2026 CBS Sports Midseason All-America team: Big Ten edges out SEC, ACC for most selections at halfway point

Conference balance shifted through the season's first half, as several SEC preseason favorites gave way to new national standouts

Oct 20, 2026 at 11:01 am ET • 4 min read

Somehow, the college football season is already halfway over, and that means it's time to recognize the top performers in the nation with our Midseason All-America team. Our team of college football experts cast their ballots to honor the players who have starred through Week 7.

The first thing that jumps off the page is the agreement level among our voters. There were just three unanimous selections in our Preseason All-America team. That number has jumped to six on the midseason team. Two players -- Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and Texas EDGE Colin Simmons -- were unanimous picks on both teams.

The full list of unanimous Midseason All-America selections is as follows:

• Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
• Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas
• Princewill Umanmielen, EDGE, LSU
• Xavier Gilliam, DT, Tennessee
• Chris Cole, LB, Georgia

It's also noteworthy that Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney and Oregon State wideout Jesse Legree were on everyone's ballot. They just split votes at receiver and all-purpose player. So, while neither player was technically unanimous at one position, they do deserve to be mentioned in connection with the unanimous selections.

The conference breakdown was much closer than in our preseason selections, in which the SEC led with 15 first-team selections. At the midseason, the SEC has fallen into a tie for second-most selections behind the Big Ten.

Here is the full rundown of our Midseason All-Americans, followed by a conference breakdown and key takeaways.

🏈 2026 CBS Sports Midseason All-America

Offense
QB	Darian Mensah	Miami	Redshirt junior
RB	DeSean Bishop	Tennessee	Senior
RB	Nate Sheppard	Duke	Sophomore
WR	Jeremiah Smith	Ohio State	Junior
WR	Jesse Legree	Oregon State	Freshman
TE	Patrick Overmyer	Houston	Senior
OT	Carter Smith	Indiana	Fifth year
OT	Trevor Lauck	Iowa	Senior
OG	Kade Pieper	Iowa	Senior
OG	Greg Johnson	Minnesota	Senior
C	Anthony Boswell	Houston	Junior
AP	Malachi Toney	Miami	Sophomore
Defense
DE/EDGE	Colin Simmons	Texas	Junior
DE/EDGE	Princewill Umanmielen	LSU	Senior
DT	Xavier Gilliam	Tennessee	Junior
DT	Xavier Lewis	North Carolina	Sophomore
LB	Chris Cole	Georgia	Junior
LB	Sammy Omosigho	UCLA	Senior
LB	Austin Romaine	Texas Tech	Senior
CB	Ashton Hampton	Clemson	Junior
CB	Ta'Shawn James	UCLA	Senior
S	Kingston Lopa	California	Redshirt sophomore
S	KJ Bolden	Georgia	Junior
Special teams
K	Sam Keltner	Oklahoma State	Redshirt sophomore
P	Will Karoll	Texas Tech	Senior
Returner	Michael Scott	James Madison	Freshman

2026 CBS Sports Midseason All-America by conference

Conference	Players
Big Ten	7
SEC	6
ACC	6
Big 12	5
Group of Six	2
Independent	0

2026 CBS Sports Midseason All-America takeaways

Notre Dame

Despite its 6-1 record and No. 4 ranking, Notre Dame got shut out on our Midseason All-America team. Guard Anthonie Knapp and cornerback Leonard Moore were on our preseason team -- and the latter was a unanimous selection. Both players appeared on ballots, but just not enough to make the cut.

The lack of Irish on the midseason team is due to a couple of factors. First is that Notre Dame has played a relatively weak schedule and lost to the only quality opponent it's seen thus far. That probably applies to Knapp and Moore, but the Notre Dame cornerback has even more working against him.

Moore suffered a concussion against North Carolina and missed the Stanford game as a result, which took away a valuable opportunity to boost his numbers. It may also be the case that Moore is too good. Opposing offenses know Moore will be playing on Sundays next year and choose to avoid him altogether.

Big Ten beef

If your local grocery store is out of USDA certified grass-fed beef, you'll be able to find some in Big Ten country. And we don't mean Los Angeles or Piscataway; we mean the great Midwestern states of Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota.

That's where you'll find four of our five All-American offensive line selections at the midway point. The Hawkeyes have two players on the team, with Trevor Lauck and Kade Pieper leading a ferocious bunch in Iowa City. Pieper was a second-team honoree in our preseason selections -- as was Minnesota guard Greg Johnson, after putting together a great first half of the season.

The only holdover from the preseason All-America first-team to the Midseason All-America team is Indiana tackle Carter Smith. He's a major reason why the Hoosiers have allowed just 10 sacks through seven games. If Smith continues to play at a high level, he could earn All-America honors for the second consecutive season.

Preseason SEC bias confirmed?

This exercise forces us to confront preseason predictions that haven't exactly aged well. I think I can speak for all our experts when I say that we may have gone overboard with SEC players in the Preseason All-America voting.

We don't want credit for admitting our errors, but we will accept some if you're willing to give it.

In the preseason, the SEC had a whopping 15 first-team selections, accounting for over half of the roster spots. At the halfway point, that number has been chopped to just five. That puts the SEC one spot behind the Big Ten and tied with the ACC (!) for second.

The difference is particularly glaring on offense, where the SEC boasted six selections on the preseason team. Now? Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop is the only SEC player to make the cut. Whether you want to tip your cap to the defenses, blame pedestrian quarterback play (Arch Manning in particular) or point to injuries, the reality is that a handful of the conference's brightest stars entering the season just haven't panned out.