College football rankings for the upcoming season begin with the release of the 2026 preseason Coaches Poll, and the Ohio State Buckeyes top the rankings. Ohio State received 38 of the 72 first place votes and 1,741 total points.
Ohio State is followed by the Oregon Ducks (6 first-place votes), Georgia Bulldogs (7 first-place votes), Texas Longhorns (2 first-place votes), and Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5 first-place votes).
Rounding out the top ten are (6) Indiana with 14 first-place votes, (7) Miami, (8) Texas A&M, (9) Oklahoma, and (10) Ole Miss.
The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the Top 25 poll, while the Big Ten follows just behind with eight ranked teams. Listed below is the full conference breakdown:
- SEC – 9
- Big Ten – 8
- Big 12 – 4
- ACC – 3
- IND – 1
The complete 2026 Preseason Coaches Poll is listed below (first place votes in parentheses):
1. Ohio State (38)
2. Oregon (6)
3. Georgia (7)
4. Texas (2)
5. Notre Dame (5)
6. Indiana (14)
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma
10. Ole Miss
11. Alabama
12. Texas Tech
13. LSU
14. USC
15. BYU
16. Michigan
17. Penn State
18. Tennessee
19. Washington
20. SMU
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Clemson
24. Houston
25. Missouri
Others receiving votes: Louisville 153, Florida 147, TCU 63, Illinois 62, South Carolina 50, Arizona 50, Virginia 40, Vanderbilt 37, Auburn 29, Georgia Tech 26, Boise State 24, Oklahoma State 22, UNLV 17, North Carolina State 13, Florida State 13, Virginia Tech 12, Nebraska 12, Memphis 9, Arizona State 8, James Madison 6, Duke 6, Pittsburgh 4, New Mexico 4, Western Michigan 3, Navy 3, San Diego State 2, Kansas State 1, Jacksonville State 1, Hawaii 1, California 1.
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Indiana behind Texas, Georgia, and Notre Dame is an absolute joke. They should be the number 1 ranked team. They have earned it and don’t have to prove anything to anybody. LSU and USC have no business being ranked above BYU. They have not proven anything. We have waned the right to be in the top 12.
The poll is for this season, not last season. It’s a prediction based on roster turnover, schedule, etc. You don’t get awarded with the No. 1 spot preseason just because you won the NC.
Why not? If you literally just won the national championship then you can probably do it again. And if this poll is supposed to be a prediction it’s a very bad one. I would not in any world have Texas above Indiana. That is an absolute joke. I don’t believe Indiana has gotten worse at all (In fact I think they might’ve gotten better). Indiana had a fantastic transfer portal and again, JUST WENT 16-0 AND WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! If a traditional power or blue blood had done that they would be ranked in the top 2 without question. USC and LSU above BYU is also a very bad prediction. If I had to guess I would say that Lincoln Riley is not the head coach at USC in 2027. And with LSU, are we seriously expecting a brand coaching staff with a bunch of transfers to just immediately jell and start winning at a very high level immediately? PUH-LEASE!!!! I know Indiana did it a couple years ago. But Lane Kiffin is not Curt Cignetti. Sorry, he’s just not.
Watch out for Illinois Fighting Illini in Big Ten.
In reality, the pre-season rankings are just for entertainment and have zero actual merit. Remember Penn State last year? There should be no rankings at all on an official level until weeks zero and one are completed. That would actually make sense, but being that we are talking about college athletics, we all know that common sense is non-existent.
I completely agree.
Coaches’ polls are worthless. They vote for teams on their schedule to hype the toughness of their own schedule. Non-power four teams don’t get any consideration here. Not even Boise made it. In last year’s final poll four made it – JMU, Tulane, Navy and North Texas. During the season, coaches focus on only two teams- their own and their next opponent. They have no time to analyze other teams. Too busy watching game film for next week.