College football is home to more exciting and explosive plays than the NFL, and EA Sports College Football 26 lets you choose any team's offensive playbook before starting a game. Whether you're playing a Dynasty career or just messing around with a quick one-on-one exhibition match in College Football 26, choosing the best offensive playbook can greatly increase your chances of success on the field.
Not every playbook will work well with every team, though, and some schools have tailored their offensive playbooks specifically to fit the needs of their roster. Some offensive playbooks in College Football 26 are incredibly strong regardless of your lineup, however, and they have some of the best plays in the game for every playstyle.
College Football 26: Best Teams, Ranked
If you're looking to guide one of the best teams in College Football 26 to victory, here are the 10 you're going to want to choose.
The Best Offensive Playbooks in College Football 26
Rice Owls
Rice's playbook is all about r unning the football. Plenty of running plays combined with several tricky option plays make Rice's playbook one of the most aggressive in the game. No matter how strong the opposing team's defense is, there's at least one play in Rice's arsenal that will confuse them and earn you some yards.
Even if the defense starts to predict your runs, the Rice playbook has a bunch of short passes that will get the ball into your receiver's hands before the other team has any time to react. If you have a fast enough QB and RB, you'll have a blast with the Rice playbook.
Houston Cougars
On the other end of the spectrum is Houston. The Cougars' playbook is one of the strongest for passing, so it's a great choice if your QB has an arm on them. The Houston playbook mainly specializes in short to medium passes for quick yard gains, but there are also a few deep pass plays in there for good measure.
It does have some weaknesses if you can't make complete passes that often, so make sure your QB and receivers are up to the task. As long as you have one or two decent players for these plays, though, you should have an easy time picking up a few yards here and there with Houston's playbook.
Oregon State Beavers
The Beavers have the best playbook for RPO plays, and the right team can really make some explosive plays with Oregon State's strategies. The RPO plays in the Oregon State playbook give you some breathing room after the snap, giving you more time to decide whether to pass or run the ball.
Other teams have RPO plays in their repertoire, but it's easy to choke under pressure with lightning-fast RPOs that don't give you enough time to properly scan the field before making a decision. If you have a star quarterback, you'll have a great time with the Oregon State playbook.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Even more so than Rice, the Georgia Tech playbook is all about running the ball. The Yellow Jackets have arguably the best rushing playbook in the entire game, letting you put your running backs to work and gain a ton of yards if they slip through the defense.
The Yellow Jackets' playbook is so strong because it also has a handful of devastating deep passes and RPOs that the defense has to respect. The other team will never be able to tell if you're going to run the ball or make a long pass, so their defense will be spread thin, making your life a whole lot easier.
UNLV Rebels
The Rebels' playbook specializes in trick plays, so you should choose UNLV as your offensive playbook if you want to get inside the enemy team's heads. There are all sorts of screens, RPOs, and other nonstandard plays in UNLV's arsenal, making this playbook one of the most unique in College Football 26.
How to Create Custom Offensive Playbooks in College Football 26
If you want to pick and choose the best parts of different playbooks in College Football 26, you can create your own custom playbook or download one from another player. To do so, go to the Create and Share tab on the main menu and then choose Custom Playbooks.
There, you'll see an option to create an offensive playbook of your own. You can add as many plays as you like. Press L3 to save your work and you'll be able to use this custom playbook in any College Football 26 game mode. You can also create your own custom defensive playbook to spruce up your team's defensive capabilities as well.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Frostbite
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - PS5 & Xbox Series X|S
- Cross Save
- No
- Franchise
- EA Sports College Football
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- July 10, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- July 10, 2025
- Genre(s)
- Sports
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Local Co-Op Support
- Yes
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 41.45 GB
