Best Colleges for Football Recruiting 2026

162 colleges with Football programs, ranked by program strength using 2025-26 NCAA performance data.

Top Football Programs

1. 1. Indiana University-Bloomington — Bloomington, IN (score 99)
2. 2. University of Miami — Coral Gables, FL (score 97)
3. 3. University of Mississippi — University, MS (score 95)
4. 4. University of Oregon — Eugene, OR (score 94)
5. 5. Ohio State University-Main Campus — Columbus, OH (score 93)
6. 6. University of Georgia — Athens, GA (score 92)
7. 7. Texas Tech University — Lubbock, TX (score 91)
8. 8. Texas A&M University-College Station — College Station, TX (score 90)
9. 9. Southern Methodist University — Dallas, TX (score 89)
10. 10. Cornell College — Mount Vernon, IA (score 89)
11. 11. University of Notre Dame — Notre Dame, IN (score 88)
12. 12. Brigham Young University — Provo, UT (score 87)
13. 13. The University of Texas at Austin — Austin, TX (score 86)
14. 14. University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus — Norman, OK (score 85)
15. 15. University of Utah — Salt Lake City, UT (score 84)
16. 16. Vanderbilt University — Nashville, TN (score 83)
17. 17. University of Virginia-Main Campus — Charlottesville, VA (score 82)
18. 18. University of Iowa — Iowa City, IA (score 81)
19. 19. Tulane University of Louisiana — New Orleans, LA (score 80)
20. 20. James Madison University — Harrisonburg, VA (score 79)
21. 21. University of Southern California — Los Angeles, CA (score 78)
22. 22. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor — Ann Arbor, MI (score 77)
23. 23. University of Houston — Houston, TX (score 76)
24. 24. United States Naval Academy — Annapolis, MD (score 75)
25. 25. University of North Texas — Denton, TX (score 74)
26. 26. Texas Christian University — Fort Worth, TX (score 73)
27. 27. Duke University — Durham, NC (score 72)
28. 28. University of Connecticut — Storrs, CT (score 71)
29. 29. Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus — Atlanta, GA (score 70)
30. 30. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — Champaign, IL (score 69)
31. 31. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities — Minneapolis, MN (score 68)
32. 32. Arizona State University Campus Immersion — Tempe, AZ (score 68)
33. 33. University of Arizona — Tucson, AZ (score 68)
34. 34. Iowa State University — Ames, IA (score 67)
35. 35. The University of Tennessee-Knoxville — Knoxville, TN (score 66)
36. 36. Missouri Southern State University — Joplin, MO (score 66)
37. 37. Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus — University Park, PA (score 65)
38. 38. San Diego State University — San Diego, CA (score 65)
39. 39. University of New Mexico-Main Campus — Albuquerque, NM (score 65)
40. 40. University of Hawaii at Manoa — Honolulu, HI (score 65)
41. 41. Boise State University — Boise, ID (score 65)
42. 42. Indiana State University — Terre Haute, IN (score 65)
43. 43. Western Carolina University — Cullowhee, NC (score 65)
44. 44. Austin Peay State University — Clarksville, TN (score 65)
45. 45. Jacksonville State University — Jacksonville, AL (score 65)
46. 46. Missouri State University-Springfield — Springfield, MO (score 65)
47. 47. Eastern Kentucky University — Richmond, KY (score 65)
48. 48. University of Southern Mississippi — Hattiesburg, MS (score 65)
49. 49. Nicholls State University — Thibodaux, LA (score 65)
50. 50. Valdosta State University — Valdosta, GA (score 65)

Full Football recruiting rankings on PickACampus