Sean Green (@SeanTGreen) and Ryan Kramer (@KramerCentric) team up with Colby Dant (@thecolbyd) from The College Football Experience for their 2026 College Football Playoff predictions, joined by the legend himself, Phil Steele (@philsteele042). Phil sets the board first, running his roulette chip, his most improved teams, and the toughest schedules in the country before he hands over a Final Four. From there the crew goes conference by conference, seeds a full 12-team bracket, and each guy turns in a national champion. Along the way they fade a listener parlay, sprinkle some Week 0 underdogs, and stack a pile of futures.
Three pickers, three different champions, and nobody built the bracket the same way. Ryan went the furthest off the map and rode his Virginia Tech Hokies all the way to the title. He is not hiding the bias either. The episode opens on a Bud Foster “Go Hokies” drop, and he has the paper to prove it, with tickets at +50000, +40000, and +30000 on the Hokies. Sean landed on Texas A&M, Colby took Ohio State, same 12-team field, three completely different roads to get there.
Phil Steele Sets The Board
Phil never phones one in, and he opened with the segment a gambling show actually wants: the roulette chip. This year it is the Pitt Panthers. It is the casino long shot he would never bet straight to make the field, but he loves the number. Pat Narduzzi always fields a defense, Mason Hanshel is back at quarterback, and Steele has the Panthers as an underdog in just three games. Spin the wheel and let it ride.
His most improved list is where the money quietly hides. Air Force sits at number two with Zarka back at quarterback, and Phil is on the over 6.5 wins. Virginia Tech comes in at number three, loaded with Penn State transfers, and he thinks the Hokies open 7-0 before the schedule turns on them. The story he could not get over was Brent Pry, who took the defensive coordinator job at the same school that fired him mid-season as head coach. Steele says he has never seen that in all his years doing this.
Then Phil got rolling on the stuff you only get from him, the coach-call stories, the Mike Leach memories, the fake magazine covers people used to mock up to prank him. His stock market indicator points straight at Liberty, a program that dropped from 13 wins to 8 to 4 with three straight overtime losses, the kind of rotten luck he expects to snap back. On schedules, Texas ranks number one off nine SEC games, with Ohio State right behind.
When the guys tried to hand Phil a listener parlay of playoff contenders, he started poking holes fast, and the fade was on. His own Final Four came out Notre Dame, Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas. He tossed the degenerates a Gunnar Stockton Heisman ticket at 20-1, flagged East Carolina on the over 7.5 with a road to nine wins, and liked the Week 0 dog in TCU getting points at home against North Carolina.
The Crew’s 2026 College Football Playoff Predictions
With Phil off the line, the room split on the conference winners. Ryan rode Georgia in the SEC on a paper ticket at +320, took Ohio State in the Big Ten, grabbed Kansas State in the Big 12 at 14-1, and pushed his Hokies out of the ACC. Sean went Texas A&M in the SEC, SMU out of the ACC on that oil money, BYU in the Big 12, and Penn State in the Big Ten. Colby landed on Georgia, had Indiana taking down Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, and added SMU, Kansas State, and his East Carolina Pirates as the Group of Six crasher.
The brackets are where it got spicy. Ryan seeds Ohio State on the top line, then runs four-seed Virginia Tech past Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Notre Dame to the natty. Sean puts Notre Dame at number one and has Texas A&M cutting down the nets over Penn State. Colby stuck Indiana at the top, has the Hoosiers beating Oregon in the playoff for a second straight year, then gives the title to Ohio State in what would be the third Buckeyes-Indiana meeting of the season.
The betting version is simple: the make-or-miss-the-playoff futures market is where these calls cash or die. A Virginia Tech ticket is the longest shot on the whole board, and Ryan is holding three of them.
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
