Way Too Early Top-10 G5 Teams to Root for in 2026
There are a lot of fun stories in the G5 in 2026.
Every year in college football, there are so many great underdog stories to keep up with across the G5. As with most things in the sport these days, most of the eyeballs are on the P4 and all the happenings there.
Not today’s blog, though.
Indeed, in this piece, we’re going to dive into the ten schools in the G5 that I think are the most interesting underdog stories in college football this upcoming season.
Hawaii
This is where I mention that I am a bit biased when it comes to the Rainbow Warriors. I watched a lot of Colt Brennan play quarterback for the Bows as a kid, and, really, a lot of those June Jones Hawaii teams growing up. Current and former star quarterback Hawaii head football coach Timmy Chang, and the Rainbow Warriors have so many cool things going for them right now: 1) They have a star kicker in All-American Kansei Matsuzawa, 2) they have a tough-as-nails southpaw returning quarterback in Micah Alejado, and 3) ESPN’s Bill Connely put them in his Way-Too-Early CFP projections for next season. The Rainbow Warriors won nine games last season, the most the school has won since Nick Rolovich’s final season in 2019. Chang obviously had tremendous success as a quarterback for Hawaii in the early 2000s. If he’s able to return Hawaii to double-digit wins and a CFP birth glory in 2026, there is no better G5 story in college football.
Washington State
For a team that’s had a different head coach each of the last three years, the Cougs are in a good spot, particularly on offense, going into next season. Former Mizzou offensive coordinator Kirby Moore takes over in Pullman, and the cupboard isn’t bare. The Cougs return a lot on the offensive line, which is huge. They return three tailbacks, too. At quarterback, Caden Pinnick was awesome at UC Davis and could be a multi-year answer for Moore and the Cougs there. After what happened to Wazzu and Oregon State in the PAC-12, I’ll always hope for good things for these two schools. On a related note, this two-minute interview with Washington State’s president, Betsy Cantwell, fired me up, and I’m not even a Coug Fan.
North Texas
This feels a little late. Last year, the Mean Green finished with the No. 1 offense in FBS. Because of that tremendous success, they lost their head coach, their star quarterback, their star running back, and lots more. The Mean Green lost 37 players to the transfer portal but also brought in 49 players. New head coach Neal Green may not have been the flashiest hire to replace Eric Morris, but he’s solid and easy to root for. He won consistently at Troy, and although he never won big at West Virginia, the Mountaineers never bottomed out, either. He actually left WVU with a winning record, which I suspect would surprise a healthy chunk of college football fans. I’m very curious to see how this goes for North Texas next season.
Kennesaw State
As both a Tennessee alum and fan, it is very easy to root for former UT running backs coach Jerry Mack. The Owls’ head football coach is 41-19 overall between KSU and North Carolina Central. He won ten games in his first season at Kennesaw State last year. The previous season, the Owls went 2-10. As it is in the sport now, success came with a price as star young quarterback Amari Odom hit the transfer portal and will now compete in a very crowded quarterback room at Syracuse. Nevertheless, I’m not in the business of not believing in Mack and would not be surprised to see the Owls remain close to the top of the C-USA once again.
Connecticut
It’s felt like Jason Candle has been rumored for over 100 CFB job openings over the last decade. After leading Toledo from 2016 to 2025, he finally left the Rockets for the Huskies. Candle has won an average of 9 games a year over the last four with the Rockets. Former UConn head coach Jim Mora, now off to Colorado State, averaged around that same figure his final two years in Connecticut. Will Candle keep that trend going for the Suddenly Competent Connecticut football program? I don’t know, but former Tennessee quarterback Jake Merklinger transferred to Storrs this offseason, so I’ll be doubly interested in the Huskies next season.
Air Force
After winning 29 games across three years from 2021 to 2023, including back-to-back seasons where the Falcons won double-digit games, Air Force has finished with a losing record in back-to-back seasons. Legendary coach Troy Calhoun has been their head football coach for nineteen seasons. He has had back-to-back losing seasons only one other time, back in 2017 and 2018. The following season, Air Force went 11-2 and won the Cheez-Its Bowl. The last two times that Air Force has won four or fewer games, Calhoun has guided the Falcons back to prominence with a double-digit win season. Calhoun has done an incredible job across two decades in Colorado Springs. Can he flip their fortune once again? I would never bet against one of the most underrated head football coaches this century.
Delaware
Ryan Carty made it look easy in FBS with the Blue Hens last season. It’s not, but it’s a testament to how great the former Delaware quarterback has been leading his alma mater into the FBS. On the whole, Delaware is 33-17 under his watch, and the Blue Hens went bowling. I wonder what FBS jobs Carty’s name pops up in the next FBS head coaching cycle if he can build off last year’s impressive 7-6 season. All he’s done in his four years at Delaware is win. Will he continue it in Year 2 in the C-USA?
Marshall
Tony Gibson waited for his turn, that’s for sure. The longtime defensive whiz and Marshall head football coach was in his early fifties on his first night as a head football coach. Longtime college football fans have known the name forever. It’s universally understood that Gibson has been one of the best defensive minds in the sport for well over a decade now, first at West Virginia, then at NC State. A former Glennville State standout defensive back himself, the partnership between Gibson and the Thundering Heard made a lot of sense when the hire was first announced last offseason. Gibson went 5-7 in 2025, the lowest win total since former legendary coach Doc Holliday went 3-9 in 2016. Speaking of Holliday, he also went 5-7 in his first season at Marshall and went on to coach the team for eleven seasons. Marshall has won a lot of football games since joining the MAC in 1997. Gibson’s path to being a head football coach, especially at Marshall, makes the Thundering Herd an easy team to root for going into next season.
Liberty
Jamey Chadwell has had a bit of an odd career arc in coaching at the collegiate level. At Coastal Carolina, he did the thing that was possible at the G5 in the pre-Transfer Portal era, where he lost games early, but he established a program, and the wins soon followed. The Chantacliers won 31 games in their last three seasons at Coastal, and they played in one of my favorite college football games of the last decade against BYU. At Liberty, he won 13 games that first season, but then that total fell to eight in Year 2, down to four in Year 3. Chadwell has always been an innovative offensive mind, and the best versions of those Grayson McCall Coastal teams were an absolute delight to watch. When Chadwell was hired at Liberty, I think most college football fans assumed he’d win early and often. The first part was proven to be true, but the latter is yet to be determined.
New Mexico
Well, the Lobos lost their athletic director again, this time to Colorado in December. So New Mexico is now on its third AD since 2024. That’s hard. However, they have also nailed their last two football hires in Bronco Mendenhall and Jason Eck. The Lobos have won fourteen games over the last two seasons, the highest in two years in a decade, dating back to when Bob Davie was the head football coach. Even more impressive, 9-4 is the single best first season of any New Mexico football coach in school history. Eck is obviously a rising star in the sport, and all G5 Appreciators should be hoping Luke Fickell turns it around in Madison this year because Eck guiding the Lobos into uncharted waters of success would be extremely cool to see.