Today: NFL Combine storylines, fresh Bracketology projections, Joey McGuire's CFB calendar fix, and Tennessee's QB battle.

~8.5 minute read (1,953 words)

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NFL DRAFT

2026 NFL combine storylines to watch on top draft prospects

Rueben Bain, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar

The NFL combine arrives this week, with NFL organizations and top draft prospects descending on Indianapolis. Workouts don't officially begin until Thursday, but the event unofficially begins on Tuesday with GM and head coach interviews. On3 spoke with multiple sources in the NFL scouting community to understand what they are keeping tabs on this week and the biggest storylines to watch.

Here's what you need to know.

Who can emerge as QB3 in the 2026 NFL draft?

Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza won't throw at the NFL combine this week in Indianapolis, saving it for his Pro Day in Bloomington. But even if he was throwing, it would not change that he is the likely No. 1 overall pick in April's draft. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson will throw and is the No. 2 quarterback on multiple draft experts' big boards. Sources have told On3 the biggest question this week is whether he can secure first-round pick status.

In what's viewed as a weak quarterback class, the intrigue begins with who will emerge as the No. 3 QB. LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Miami's Carson Beck, and Clemson's Cade Klubnik are the likely three competing for that spot. Nussmeier boosted his stock during Senior Bowl week, earning MVP honors after completing 5 of 8 passes for 57 yards and rushing for a touchdown. Beck and Klubnik will look to use the week in Indianapolis to strengthen their positioning behind the top two.

Who can turn heads with 40-yard dash times?

The 40-yard dash will once again command attention. NFL organizations have already identified several prospects capable of flirting with 4.2 speed. Sources have indicated LSU WR Chris Hilton, Kentucky WR Kendrick Law, Mississippi State WR Brenen Thompson, and Florida WR J. Michael Sturdivant as names to monitor.

The 40-yard dash record of 4.21 seconds belongs to former Texas WR Xavier Worthy, who broke the previous mark of 4.22 at the 2024 NFL Combine. Scouts have also described Cincinnati WR Jeff Caldwell and Penn State TE Khalil Dinkins as freaky athletes who could turn heads.

Who could be the top risers of the week?

Beyond a consensus top five, evaluators believe there is room for movement into the top 10 or the first round. Sources have pointed to Clemson DT Peter Woods, Ohio State LB Sonny Styles, South Carolina DB Brandon Cisse, and Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson as names to keep tabs on.

Read the full story, including medical checks of note, here.

MARCH MADNESS

Bracketology sees new No. 1 after Selection Committee reveal, marquee games

After the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee revealed the Top 16 overall seeds at this point in the season, contenders across college basketball took the floor with a clear opportunity to boost their résumés. Michigan vs. Duke and Arizona vs. Houston highlighted a weekend full of movement at the top of the bracket.

Using the NET Rankings and other key metrics as a guide, here is On3's updated early look at the 2026 NCAA Tournament field, focusing on where the most movement is taking place.

Projected 1-line

Duke propels itself to the No. 1 overall seed following a huge win over Michigan, giving the Blue Devils the strongest case in the country for the top spot. Michigan, which had been confirmed as the Selection Committee's top team prior to the weekend, slides off that perch after the loss but remains firmly on the 1-line heading into a matchup with Minnesota. Arizona strengthened its position by backing up its Selection Committee nod with a road win over Houston, keeping the Wildcats squarely in the conversation for the top overall seed as they prepare for Baylor. UConn, meanwhile, continues to build momentum after a weekend win over Villanova and sits in position to solidify its standing with a key game against St. John's.

Last four byes

Texas A&M, UCLA, Texas, and Indiana currently sit just outside the First Four, but the margin for error remains slim. Indiana continues to hover near the cut line as it fights to avoid slipping into Dayton, while Texas and UCLA are in similar territory with little separating them from the teams below. Texas A&M holds onto a spot above the play-in round for now, though each result down the stretch carries significant weight as the bubble tightens and positioning becomes more volatile.

Last four in

Ohio State, Santa Clara, New Mexico, and Missouri make up the current First Four in Dayton, all squarely on the bubble with minimal breathing room. Each has done enough to remain in the projected field, but none can afford a misstep as conference play intensifies. With limited separation between this group and those just outside the bracket, every win becomes critical in maintaining their standing.

First four out

TCU, USC, Virginia Tech, and VCU remain on the outside looking in entering the week, needing quality wins to jump back into the field. The gap between this tier and the Last Four In is narrow, but without résumé-boosting victories, movement will be difficult. As the regular season winds down, opportunities are shrinking, and the pressure continues to mount for teams trying to break into the 68-team bracket.

See the full projected bracket here.

NCAA FOOTBALL

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire has a plan to fix the college football calendar

Forget player pay or eligibility lawsuits. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire believes fixing college football's calendar is the most pressing issue facing the sport. On a Friday appearance on Andy & Ari On3, McGuire suggested his solution. It's quite a bit less complicated than most of the other ideas that have been presented, but McGuire probably will need to convince some television executives to have a chance.

"Everybody's solution is 'Well, we need to move the portal.' No," McGuire said. "Football is supposed to be played in the [fall] semester. The FCS plays their national championship on Jan. 5. It's amazing we can't do that, that we haven't figured that out yet."

Instead of moving the transfer portal to the spring and turning spring practice into summer organized team activities, McGuire believes the solution is to start the season earlier, end the season earlier, and leave everything else where it is.

"I would move zero week," said McGuire, whose team won the Big 12 last season and fell to Oregon in the Orange Bowl in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. "So this last year, everybody would have played Aug. 23."

