College Football Playoff Predictions With Phil Steele Recap
Sean Green (@SeanTGreen) and Ryan Kramer (@KramerCentric) team up with Colby Dant (@thecolbyd) for their 2026 college football playoff predictions. And they bring in the legend himself, Phil Steele (@philsteele042), to set the board. First the crew goes conference by conference. Then each one builds a full 12-team bracket and hands in a national champion. Phil walks through his roulette chips, his most improved teams, and the toughest schedules in the country. Additionally they hit some early Week 0 angles and a stack of futures, from Gunnar Stockton at 20-1 for the Heisman to Ryan’s paper tickets on a Virginia Tech title run.
The fun of this one is simple: three pickers, three different champions, and nobody seeds the field the same way. Ryan went furthest off the map, then rode his Virginia Tech Hokies all the way to the title. He is not hiding the bias either, and the episode opens with a Bud Foster “Go Hokies” drop. He also has the paper to back it up, with tickets at plus 50000, plus 40000, and plus 30000 on the Hokies. Sean, meanwhile, landed on Texas A&M, while Colby took Ohio State. Same 12-team bracket, but three completely different roads to get there.
Phil Steele’s Roulette Chip And Final Four
Phil never does anything lightweight, and this year the man delivered again. First up is his roulette chip, and it lands on Pitt. That is the casino-style long shot he would never bet straight to make the field. He loves the Panthers at the big number, though, because Pat Narduzzi always fields a defense. Mason Hanshel is also back at quarterback, and Steele has them as an underdog in just three games. That kind of price is exactly why you spin the wheel and let it ride.
His most improved list is where the gambling money quietly hides. Air Force sits at number two, because Zarka is back at quarterback and Phil is riding the over 6.5 wins. Next comes Virginia Tech at number three, loaded with Penn State transfers. He thinks the Hokies open 7-0 before the schedule finally turns on them. The wild one, though, is Brent Pry. He just took the defensive coordinator job at the same school that fired him mid-season as head coach, and Steele says he has never seen that before.
His stock-market indicator points straight at Liberty. That is a program that fell from 13 wins to 8, then to 4, dropping three straight in overtime. Phil calls that the kind of rotten luck that always snaps back. From there he moves to schedules, where Texas ranks number one off nine SEC games, with Ohio State right behind. Then comes his Final Four of Notre Dame, Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas. He also tossed in a Gunnar Stockton Heisman ticket at 20-1 for the degenerates. Do not sleep on East Carolina either, because he is on the over 7.5 and sees a road to nine wins.
Our 2026 College Football Playoff Predictions
When the crew built their own 2026 college football playoff predictions, the room split fast. First up was Ryan, who rode Georgia in the SEC on a paper ticket at plus 320. He also took Ohio State in the Big Ten and Kansas State in the Big 12 at 14-1. His Hokies, naturally, came out of the ACC. Sean then went Texas A&M in the SEC and SMU out of the ACC on that oil money. He also grabbed BYU in the Big 12 and Penn State in the Big Ten. Colby finally landed on Georgia and had Indiana over Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. From there he added SMU, Kansas State, and his East Carolina Pirates as the Group of Six crasher.
The brackets are where it gets spicy. Ryan seeds Ohio State number one, then runs his four-seed Virginia Tech past Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Notre Dame to the title. Sean puts Notre Dame on the top line and has Texas A&M cutting it down over Penn State. Colby, meanwhile, stuck Indiana at number one. He then has the Hoosiers beating Oregon in the playoff for a second straight year. From there he gives the natty to Ohio State, in what would be the third Buckeyes-Indiana meeting of the season. So the betting version is simple: the make-or-miss-the-playoff futures market is where these calls cash or die. A Virginia Tech ticket, of course, is the longest shot on the whole board.
College Football Previews
I have the SEC as the 4th best conference when the dust settles #ItJustMeansMore https://t.co/SPmAkIlKHx
— Ryan Kramer (@KramerCentric) August 12, 2026
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
00:48 Show Open: Colby Dant Joins For CFB Playoff Picks
07:40 Phil Steele Joins: Power Rankings & Toughest Schedules
11:16 Roulette Chip: Pitt, Virginia Tech & Cal’s JKS
19:12 Most Improved: Air Force & ECU
22:04 Coach Call Stories, Mike Leach & Fake Magazines
29:56 Stock Market Indicator & FCS Movers
37:03 CFP Contenders: Fading the Listener Parlay
42:41 Phil Steele’s Final Four Predictions
46:13 Underdog Week 0 Picks: TCU Vs. UNC
49:25 Conference Winners: SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 & Group of Six
1:06:15 The 12-Team Bracket Reveal: Seeds & Matchups
1:16:08 National Champ Picks: Ohio State, Texas A&M & Virginia Tech
1:22:47 Thank You for Participating in the Sports Gambling Podcast
