College football rankings for the 2026 season continue this week with the release of the 2026 preseason AP Poll, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked first. Ohio State received 40 first-place votes and 1,672 total points.
Ohio State is also ranked first in the preseason Coaches Poll that was released on Monday, August 3.
The Oregon Ducks and Georgia Bulldogs are ranked second and third, respectively, in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. Oregon received 14 first-place votes, while Georgia received none. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 4; six first-place votes) and Texas Longhorns (No. 5; no first-place votes) round out the top five of the preseason AP Poll.
The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the AP Poll. The Big Ten is second with eight teams, followed by the Big 12 with four teams in the Top 25. Listed below is the full conference breakdown:
- SEC – 9
- Big Ten – 8
- Big 12 – 4
- ACC – 3
- IND – 1
The complete 2026 preseason AP Poll is listed below (first-place votes in parentheses):
1. Ohio State (40)
2. Oregon (14)
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame (6)
5. Texas
6. Indiana (8)
7. Miami FL (1)
8. Texas A&M
9. Ole Miss
10. Oklahoma
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Alabama
14(t). BYU
14(t). USC
16. Michigan
17. Washington
18. Penn State
19. SMU
20. Tennessee
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Houston
24. Louisville
25. Missouri
Others receiving votes: Clemson 112, Florida 51, Boise State 43, Arizona 32, TCU 11, Navy 10, South Carolina 10, Illinois 9, Oklahoma State 8, Vanderbilt 8, Pittsburgh 7, Virginia Tech 6, Minnesota 5, UNLV 4, New Mexico 4, Georgia Tech 4, Louisiana 4, James Madison 3, Auburn 3, Memphis 2, California 2, Liberty 1, Western Michigan 1, Tulane 1, Virginia 1.
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View Comments (2)
Underrated: BYU, Indiana (when will they learn?), Texas Tech, Louisville, Houston, SMU
Overrated: Texas, LSU, USC, Utah, Michigan, Penn State, Missouri, Georgia (weird to say but true)
Sorry that you feel your team is underrated, but I'm not sure, other than loyalty, your complaint is based on the last two seasons. Getting absolutely flattened by Texas Tech twice in one season is not a great look.