​Everything you need to know about Yahoo Sports College Fantasy Football originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Yahoo Sports shook up the fantasy football landscape on Thursday by announcing its plans to advance a brand-new season-long college fantasy football game for the 2026-27 season. The morning release detailed specific rules and guidelines covering rosters, drafts, and scoring, signaling a bold new approach to college fantasy play. The rollout is being executed in collaboration with Publicis Sports, which will serve as the exclusive advertising and marketing partner for Yahoo’s College Fantasy Football initiative.
“College football fans live for Saturdays, and Yahoo College Fantasy Football is about to add to the excitement,” said Jarrod Schwarz, General Manager of Yahoo Sports. “We built this game to capture everything that makes the sport so special, giving fans a whole new reason to cheer for every touchdown, celebrate every big play, and get even more invested in the teams and players they already love.”
The announcement highlighted three core areas that will shape the new game: rosters, drafts, and scoring. Beginning with how the draft works, the format will feature players exclusively from the Power 4 conferences—ACC, SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12—along with Notre Dame. In a notable shift, no players from Group of 5 programs will be included.
A new scoring twist allows fantasy managers to select an entire team’s offense as part of their roster. Points will be earned based on the offense’s performance, including points scored, total offensive yards, and season victories. Conversely, teams can incur point deductions for losses and turnovers, adding a strategic layer to how participants build and manage their rosters.
Roster size has also been adjusted. While NFL Fantasy Football typically uses 15-player rosters, Yahoo’s college edition will feature 18-player rosters, allowing for more flexibility and deeper strategic options as players assemble their lineups.
The 2026-27 college football season is slated to begin on August 29 with Week 0, and mock drafts and draft boards on Yahoo are set to launch soon, enabling fans to start preparing ahead of the new season. This reformulation of the college fantasy experience aims to deliver a more immersive, conference-aligned, and offense-focused product that aligns with the excitement of real college football Saturdays. For SEO purposes, this update positions Yahoo Sports College Fantasy Football as a premier destination for fans seeking a fresh yet recognizable take on season-long college fantasy play, with emphasis on the new draft eligibility, the innovative offense-included drafting option, the expanded rosters, and the upcoming pre-season drafting stage. The collaboration with Publicis Sports also underscores a robust advertising and marketing framework designed to reach a wide audience of college football enthusiasts.