MOVERS

The CFB Brief · 1 min read · 17 sources cited

High Stakes and Hot Takes as Camps Open

From Baton Rouge to the Big 12, the pressure of 2026 is coming into focus before a single snap is played.

The college football calendar has turned a corner. With media days wrapping and camps on the horizon, programs are no longer projecting — they're being held accountable. The questions that were hypothetical in February now have deadlines attached to them.

In the SEC, two storylines are pulling in opposite directions. Lane Kiffin steps into a program where expectations have already consumed one coach, while Texas A&M is being told by analysts to brace for a step back after a promising 2025. Neither situation leaves much room for a slow start.

The Big 12 offered its own version of organized chaos at media days, with Heisman conversations, staff drama in Colorado, and quarterback battles that remain genuinely unsettled. Deion Sanders, now reportedly healthy after his cancer treatment, has already declared his program's culture fixed — a bold posture for a team opening on the road against Georgia Tech.

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