With the current transitory nature of college athletics, vibes can shift dramatically from year to year, season to season and even month to month. Programs that finished 2025 on a high note may have flopped in the portal. Programs that bottomed out last year may have had a big-time recruiting haul or hired a new coordinator that has their fans and boosters tickled pink. That’s why this April we’re going to do a little check under the hood of all 12 upcoming Tiger football opponents to see what the spring
vibes are around each program. We’ll check the oil, smell the brakes, listen to the muffler and rate the vibes for each team.
We’ll begin this process at the obvious starting point: the first three opponents on the schedule. Conveniently, the first quarter of the schedule are non-conference teams so we’ll title this first section the NON-CONtingent. SB Nation pays me for these puns, so they will continue until morale improves.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff
If spring practice optimism were measured in press conferences, Arkansas Pine-Bluff would be undefeated right now. Reality, of course, paints a tougher picture. The Golden Lions are coming off a 4-8 season, and even that record deserves an asterisk (or two) as half of those wins came against unaffiliated programs not tied to either the NCAA or NAIA. One was against Lincoln (CA), a program that will not even field a team in 2026. The other came against something called Westgate Christian University, which sounds less like a football opponent and more like a scam operating out of a strip mall in Tulsa.
Still, it is spring, and optimism tends to flourish in April. UAPB is currently in the middle of spring practice after taking a break for spring break that fell awkwardly in the middle of its 15 allotted sessions. Despite being Mizzou’s season opener on yet another Thursday night kickoff, UAPB actually gets an early start. The Golden Lions will open their season in Week 0 against Morehouse College in a neutral-site game in Little Rock, giving them a tune-up before heading to Columbia.
Head coach Alonzo Hampton enters his fourth season in Pine Bluff with a 9-26 record, and the pressure is mounting. He recently made sweeping changes to the offensive staff after several departures, bringing in both a new offensive coordinator and a new offensive line coach. Those moves suggest urgency, though whether they produce results quickly enough remains an open question.
One of the biggest story lines this spring is the quarterback battle. Redshirt freshman Garrison Davis, who started the season finale last year, is competing with junior college transfer Jack Schierholz for the top job. That competition could shape the identity of the offense, which struggled to generate consistency in 2025. The defense, at least, appears to be on steadier footing. The coordinator returns along with several starters, offering a level of continuity that the offense lacks.
According to the Pine Bluff Commercial, Hampton has expressed confidence that this year’s recruiting class is the best of his tenure and believes the 2026 roster could be the strongest he has fielded. That confidence will be tested quickly, first in Week 0 and then under the lights in Columbia.
For now, the spring vibes in Pine Bluff are hopeful but cautious. There is belief in the changes, curiosity about the quarterback battle and just enough uncertainty to keep expectations in check.
Official Spring 2026 UAPB Vibes Rating: B-
kansas
The Tigers travel back to Lawrence for the first time since 2005, which feels fitting given how much both programs have changed since the last time that trip mattered. The vibes in kansas seem to land somewhere between uneasy and mildly resigned. The Jayhawks are coming off a disappointing season, which, in fairness, also qualifies as a fairly normal one for them. They finished 5-7, including losses in their final three games that knocked them out of bowl eligibility.
If that ending felt rough, the offseason has not done much to calm nerves. kansas experienced massive roster turnover following 2025, losing 23 players to the transfer portal and another 33 to graduation, including, blessedly, the expired eligibility of Jalon Daniels after what felt like a decade in college football.
In response, the staff brought in 30 portal players and signed 18 high school freshmen, setting up a roster that will look completely different from the one that limped to the finish line last fall. Normally that level of turnover would be accompanied by a big talent infusion, but the early returns are underwhelming. According to 247Sports, kansas landed the No. 53 portal class and the No. 60 incoming freshman class. Those numbers are not exactly striking fear into the rest of the Big 12, especially when compared to the league’s upper tier.
Head coach Lance Leipold has built a reputation as someone who can do more with less, but even he sounded less than thrilled with the current reality. His recent comments about the portal era came off more like a rant than a rallying cry, and that tone does not exactly boost morale inside the beaker locker room.
The biggest question mark revolves around replacing Daniels, whose long tenure at quarterback at least provided stability. Now the job falls to a competition between returning backup Cole Ballard and redshirt freshman Isaiah Marshall. Neither brings meaningful Power Four experience to the table, as they have combined for 136 yards passing. That makes the outlook at quarterback feel more like guesswork than planning.
There are at least a few positives. The Jayhawks do bring back offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, whose leadership helped produce their best season in more than a decade before he departed for Penn State two years ago. His return offers a measure of hope, though he will likely need to work some serious magic with the current personnel. But hey, at least kansas gets to practice at a nice field for once.
All told, the spring vibes in Lawrence feel shaky. There is turnover everywhere, uncertainty at quarterback and a recruiting haul that does not scream immediate turnaround. Coach Leipold has earned the benefit of the doubt in recent years, but after losing his longtime quarterback and reshuffling most of the roster, there are far more questions than answers heading into the summer.
Official Spring 2026 kansas Vibes Rating: D+
Troy
Troy enters the spring with a sense of cautious optimism, and honestly, that feels earned after what was a fairly successful 2025 season. The Trojans won eight games, reached the Sun Belt Championship Game and spent much of the year looking like one of the steadier programs in the Group of Five. The season did not end on the highest note as they dropped their final two games, first falling to playoff participant James Madison in the conference title game and then turning in an underwhelming performance in the Salute to Veterans Bowl against Jacksonville State. That late slide took a little shine off what was otherwise a solid campaign.
Like dozens of Group of Five programs across the country, Troy has felt the squeeze of the transfer portal. The Trojans lost 26 players to transfers, including eight who jumped to Power Four programs such as Washington, Indiana, LSU and Florida State. That kind of upward movement is becoming the reality for strong G5 teams, but it still creates roster headaches. Troy brought in just 14 transfers of its own, leaving a net loss of 12 players through the portal cycle. The national perception reflects that reality, with 247Sports ranking Troy’s portal class 131 out of 138 FBS teams.
The high school recruiting side tells a more encouraging story. Troy’s incoming freshman class ranked 73rd nationally, which is quietly one of the stronger hauls among Group of Five programs. That kind of foundation-building has long been a hallmark of the program’s sustained success.
Head coach Gerad Parker now enters his third season and made a notable move on offense by hiring Adam Austin as offensive coordinator. Austin arrives after leading one of the most prolific offenses in the FCS at Tarleton State, and his system could bring a fresh spark to a unit that showed flashes last season.
One advantage Troy holds is stability at quarterback. Both Tucker Kilcrease and Goose Crowder return after splitting starting duties last season and producing remarkably similar results. That familiarity should help ease the transition as the offense adjusts to new leadership.
Troy has built a reputation as one of the more consistent programs in the Group of Five, and coming off a conference runner-up finish, there is little reason to think that changes dramatically in 2026. Even with the roster turnover, the overall spring vibes feel positive, rooted in continuity, a strong recruiting foundation and the expectation that the Trojans will remain firmly in the Sun Belt race.
Official Spring 2026 Troy Vibes Rating: B+
