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A collage features Wisconsin Badgers quarterback Carter Smith (5) taking a snap against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Huntington Bank Stadium with a scale in the bottom right corner.
As legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban eloquently describes, big people little beat little people up.
The idea simple. If given the choice when building a football roster, Saban would always choose the larger, more physical squad. Because at its very core, football is a very simple game that is often won and lost at the line of scrimmage, where the largest of the large men play.
It’s why many people feel the Indiana Hoosiers had an advantage in recent years with a roster full of older, more physically developed players.
Now, it appears that teams across the country are trying to follow that blueprint by bringing in not only more experienced players, but also larger players.
These 10 teams, in particular, are the largest teams across all of FBS college football in 2026 by average weight, according to CollegeFootballData.com.
10) Florida Gators – 239.3 lbs
The Florida Gators have had a rough go of things in recent years under head coach Billy Napier.
But it’s a new era in Gainesville. The Gators went out and landed one of the hottest coaching prospects in all of college football in the form of Jon Sumrall, who went 20-8 in the last two seasons as the head coach at Tulane, including a College Football Playoff berth in 2026.
Clearly, size was a point of emphasis for Sumrall when rebuilding the Florida roster.
Gators come in with an average weight of 239.3 pounds, which is good enough for 10th in the nation. The heaviest player on the roster is 360-pound senior defensive line Sebastian Scott, while senior corner Vincent Brown Jr. is the lightest at 168 pounds.
9) Mississippi State Bulldogs – 239.9 lbs
After a brutal 2-10 start to his coaching tenure with Mississippi State in 2024, Jeff Lebby took a step forward in 2025, going 5-8 and somehow finding his way into the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where the Bulldogs lost to Wake Forest.
Lebby will be hoping to keep the momentum building in 2026, and he’ll do so with an experienced and fairly hefty roster.
The Bulldogs have an average weight of 239.9 pounds. Junior offensive lineman Kison Shepard checks in as the heaviest player on the roster at 350 pounds, while the lightest is redshirt sophomore wide receiver Zion Ragins, at 170 pounds.
8) Illinois Fighting Illini – 240.1 lbs
It’s no surprise that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has one of the beefiest teams in all of college football. After all, Bielema is a former defensive tackle, and his best teams at Wisconsin and Arkansas were known for their ability to win at the line of scrimmage.
Bielema has continued that trend at Illinois, where he’s turned the Fighting Illini into a legitimate top-25 program over the last couple of seasons.
This year, the Illini tip the scales at an average of 240.1 pounds, led by sixth-year offensive lineman Dezmond Schuster, who weighs in at 330 pounds. Meanwhile, freshman Nas Rankin and fifth-year senior Eddie Kasper, both wideouts, weighed in at 170 pounds, the lightest on the team.
7) Washington Huskies – 240.2 lbs
Much of the talk surrounding the Washington Huskies has involved star quarterback Demond Williams Jr. and his attempts to leave the program via the transfer portal only to learn that the NIL deal he agreed to just days prior left him stuck in Seattle.
However, head coach Jedd Fisch has quietly built a legitimate College Football Playoff contender. After going 6-7 in his first season at Washington, Fisch improved to 9-4 a year ago, and enters this season ranked 17th in the AP Poll.
The Huskies, like a number of other top 25 programs, are sizable across the board, with an average weight of 240.2 pounds. Mammoth second-year offensive line Jack Shaffer leads the way at 355 pounds, while third-year wide receiver Jace Burton is the smallest member of the team at 170 pounds.
6) Oklahoma Sooners – 240.5 lbs
In a potential do-or-die situation in 2025, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables may well have saved his job thanks to star quarterback John Mateer and first-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
The Sooners went 10-3 and hosted a game in the opening round of the College Football Playoff. However, they ultimately lost that game to fellow SEC powerhouse Alabama.
This year, the Sooners will be looking to take things a step further with Mateer and several others back in the fold. They enter the season with an average weight of 240.5 pounds across the board. Junior kicker Liam Evans is the lightest member of the team at 177 pounds, while the heaviest is sophomore offensive lineman Darius Afalava, who checks in at 369 pounds.
T4) South Carolina Gamecocks – 240.6 lbs
Will this finally be the year that the South Carolina Gamecocks, led by star quarterback LaNorris Sellers, finally make a real push for the College Football Playoff?
Every year under head coach Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks seem to enter the season with a load of hype only to fizzle, much to the chagrin of BroBible writer Jacob Elsey.
This year, the ‘Cocks are bringing the beef. On average, about 240.6 pounds of it, to be exact.
Surprisingly, it’s freshman defensive lineman Noah Clark who checks in the heaviest for USCe, at 345 pounds, while redshirt sophomore defensive back Isaiah McCoy is the lightest at 175.
T4) Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 240.6 lbs
The Fighting Irish reached the College Football Playoff championship game against Ohio State in the 2024 season, and while things didn’t quite go as well in 2025, which ended with athletic director Pete Bevacqua throwing a temper tantrum after his team was left out of the CFP, there was plenty to be encouraged by.
Notre Dame went 10-2 despite a young roster, highlighted by redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr, who looked like a burgeoning star.
The Fighting Irish are back and bigger than ever in 2026, with an average weight of 240.6 pounds. Unlikely some others on this list, Notre Dame’s weight is spread fairly evenly, as freshman offensive lineman Tyler Merrill tips the scales at 335 pounds, making him the team’s heaviest player. The lightest player on the roster is freshman wide receiver Brayden Robinson, who is listed at 168 pounds.
3) Texas Longhorns – 240.8 lbs
It might be put up or shut up time for the Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian, who is entering his sixth season with the program.
It’s not that Sarkisian hasn’t been successful. After all, he’s 48-20 in his five seasons in charge and has won double-digit games in three straight years, including a trip to the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024.
But everything is bigger in Texas, including the expectations … and the roster.
The Longhorns average 240.8 pounds across the board in 2026, led by mammoth senior defensive tackle Ian Geffrard, who checks in at 6-foot-5 and 375 pounds, while freshman wideout Jermain Burton Jr. is at the other end of the spectrum at just 166 pounds despite standing 6 feet tall.
2) Virginia Tech Hokies – 242.1 lbs
One of the hallmarks of James Franklin’s teams during his time at Penn State is that they weren’t always all that large, especially on the defensive line. That changed slightly in later years, but the Nittany Lions were never really able to find a true 1T defensive tackle that could eat double teams and free up linebackers.
Apparently, Franklin is taking a different approach at Virginia Tech.
The Hokies will be the second-largest team on average in FBS football in 2026 at 242.1 pounds, anchored by freshman offensive lineman Roseby Lubintus at 342 pounds. Meanwhile, redshirt junior wideout Takye Heath is the smallest member of the team at 171 pounds.
1) Wisconsin Badgers – 242.2 lbs
When you think old school, man-ball style football, you immediately think of the Wisconsin Badgers.
For years, the Badgers won by absolutely mauling people at the line of scrimmage and opening huge holes for star running backs like Ron Dayne, Melvin Gordon, Montee Ball, and Jonathan Taylor.
The Badgers have gotten away from that a bit under head coach Luke Fickell, and it hasn’t led to success. Fickell is just 17-21 in his three seasons in Madison and is firmly on the hot seat entering year four.
Perhaps that’s why Wisconsin seems to be going back to basics this season, with the heaviest team in the nation on average at 242.2 pounds.
Towering offensive lineman Peyton Lange is the largest member of the Badgers’ 2026 roster at 6’9 and 345 pounds, while freshman kicker Will Kelly comes in at less than half his size at 5’11 and 165 pounds.