Two rule changes potentially coming to college football in 2026

We are now in the midst of the college football offseason. With it, the time of year has arrived in which potential rule changes for next season are discussed.

Could any notable changes be on the horizon? A recent report from Chris Vannini of The Athletic mentioned two.

“The rules committee could focus on the targeting rule this offseason, and in particular, the suspension that comes with the penalty,” Zachary Neel of College Sports Wire wrote. “As things currently stand, a player who is flagged for targeting is ejected from the game if the foul occurs in the first half. However, if the penalty comes in the second half, they are both ejected from the game and suspended for the first half of the following game.

“The rule change would take away the carry-over aspect of the penalty and just result in a rejection for the current game, no matter when the foul occurs.

“The rules committee is also expected to address a recent string of dress code violations that have become popular among players regarding the length of their pants. There is a new trend with players wearing "short shorts" that go not far past the thigh pad, leaving their entire knees exposed.

“There is already a rule against this, but the conversations this week will be about enforcing that rule.”

While the proposed changes would seemingly not affect USC more than any other school, they would both be wins for college football. The targeting rule leading to suspensions has always been silly, especially given the controversial nature of how targeting is called. And if the dress code rule leads to fewer moments like Oklahoma’s kicker going viral for his short shorts against Tennessee, then everybody wins.

This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Two rule changes could come to college football for 2026 season