Week 2 College Fantasy Football Team Defense (DEF) Rankings

September 9, 2026

RotoBaller's Week 2 college fantasy football team defense rankings for 2026. Set winning CFB fantasy lineups with these DEF rankings for the top Power 4 defenses.

Week 1 of the 2026 college football season saw many power-conference teams matched up with Group of 6 or FCS schools, and while we do get some more exciting matchups in Week 2, there are still plenty of "snoozers" on the schedule. Finding a top defense against a far inferior opponent is the name of the game in college fantasy football leagues, so we're here to help with our college fantasy football team defense (D/ST) rankings for Week 2. These start-sit calls at defense will get trickier in future weeks when conference play ramps up, but for now, there are some easy calls at the top.

In the rankings below, see where top defenses in favorable matchups such as Notre Dame, Miami, Virginia, Penn State, Georgia, Indiana, Auburn, and more stand for the second week of the college football season.

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Week 2 College Fantasy Football Team Defense Rankings

Week 2 College Fantasy Football DEF News, Outlooks

Virginia Tech Hokies Defense

The Monarchs only mustered 319 yards of total offense against Norfolk State. This isn't quite as easy as the opener for the Hokies, but this is a soft landing for their first FBS opponent. Quinn Henicle can't do everything by himself.

Miami Hurricanes Defense

The Miami defense opened the season with a statement and is primed for an even better showing against Florida A&M in Week 2. The Hurricanes dismantled Stanford in Week 1 by a 45-6 final. Miami only allowed 299 total yards of offense, giving up 5.3 yards per pass and 3.4 yards per rush.

Florida A&M isn't as talented as Stanford, so Miami's defense is expected to fare better this coming week. Look for the Hurricanes to get after the quarterback and try to improve upon their one-sack performance from last week. Miami also didn't force a turnover in Week 1, so that's another area where the Hurricanes could deliver more from a fantasy perspective. Fantasy owners should feel very confident in the Miami defense in Week 2.

Penn State Nittany Lions Defense

The Nittany Lions shut out a solid Marshall squad in the opener. Temple rode a strong game from Keveun Mason to a win against Rhode Island, but the Owls are going to have a hard time getting traction on this defense. Add in a budding QB controversy for Temple, and this has the makings of another dominant performance for Penn State. The Penn State defense wasn't the problem. The offense was. We can trust this unit.

LSU Tigers Defense

LSU's defense has its opponents shaking in their boots after a dominant Week 1 win over Clemson 51-10. The new-look Tigers' defense sacked Clemson quarterbacks four times, forced one interception, and held Clemson's starting quarterback to a 13.9 QBR. Senior transfer edge rusher Princewill Unamielen recorded the 11th-highest pass rush grade per PFF in his Week 1 debut, recording two sacks on three pressures.

JORDAN ROSS PICK 6

THE EDGE RUSHER? pic.twitter.com/jsZawzW6Z0

— NFL Draft Files (@NFL_DF) September 6, 2026

The entire LSU defense was flying around all game, totaling four sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 15 hurries. The secondary was equally impressive as they graded out as PFF's sixth-best coverage defense in Week 1 with a grade of 87. LSU faces Louisiana Tech in Week 2, and they are currently favored by 32.5. LSU D/ST is currently ranked as RotoBaller's D/ST5, and they are a must-start in Week 2.

South Carolina Gamecocks Defense

The South Carolina defense also posted a shutout in Week 1. Kent's offense looked decent last year. They never stood a chance in this one. We still won't know much about South Carolina after this matchup either, but they should go over the 12 fantasy points from last week. Towson has only scored 33 points in losses to Maine and Navy in the first two weeks. I don't know if another shutout is in the cards, but Navy held Towson to 39 rushing yards and registered three sacks. The Gamecocks should be able to pick up points in other ways.

Washington Huskies Defense

The Apple Cup turned out to be a low-scoring affair as the defenses took over the day. The Washington offense was eventually too much and pulled away a little bit. There are normally better options this early in the season than another FBS team, but after watching Utah State in the opener, I'm buying in. The Washington State offense was better than expected. Nothing about Utah State is better.

The Aggies lost outright to Idaho State, scoring just 17 points. The two Aggies quarterbacks threw a combined four interceptions and were sacked three times. A Washington defense that performed well in Week 1 is going to eat them alive!

Baylor Bears Defense

Baylor held a strong and hyped Auburn offense to just 17 points. The Bears were in the Auburn backfield all game long. They picked up five sacks and picked off Byrum Brown three times. Prairie View A&M hasn't played poorly so far. They put up 30 points in a loss to Tarleton State and beat up on Texas Southern last week. This is about the kind of havoc that Baylor's defense unleashed on Auburn.

First-career interception for @ReggieBush_II ‼️

📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/vwPoKdqX63

— Baylor Football (@BUFootball) September 5, 2026

We know what that offense is capable of from the success of South Florida last year. The Prairie View line is going to have problems keeping the Baylor disruptors out of the backfield. Chunk plays may be had, but we're here for the stats. Five sacks and three interceptions will pile up fantasy points in a hurry.

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