Ranked By Difficulty

EASY

3. University of Central Florida (UCF)

*(UCF unveils new uniforms for the 2025 Season. Image courtesy of UCF Football)*

A new era.

Obviously a storied SEC powerhouse such as Alabama would be the easiest dynasty playthrough, but there is no room to cement your legacy. It would take a nearly a decade of national championship appearances before your hypothetical fanbase can compare you to the likes of Nick Saban or Bear Bryant. Plus, “ball knowers” know that anyone who plays Dynasty mode with big name schools is not to be trusted.

That’s why UCF is the perfect medium. The youngest Power 4 school, with most of it’s story yet to be written.

Nestled in the talent hotbed of Florida , the year-round sunshine, proximity to world class theme parks, and hostile homefield advantage in “The Bounce House” proves to be the perfect place for the hidden gems of the College Football world to showcase their skills.

What makes this pick more interesting is that College Football 26 will feature many real life coaches in the game unlike the previous installment. UCF Football will also see the return of Scott Frost as their head coach this year. Frost returns to campus after a 13-0 finish in the 2017 season that was capped off with a Peach Bowl win over Auburn.

Frost is confirmed to be featured in the game and you can determine how that will play out.

BONUS: UCF Plays an annual Space Game (with this year’s uniforms yet to be revealed)

Medium

2. Coastal Carolina

What’s there not to love about a teal field?

Unique field with cool uniforms and mascot. The Chanticleers were one of my favorites in College Football 25. There’s just something special about developing a Sunbelt program into a powerhouse that can take down their in-state SEC team regularly, or even replace them entirely in the conference.

CHALLENGING

Hawaii

Aloha!

Hawaii is paradise, however getting recruits to visit paradise is easier said than done.

Last year in College Football 25, I genuinely tried my best to build a Hawaiian dynasty. I was even playing on an easier difficulty.

As you can imagine campus visits are always an A+ because it’s gorgeous there. Hawaii also has some good local talent, but the glaringly obvious elephant in the room is the distance from the mainland. Even when trying to get recruits to fly in from California it’s about a 6-hour flight from friends and family back home.

Any recruit from the mainland who values “Proximity to home” is real tough to reel in. (Even if you’re Coaching Prestige is an “A” and you went to the National Championship twice).

Not to mention that if you start as a Coordinator, your staff will leave you for bigger jobs on a seasonal basis. This makes it tough to recruit if potential players value stability.

There is some good news though, Hawaii’s real interim stadium will be featured in College Football 26. As their new/remodeled stadium is under construction, last year’s game featured a generic NFL-sized stadium with Hawaii branding. Many players (myself included) found that ruined the immersion.

You be the judge:

Building a dynasty with the Rainbow Warriors may be a challenge, but as they say in Baseball…build it and they will come.

My Top 3 CFB26 Teams To Build a Dynasty with