's biggest blunders.

There's no bigger letdown in all of college football than the Oregon Ducks, who entered the season ranked second nationally and were a lot of pundits' favorites to win the national championship.

Currently, they're unranked at 3-2 and have suffered setbacks to Oklahoma State and UCLA.

Those two teams aren't slouches. The Cowboys are a one-loss Big 12 surprise in Eric Morris' first season. UCLA is unbeaten in Bob Chesney's inaugural year. That said, the Ducks are loaded with talent and have no business with a pair of losses. They also could have very easily lost to Boise State in the season opener.

It's obvious they miss last year's offensive coordinator, Will Stein (now head coach at Kentucky), and defensive coordinator, Tosh Lupoi (now head coach at California), considerably. Coach Dan Lanning's team simply isn't very good. From Dante Moore (who is injured now) to the vaunted defense, no Duck has played up to their potential.

Unless some sort of massive turnaround happens, Oregon can kiss the playoffs goodbye. With Nebraska, Northwestern and Ohio State left on the schedule, reaching eight wins may be a chore.

After he left Ole Miss for hated rival LSU and hogged the headlines during the Rebels' playoff run, he was given everything imaginable to succeed right away in Baton Rouge.

The Tigers had a hefty NIL budget they used to bring in high-dollar stars like offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, quarterback Sam Leavitt, edge rushers Princewill Umanmielen and Jordan Ross, safety Ty Benefield, receiver Winston Watkins Jr. and more. They also signed a top-tier recruiting class. "Win Now" was written all over this roster.

He got massive mileage out of beating horrible Clemson and Texas A&M teams (more on those later), but he couldn't capitalize on his return to Oxford – a 32-24 loss to Ole Miss. Then he inexplicably lost to upstart Kentucky, 35-34 this past weekend, further cementing his coaching road woes.

There's still time for the 4-2 Bayou Bengals to make the playoffs, but a schedule featuring home games against No. 16 Mississippi State, No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Texas, plus a road trip to No. 14 Tennessee, offers few reprieves.

LSU has the roster they thought they'd paid the coach to get to the playoffs. There's a long way to go to get there.

It only took Mike Elko a couple of years in College Station to carry his Texas A&M Aggies to the College Football Playoff last year.

It's taken less time than that to crash back down to reality.

Quarterback Marcel Reed has been truly terrible so far, completing just 55 percent of his passes for six touchdowns and six interceptions. The Aggies haven't had much success putting weapons around him on offense since KC Concepcion went pro.

More shockingly, the Aggies rank seventh in the SEC in total defense, which is Elko's calling card.

They just haven't been good in any facet of the game. Elko hasn't done himself any favors in postgame press conferences, sounding clueless about how to fix matters.

They're 3-3. The best team they've beaten is a bad Arizona State team. They lost to Kentucky, LSU and Missouri by an average of 20 points. With ranked Alabama, Tennessee and Texas and unranked South Carolina and Oklahoma among the remaining opponents, it may not get any better.

Updated College Football Playoff Predictions

The reasons why Michigan and Penn State went looking for head coaches this offseason were vastly different.

Penn State's national championship aspirations blew up in a cloud of losses in early 2025, causing them to fire James Franklin midway through the year. Michigan, on the other hand, seemed set with Sherrone Moore until alleged off-the-field issues forced the Wolverines' hand.

Both traditional powerhouses are in the same position as they were a season ago. Neither has excitement surrounding the coaching hires they're now stuck with.

Penn State spent $50 million to buy out Franklin, but with former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell (and half the Cyclones' former stars) on the roster, they're still 3-3 as they were a season ago and lost to Northwestern worse than they did in '25.

Faced with having to make a coaching change during a tough time, Michigan tabbed Utah's Kyle Whittingham to come to Ann Arbor, spending $43 million to lure him and offensive coordinator Jason Beck. But quarterback Bryce Underwood isn't any better, as the Wolverines are 3-3 – really 2-4 if you count the season-opening loss/non-loss to Western Michigan.

When they opened the season taking Ole Miss to the brink in a 41-38 slugfest in front of a national audience, the Louisville Cardinals looked like Miami's biggest contender in the ACC.

Since then, they've failed to live up to that early pace.

Disappointing losses to Wake Forest (30-27) and North Carolina State (31-28) are puzzling, given the close loss to Ole Miss, win over No. 16 SMU and explosion over Florida State this past weekend. They are nowhere near the national radar at 3-3.

That's a disappointment considering the offense has been strong. Quarterback Lincoln Kienholz has been a revelation, leading Jeff Brohm's offense. The duo of Isaac and Keyjuan Brown has carried the load in the backfield.

That's too much talent to be mediocre, but the defense has been brutal.

Every year, you can count on Brohm to have a winning record no matter who his quarterback is at his alma mater. But when are the Cardinals going to break through and be a perennial ACC contender? It's not going to be this season. That's a bummer considering how they looked out of the gate.

It may not surprise many that Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer has struggled this season leading the Sooners. He's known as a gamer, but the senior hasn't ever been a big-armed downfield thrower.

This year, Mateer has accounted for five turnovers and ran for just 70 yards as the Sooners have slumped to a 3-2 record.

It may seem odd to have Mateer on this list after OU's gargantuan upset of top-ranked Texas in the Red River Rivalry last Saturday, but Mateer was just alright in the win. The Sooners needed a defensive and special teams touchdown to pull off the improbable win.

On the other sideline, Arch Manning has been much better statistically, but he's far from the top-ranked quarterback everybody makes him out to be. His two interceptions, including a pick-six and another that set up OU's game-winning kick, were major blunders in the loss.

