College fantasy football is back and there are some key position rooms that you should draft in your 2026 fantasy league
College fantasy football is making a return on Yahoo for the first time since its launch season in 2019. The college version was planned on continuing, but the site took it down in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it's making a big return with a handful of slight changes.
The one notable thing that will stay the same is the league will only feature teams from the Power Four conferences including Notre Dame. That totals to 68 FBS teams, which still gives fantasy users plenty of opportunities to have a winning roster.
Most of the college format matches the NFL model. The only major change is the new addition of the Team Offense slot in place of the traditional kicker slot from the NFL version.
How the Team Offense scoring works:
1. TD scored (any type): +3 points
2. First 300 yards of total offense: +1.5 points
Every 50 additional yards (after reaching 300 yards): +.25 points
Turnover: -2 points
Field goal made: +1 point
Team wins game: +1 point
Team loses game: -1 point
According to Yahoo, if the fantasy league had existed in 2025, Indiana would've finished as the top offense with a season total 239.7 fantasy points followed by Texas Tech at 211.08 points, Notre Dame at 210.59 points, Utah at 206.44 points and Vanderbilt at 205.82 points to round out the top five.
All other position slots remain the same except there will be more open available bench slots:
Quarterback: 1 slot
Running Back: 2 slots
Wide Receiver: 2 slots
Tight End: 1 slot
FLEX (this can be a running back, wide receiver, or a tight end): 2 slots
Defense/ST: 1 slot
Team Offense: 1 slot
Bench: 8 slots
Injury Reserve: 1 slot
This is the biggest news for college football fans who religiously participate in fantasy football. For Oklahoma fans who will be playing college fantasy football, there are three key position slots to look out for if you want to draft any Sooners on your 2026 fantasy roster.
John Mateer: The fantasy site is high on Mateer this season. In Yahoo's pre-season fantasy rankings, Mateer is listed as the 10th best quarterback in the draft market just behind Oregon's Dante Moore. As mentioned earlier this offseason, if Mateer can stay healthy and continue to build his confidence, he could really enhance your roster. With his ability to run the football, he could score with his legs. While passing touchdowns give your fantasy team four points, every rushing touchdown is worth six points. This could be an advantage for your roster especially if Mateer is in the Heisman conversation.
Isaiah Sategna: This one is definitely a no-brainer. One of the best receivers in the country is returning to Oklahoma in 2026 and he will be one that everyone will be after in any fantasy draft. Sategna is ranked as the 6th best wide receiver in the pre-season fantasy rankings and the 29th best player overall. Here are the top five receivers Sategna is ranked just behind. He is amongst a very elite group.
1. Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State)
2. Malachi Toney (Miami)
3. Nick Marsh (Indiana)
4. Cam Coleman (Texas)
5. Amare Thomas (Houston)
However, if Sategna starts where he left off in the later half of 2025, he has the potential to be on top of this list. If you have a chance to draft him on your fantasy roster this season, I would snatch him.
The Oklahoma Defense: This is another position slot that I would feel confident having on my fantasy roster. Despite losing a handful of stars to mostly the NFL draft, the defense is reloaded and has some key weapons returning for 2026. In the Team Defense fantasy pre-season rankings, Yahoo has Oklahoma as the 14th best defense. I think the Sooners are underrated on this list especially with how elite the defensive line is going to be, the overall experience coming back and the 18.8 points per game Oklahoma gave up in the last five games of the 2025 season.
The fantasy football season will begin Thursday, September 3, which is the beginning of Week 1.
