Ohio State and Oregon headline AP Top 25 preseason poll

Now comes the good part. The first regular-season poll will be released at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 8, after the opening two weekends of college football. After that, the AP Top 25 will drop every Sunday at 2 p.m. ET through the end of the regular season.

The final regular-season poll will be released Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. ET, right before the College Football Playoff bracket is revealed. The final AP Top 25 of the season will be released at noon on Jan. 26, after the national championship game.

Maybe not surprise me, but it is now apparent that we’ve crossed the Rubicon with regards to the Group of 6 now being basically at a developmental level.

The poll is dominated by the Big Two (Big Ten and SEC), with the other Power Four leagues and Notre Dame accounting for the rest — not a single G6 team ranked.

It was evident we were heading in this direction, but I believed it was still a couple of years away. I was wrong.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Based on the AP Top 25 preseason rankings, the CFP would open like this:

— No. 9 seed Mississippi at No. 8 Texas A&M. Winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State.

— No. 12 seed Boise State at No. 5 Texas. Winner vs. No. 4 Notre Dame.

— No. 10 seed Oklahoma at No. 7 seed Miami. Winner vs. No. 2 Oregon.

— No. 11 seed Texas Tech at No. 6 Indiana. Winner vs. No. 3 Georgia.

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Back away if anyone says they know how Colorado will do this year because their pants are about to catch on fire. The Buffaloes have again had so much turnover, including at both offensive and defensive coordinator, that it’s all a crapshoot.

If the newcomers come together, Colorado could return to a bowl game for the second time in Deion Sanders’ four years and maybe even be a player in the Big 12, the Power Four league with the most parity. But things could again be rough if it all doesn’t mold together. It’s doubtful there are generational talents such as Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders to repair the gap.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Last year’s Week 1 featured three marquee matchups between ranked teams as Texas traveled to Ohio State, Miami faced Notre Dame and LSU took on Clemson.

This year, the inaugural Music City Kickoff game in Nashville will feature the only ranked-on-ranked matchup in Week 1. No. 9 Ole Miss and No. 24 Louisville meet at Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, on Sept. 6.

The ranked matchups pick up in Week 2 with two ranked matchups featuring SEC and Big Ten schools. Texas will host Ohio State in a rematch under the lights on Saturday, Sept. 12, while Oklahoma heads to Ann Arbor to face Michigan at noon.

No matter how Marcus Freeman wants to downplay it, Notre Dame is still smarting about not being selected for the CFP after winning 10 straight games following season-opening losses to Miami and Texas A&M.

Quarterback C.J. Carr returns and is being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate. He’ll be working with a deep receiving corps led by Jordan Faison and Jaden Greathouse. Former Ohio State receivers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter also are in the mix.

All-America candidate Leonard Moore returns at defensive back while defensive end Boubacar Traore and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa add punch to the Notre Dame’s defense.

Oregon has the look of a team that could be ready to break through and win its first national championship.

The Ducks have one of the most seasoned teams in the nation with quarterback Dante Moore among six starters back on offense. Defensive lineman A’Mauri Washington and edge Matayo Uiagalelei lead a defense that returns eight starters.

Each of the last two years the Ducks have had their season end in the CFP with a loss to a Big Ten opponent they were playing for the second time that season.

In 2024, Oregon won the Big Ten title with a 13-0 record in its first year in the conference and was the No. 1 CFP seed. The Ducks, who beat Ohio State 32-31 in the regular season, lost 41-21 to the Buckeyes.
In 2025, Oregon’s only two losses were to Indiana – 30-20 in the regular season and 56-22 in a playoff semifinal.

“I think that speaks volumes about our league, especially when you’re talking about repeat games within our league,” coach Dan Lanning said. “We have some unbelievable coaches, great teams. There’s a lot of things we studied with ourselves in this offseason.

“Sometimes the ball has to bounce the right way. Sometimes you can do something schematically. We have studied other teams that have won games in their second opportunity. We’re looking for our opportunity to be a team like that.”

Ohio State starts a season No. 1 for the ninth time. The Buckeyes didn’t end there the previous eight.
They have an excruciating schedule but are built for what awaits.

Jeremiah Smith is the most productive receiver in the nation, quarterback Julian Sayin is one of the most accurate passers and the offensive line is elite. There are plenty of talented transfers waiting to emerge for a defense replacing eight starters, all of whom were drafted.

The Buckeyes visit Indiana on Oct. 17 and host Oregon on Nov. 7. Those games will go a long way in deciding which teams make the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, not to mention impact CFP seeding.

No. 25 Missouri has the 12th-toughest schedule in the country, according to ESPN, but the Tigers are the only team that will play five of the top 10 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll.

All five of those are bunched into the Tigers’ final seven regular-season games. They play No. 8 Texas A&M on Oct. 10, at No. 9 Mississippi on Oct. 17, No. 5 Texas on Nov. 7, at No. 3 Georgia on Nov. 14 and No. 10 Oklahoma on Nov. 28.

