The Canon · 2026 edition
The lists that settle the era's arguments — or start them.
Annual rankings published in 2026. Three lists at v1 — players, games, coaching hires of the College Football Playoff era. Settled enough to defend. Argued enough to revisit.
2026 edition
The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era
The 100 most consequential players of the College Football Playoff era — 2014 through 2025. The era starts with Marcus Mariota's Heisman, runs through the four-team format, and lands in the twelve-team present. The list is settled, the ranks are arguable, and arguments are the point.
2026 edition
The 25 Best Coaching Hires of the 2020s
Twenty-five hires from 2020 through 2025 that aged best — or showed enough through the early returns that the judgment is settling. Some are championship outcomes already. Some are bets the program has not yet collected on but the early evidence vindicates.
2026 edition
The 50 Most Defining Games of the CFP Era
Fifty games from 2014–2025 that decided more than their scoreboard. The list isn't 'most exciting' or 'highest quality of play' — it's games that changed the era's trajectory: titles, coaching seats, conference balance, the Playoff format itself.
How the lists work
Each list is editorial — written, ranked, and revised once a year. Rank deltas show the shift since the last edition. Cohort divergence shows where stat-folks and casual-fans see the same entries differently. Every entry has a one-liner; top entries get an editorial paragraph; a smaller subset gets the deepest register reserved for the era's blue-bloods. Next revision: 2027.