In McGuire's vision, the season starts a week earlier. Rivalry weekend moves from Thanksgiving weekend to the third weekend in November. Conference championship games, or whatever leagues choose to replace them with in the future, would be played Thanksgiving weekend. The CFP would begin the following weekend and continue for four consecutive weeks.

"If you did it that way this year, you actually would have had the national championship on Jan. 1," McGuire said. The transfer portal opened Jan. 2.

McGuire believes a spring portal would result in schools spending dead money on players who are transferring anyway, and players simply withdrawing and enrolling elsewhere in January instead of waiting for the portal to open. He thinks that if the season were over for everyone when the portal opened, there would be less angst.

As a bonus, McGuire said a solution to lackluster non-conference scheduling would be to move the non-CFP bowls to the first week of the season. This would create better early-season non-conference games and allow those bowls to be played at a time when excitement for those games would be at its highest. Plus, because it would be the season-opener, teams would field full lineups. "You don't have anybody opting out of that game," McGuire said.

The main resistance to this idea would come from television executives and the service academies.

Network honchos would need to be sold on the idea of moving the biggest rivalry games off Thanksgiving weekend. The obvious argument is that people will watch Michigan-Ohio State and Alabama-Auburn whenever they're played. But the TV execs also would want more product than just conference title games on that Friday and Saturday following Thanksgiving. That might be a place where the power conferences can use a flex week at season's end to create fun matchups that either maximize CFP selection potential or allow teams that didn't meet to play and create more resume data.

The Army-Navy game is another obstacle. If the schedule moved up a week, its traditional mid-December spot would collide with the CFP, and that probably wouldn't thrill the U.S. Military, the Naval Academy, or CBS. That issue would have to be negotiated so Army-Navy still gets a premier television window.

Meanwhile, ESPN executives might balk at the idea of moving bowls to Week 1 because they would need to replenish some cheap, reliable December inventory. The CFP would still land on some Saturdays where the NFL plays, which could be thorny. But perhaps it would be less contentious now that the NFL has an equity stake in CFP rights holder ESPN.

McGuire doubts everyone will listen to him, but he believes he offers the simplest solution to a complex set of problems. And since these issues have the biggest effect on the teams that make the CFP, he hopes he's dealing with them again following the 2026 season.

Read the full story from Andy Staples.

🚨Headlines

NCAA FOOTBALL

Old-school QB battle coming to Tennessee after Joey Aguilar court ruling

Now that using the newest trend for securing a starting quarterback — suing for an extra year of eligibility — has failed, Tennessee will try it the old-fashioned way. The Volunteers will hold an offseason quarterback competition featuring multiple signal-callers that Tennessee coaches recruited out of high school.

This is how most teams used to choose their QB1, but the transfer portal/NIL era has all but killed the practice. Until a Knoxville judge denied 2025 Tennessee starter Joey Aguilar's request for an injunction Friday, Alabama's race between Keelon Russell and Austin Mack was the only wide-open competition in the SEC.

Tennessee's battle feels even more traditional. George MacIntyre is the in-state star recruit who redshirted last season. Faizon Brandon is the even higher-rated recruit who just arrived on campus. There is also a transfer portal wild card in Ryan Staub, but the focus begins with the two blue-chip prospects.

There is an alternate dimension where neither MacIntyre nor Brandon starts in 2026. The Vols courted Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt before he chose LSU, and Aguilar only landed in Knoxville because Nico Iamaleava transferred to UCLA. It was a happy accident that Aguilar fit Josh Heupel's offense so well. Without that twist, the 6-foot-6, 195-pound MacIntyre might have been starting last season instead of backing up.

The original plan was clear. Iamaleava, a massive investment in the class of 2023, redshirted behind Joe Milton and would've again started in 2025. If he thrived, he would head to the NFL. If not, he could return in 2026. MacIntyre, a Nashville native from the class of 2025, committed in January 2024. Brandon, from Greensboro, N.C., followed in August 2024. The expectation was that this competition would eventually happen.

"There's definitely a sense of urgency now," MacIntyre told Volquest earlier this month. "I have had my time to sit and learn. I feel like there is an added sense of urgency going into this off-season."

Rivals' director of scouting Charles Power once praised MacIntyre's "tight motion" and functional movement skills, noting his ability to make reactive plays and hit tight windows. But his rating dipped after his junior year. Power cited interceptions, yards per attempt, and camp showings that raised questions about arm talent, even while maintaining him as a top-75 prospect.

Brandon arrives with even more buzz. The Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year led Greensboro's Grimsley High to back-to-back state titles and a 31-game win streak. Listed at 6-4 and 206 pounds, he "touts one of the most complete physical skill sets" in the cycle, according to Power, combining a strong arm, projectable frame, and plus athleticism. Still, his high school offense featured few high-difficulty downfield throws.

Staub, a 6-1, 200-pound transfer from Colorado, adds intrigue. After backing up Shedeur Sanders, he briefly sparked the Buffaloes' offense in 2025 before fading back into a reserve role. Now he will try to push two highly recruited quarterbacks who signed expecting to win the job.

While many programs enter spring with incumbents or portal imports, Tennessee will pick its QB1 the way everyone once did.

Read Andy Staples' full column here.

TRIVIA

Now here's a guy...

Below, you'll find 3 facts about a random college football player. You'll try to guess who the player is based on the facts. Let's go.

As a junior at Colorado State in 2013, I set a school record with 3,696 passing yards and threw 23 touchdowns while starting all 14 games.
I followed that up in 2014 by throwing for 4,006 yards and 32 touchdowns, both single-season program records, and became Colorado State's all-time passing yards leader.
After my senior season, I earned an invitation to the 2015 Senior Bowl and was later selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Saints.

Answer at the bottom.

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