Oklahoma, which plays four top-10 teams, has ESPN’s second-toughest schedule behind Arkansas. No. 5 Texas’ schedule is ranked third in degree of difficulty.

I think so. Lots of weapons coming back; Arch Manning looked really good in the second half last year after a sluggish start.

Here’s another key: Cole Hutson getting another season despite having gone to Dallas Cowboys minicamp. The Longhorns got a gift in the form of an offensive lineman with 23 starts across an array of positions. Plus, Texas crushed the transfer portal with WR Cam Coleman and RB Hollywood Smothers.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Clemson was the first team out with 112 points, five fewer than No. 25 Missouri. Florida, Boise State, Arizona, TCU, Navy and South Carolina were the next teams out, each received double-digit points.

The bubble teams enter the season in unique position to move up quickly in the ranks. With Clemson just points away at No. 26, a Week 1 win could easily do the trick.

The bad news? Clemson heads to No. 11 LSU for its season debut on Sept. 5.

After ranking No. 1 in last year’s preseason poll, the Longhorns enter the 2026 season at No. 5, behind Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia and Notre Dame.

Texas will be put to the test early, with a Week 2 rematch against Ohio State giving the Longhorns a chance to make a case for a higher ranking.

Arch Manning struggled under high expectations in his first career start last season against Ohio State, gaining momentum only in the fourth quarter of a 14-7 loss. After completing nine passes for 38 yards and an interception through the first three quarters, Manning finished the game with 17 completions for 170 yards.

A Week 2 win against the top-ranked team in the preseason poll would give the Longhorns the kind of start they desperately needed last year.

Miami has a good-sized lead over the other ACC teams in the preseason poll. The Hurricanes came in at No. 7 and earned one first-place vote after a season that ended just shy of a national title.
SMU was the next-closest team at No. 19. Louisville squeaked in at No. 24.

The ACC also had three teams ranked in last year’s preseason poll. Clemson ranked No. 4 before what turned out to be a disappointing season. Miami ranked No. 10, and SMU came in at No. 16.

The ACC ended up being a weird one last year, with an unranked Duke team taking on then-No. 16 Virginia in the conference championship game. Duke delivered a 27-20 overtime win, but it wasn’t enough for the CFP committee to view them as a viable option. Miami instead earned an at-large bid, and James Madison and Tulane secured bids as two of the five highest-ranked conference champions.

Clemson is unranked in the AP preseason Top 25 for the first time since 2011.

The Tigers almost got in. They received the most voting points among teams left out. They’re five points behind No. 25 Missouri.

Clemson is coming off a 7-6 season, its worst since 2010. The offense struggled to get anything going in the ground game and was second-to-last in the ACC in third-down conversions. The defense underachieved.

Look for the offense to be much better with the return of offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who led some of the nation’s most potent offenses when he had the same job at Clemson from 2011-14. The defense should play with more confidence in Tom Allen’s second year as coordinator.

Clemson gets a measuring-stick game right away when they open at No. 11 LSU.

I have Ohio State at No. 1 on my ballot, so logic dictates I think they have the best chance. That being said, we’re in a pretty incredible age of parity that’s overshadowed by all the non-football stuff going on.

Go back just a few years and there were only 5 to 7 teams with a shot at making the four-team College Football Playoff, and usually only two (or even one) that was a legit national title contender.

In 2026, there are probably 10-12 teams that could win the national title come January and maybe even more than that, depending upon how things unfold. Consider that Indiana was 20th in the 2025 preseason poll despite coming off that surprising CFP appearance in 2024.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

This is the 15th time since the preseason poll debuted in 1950 that at least seven teams in the previous season’s final AP poll did not appear in the preseason poll.

Those teams are Vanderbilt, Virginia, Tulane, James Madison, Navy, North Texas and TCU.

Of the top seven teams, five received first-place votes: Ohio State (40), Oregon (14), Notre Dame (6), Indiana (8) and Miami (1). Voters skipped over No. 3 Georgia and No. 5 Texas, which both fell into the top five but didn’t receive first-place votes.

Perhaps most notably, voters don’t see an SEC team breaking a three-year championship drought. After Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana took home the last three titles, faith in the Big Ten remains high.

Ohio State and Oregon, the top two teams in the poll, give the Big Ten its first preseason 1-2 since 1961 — a sign that voters expect the conference to bring home a fourth straight national title.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, whose team landed No. 5 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll, doesn’t put much credence in the polls. The polls do have some value, though, he said.

“I love the polls for college football fans, for the excitement, for the marquee matchups, for all those things,” he said. “But the polls internally, they just don’t matter. They’re really irrelevant. I think we’ve gotten to a point now as a team to understand that what matters is how we play each and every Saturday.”

Georgia enters the season at No. 3, marking the eighth straight year with a top-five preseason ranking.

The Bulldogs will have plenty of familiar faces taking the field this fall, with quarterback Gunner Stockton, running back duo Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens and tight end Lawson Luckie bringing valuable game experience to the offense. Expectations are high for linebackers Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole, while KJ Bolden, Kyron Jones and Ellis Robinson IV will hold down the secondary.