So far this season, Manning has completed 63 percent of his passes, averaging a pedestrian 224 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions – even with so many weapons around him.

Neither quarterback is living up to their respective expectations.

When is Dabo Swinney going to be held accountable for his poor coaching and spiraling program? Just how much free rein do you get for being great a decade ago?

We're about to find out because you can only say, "Awww, Clemson wouldn't fire their legendary coach," for so long.

The Tigers are awful again this year. Yes, they're 3-2, but the wins came against Georgia Southern, Cal and a mediocre North Carolina team. The only times they played teams with a pulse, LSU and Miami, they were obliterated.

The Tigers are breaking in a young quarterback in Tait Reynolds, but that's really not an excuse to be horrific offensively – ranking 119th nationally. They've had moments, such as controlling the fourth quarter in the win over the Tar Heels, but they just aren't consistent.

Defensively, it's not much better. The Tigers are 90th on that side of the ball, but Tom Allen hasn't made much of a difference there.

Clemson is gradually adding a few more players through the transfer portal, but Swinney's pride continues to slow the program's progression into the new era.

It's obviously costing them on the football field. Nobody cares about your "culture" if you're stacking Ls.

When it comes to straight-up watchability, there are fewer teams in the Power Four tougher to just sit down and watch than Washington.

The Huskies entered the season with one of college football's most exciting players on paper in junior dual-threat quarterback Demond Williams Jr., but he's just been pedestrian when healthy. He's thrown eight touchdowns, three picks and rushed for just 183 yards.

Jedd Fisch's team doesn't have any quality offensive playmakers. That's why they're 90th nationally in total offense and 88th in scoring offense. Those struggles are why they're 3-3.

At the beginning of the year, this was a sleeper College Football Playoff pick. They were a buzzworthy program after Fisch brought Williams back, as the team entered Year 3 under an offensive-minded coach. But it simply hasn't worked out.

Fisch isn't on the hot seat, but U-Dub is far from must-watch TV.

West Virginia has one of the most high-octane offenses in the nation, attacking defenses from all angles, primarily with the run game.

Unfortunately for Coach Rich Rodriguez, you have to play a little defense to be successful, too.

The Mountaineers absolutely do not do that. At all.

So far this season, there are only seven Football Bowl Subdivision teams worse in total defense than Rich Rod's team, ranked No. 131 nationally and allowing a ridiculous 460.8 yards per game. They allow 32.7 points per game, which is dead last in the Big 12 and 124th nationally.

That's why they're 3-3 and winless in a wide-open Big 12.

Defensive coordinator Zac Alley was once thought of as one of the best young defensive minds in football, but he hasn't had any answers this year. You have to wonder how long Rich Rod will allow that side of the ball to be the reason they can't win.

After starting the season 3-0, the Mountaineers have allowed 41, 45 and 52 points in losses to Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Arizona. That's inexcusable. With three ranked opponents left on the schedule, it could get uglier.

The whole Deion Sanders schtick is getting old.

He caught a bit of magic a couple of seasons ago with the Buffaloes because of his son Shedeur Sanders and superstar Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. But he's come nowhere near replicating that success since.

This year, the Buffs are 2-3, and if you look at the schedule, the proverbial wheels could come flying off very soon.

After a season-opening win at Georgia Tech and a 2-0 start, CU has lost three in a row. On the horizon, CU will play No. 11 Utah, No. 18 Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Arizona State, No. 20 Houston, Cincinnati and UCF. Only the Sun Devils and Knights look like possible wins.

Fans are fed up. After Sanders named Isaac Wilson the starter over former 5-star JuJu Lewis, Buffs fans took to social media to criticize the decision.

You have to wonder just how long they'll deal with mediocrity, but on the other hand, it's not like Colorado was much of a program in the past 20 years before Coach Prime arrived. He put them back on the map in a way, but is that ceiling approachable again?

Talk about the honeymoon being over in a hurry.

Arkansas fans are proud. They're also fed up with just how horrible their team has been for the past decade. They weren't ever happy with tabbing Ryan Silverfield from Memphis. They've been grumpy about it all year.

Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek is firmly on the hot seat in Fayetteville. Silverfield may not be far behind him. The fans don't fill Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium anymore. Those who do come exit early and boo often.

There's even a "Coaching for the Buyout" parody song out there.

This past weekend, Silverfield inexplicably elected to punt on 4th-and-10 down by just seven points to No. 14 Tennessee this past weekend with 1:45 left. All the Vols needed to do was get one first down, which they did, to run out the clock and win.

It was the latest blunder in a season of them for the 2-4 Razorbacks. Silverfield looks a long way from being competitive in the SEC.

Brent Key's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets aren't exactly considered a powerhouse in the sport, but when Haynes King was running Buster Faulkner's offense over the past few years, they were certainly deemed a program on the rise.

With those guys gone, Key is searching for answers.

Alberto Mendoza has been decent in his first year in Atlanta, but Faulkner is now calling plays for the Gators. It's clear Key misses him. His Ramblin' Wreck defense (104th nationally) is even worse.

The Yellow Jackets are currently 2-3 with an inexcusable season-opening home loss to Colorado and a stunning 34-27 road loss to Stanford on the resume. Beating previously unbeaten Duke this past weekend earned Key a little more goodwill, but this is still a team with a losing record and disappointing setbacks.

They're always going to play second fiddle to the home-state Georgia Bulldogs, but Tech has a guy in place in Key who cares about the university and wants to build a winner at his alma mater. This season, however, feels like it's on the way to a step backward.