{"id":228647,"date":"2026-01-26T12:17:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:17:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=228647"},"modified":"2026-01-26T12:26:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T22:26:59","slug":"espn-projection-cfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/01\/26\/espn-projection-cfp\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN<\/abbr> projects UH<\/abbr> Mānoa football into 2026 College Football Playoff field"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"football<\/p>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa Rainbow Warrior football team<\/a> is drawing early national attention heading into the 2026 college football season, with ESPN<\/abbr> projecting the program as a potential participant in the next College Football Playoff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Football<\/p>\n

In its preliminary outlook released January 22, ESPN<\/abbr> projected UH<\/abbr> as the top-ranked Group of Six conference champion, a designation that would currently earn an automatic berth in the playoff field. The projection places the Rainbow Warriors in the No<\/abbr>. 12 spot and among teams from the nation\u2019s power conferences in the sport\u2019s most high-profile postseason format.<\/p>\n

“This is a nice acknowledgment for our players and the work they\u2019ve put in, but we realize that it\u2019s just a projection. It doesn\u2019t change what we have to do day to day,” Head Coach Timmy Chang said. “We know there\u2019s a lot of work ahead, and everything still has to be earned on the field.”<\/p>\n

2025 breakthrough season<\/h2>\n

The early recognition follows a breakthrough 2025 campaign under Chang. UH<\/abbr> Mānoa finished 9-4, earned a thrilling Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Bowl victory<\/a> and posted wins against power-conference opponents, helping elevate the program\u2019s national profile.<\/p>\n

ESPN<\/abbr>\u2019s projection cited the Rainbow Warriors\u2019 challenging schedule as a potential advantage in the Group of Six race. UH<\/abbr> Mānoa is scheduled to face Stanford and Arizona State during the 2026 regular season, matchups that could bolster its postseason résumé against Power Four opponents while competing for a conference title in a reconfigured Mountain West Conference.<\/p>\n

The playoff projection envisions UH<\/abbr> Mānoa opening the postseason on the road against USC<\/abbr>, a matchup that would pair the Rainbow Warriors with one of college football\u2019s most recognizable brands. Final playoff selections remain subject to on-field results, conference championships and committee rankings.<\/p>\n

“This kind of early attention brings visibility to our University and reflects the momentum we\u2019re building,” Athletics Director Matt Elliott said. “We understand there are still countless hours of preparation ahead of the team before a down is played next season, but it speaks to the growing excitement surrounding Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s football program and UH<\/abbr> Mānoa Athletics overall.”<\/p>\n

The Rainbow Warriors are scheduled to begin spring practice in February. UH<\/abbr> Mānoa opens the 2026 season on the road at Stanford out of the Atlantic Coast Conference on August 29.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The projection places the Rainbow Warriors in the No<\/abbr>. 12 spot and among teams from the nation\u2019s power conferences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":225109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1362],"tags":[58,83,911,714,9,550],"class_list":["post-228647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-athletics","tag-football","tag-program-recognition","tag-student-athlete","tag-uh-manoa","tag-manoa-athletics","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/manoa-football-sjsu-2025-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228647"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228657,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228647\/revisions\/228657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}