Georgia earned the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the 12-team College Football Playoff after beating Alabama in the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs went on to fall 39-34 to Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.

SEC (9): No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Mississippi, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 11 LSU, No. 13 Alabama, No. 20 Tennessee, No. 25 Missouri

Big Ten (8): No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, No. 6 Indiana, No. T-14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Penn State, No. 22 Iowa

Big 12 (4): No. 12 Texas Tech, No. T-14 BYU, No. 21 Utah, No. 23 Houston

ACC (3): No. 7 Miami, No. 19 SMU, No. 24 Louisville

Independent (1): No. 4 Notre Dame

After two non-power conference teams (Tulane, James Madison) made the CFP in 2025, none cracked the preseason Top 25.

Since two were ranked in the preseason in 2022, only Tulane in 2023 and Boise State in 2025 have started a season in the Top 25.

Boise State, which has moved from the Mountain West to the new Pac-12, was the top vote-getter among Group of Six teams outside the Top 25. Nine others got at least one vote.

Whew, that’s a complicated one. Don’t know that there’s a simple answer.

Some of it is as I mentioned: who’s back, who’s gone, in contrast to the same for every team on the schedule. Then plug in recruiting, look at the portal, try to evaluate the coaching staff and blend together.

Sometimes you can sprinkle in some history. After all, Ohio State (as an example) isn’t just going to fall off a cliff after being so crazy consistent this century. It didn’t after Urban Meyer stepped down.

While it’s counterintuitive, I tend to give some teams a bit of an immediate bump after major changes. Sometimes there’s a jolt of optimistic adrenaline that might make a team one or two wins better than it should be before leveling off. That’s kind of what I expect for Florida this year with Jon Sumrall.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Four Top 25 teams have new coaches, and they’ve been given a short runway.

Pete Golding, who begins his first full season at No. 9 Mississippi, was able to keep key pieces of the staff and he brought back top players. He led the Rebels to the CFP semifinals after Lane Kiffin’s ugly departure, and another magical run is possible.

Speaking of Kiffin, much is expected at No. 11 LSU. The Tigers haven’t gone to the CFP since winning it all in 2019 and have lost at least four games in five of the six seasons since.

Penn State is No. 18, which seems generous given Matt Campbell will be relying on players he brought with him from Iowa State.

Morgan Scalley, entering his 19th year at No. 21 Utah, gets back QB Devon Dampier and RB Wayshawn Parker but not many other starters from an 11-2 team.

Having Ohio State and Oregon enter the season Nos. 1 and 2 ahead of sixth-ranked defending conference and national champion Indiana is a flex for the Big Ten, which already is riding the momentum of winning the last three national titles.

Having five of the top 10 teams, and seven of the top 13, bolsters the SEC’s contention that it has greater depth. The SEC has nine ranked teams compared to the Big Ten’s eight.

The debate goes on over conference supremacy and will only heat up when the Big Ten and SEC square off in the first heavyweight games of the season Sept. 12. That’s when No. 10 Oklahoma visits No. 16 Michigan and No. 1 Ohio State goes to No. 5 Texas. Both are rematches of games won by the home team last year — OU 24-13 and Ohio State 14-7.

1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Georgia
4. Notre Dame
5. Texas
6. Indiana
7. Miami
8. Texas A&M
9. Mississippi
10. Oklahoma
11. LSU
12. Texas Tech
13. Alabama
14. BYU
15. USC
16. Michigan
17. Washington
18. Penn State
19. SMU
20. Tennessee
21. Utah
22. Iowa
23. Houston
24. Louisville
25. Missouri

AP Top 25 voters are writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. AP employees do not vote, but they do choose the voters.

The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter, and the total of number of voters from each state tends to increase with the number of FBS teams. There are also spots reserved for national voters.

This year, 69 voters from around the country will be relied on for weekly poll submissions.

▶ Read more about the history of the AP Top 25 poll and how it works

I’m actually bullish on Nebraska if you consider 7-8 wins a reason for optimism.

I really like the change at QB, with Dylan Raiola now gone to Oregon and QB1 presumably being Anthony Colandrea. He’s got talent and the kind of take-charge experience the Huskers have lacked. I can see Matt Rhule really connecting with him.

Nebraska has plenty of skill options to complement him, and the defense should be solid to good. The question is how Nebraska manages a brutal schedule that includes Indiana at home, at Oregon, Ohio State at home, at Iowa.

All things considered, maybe we need to retrain our brains considering how tough the Big Ten and SEC are now and consider eight wins a heckuva year?

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

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Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin plays against Purdue during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)

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Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (5) works in the pocket against the Indiana during the second half of the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

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FILE - Georgia running back Nate Frazier (3) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Mississippi, Oct. 18, 2025, in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard, File)

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The Coaches Poll, released Aug. 4, is a poll decided by a panel of head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Coaches who have expressed interest in participating are selected randomly.

Ohio State tops the poll at No. 1 with 38 first-place votes and 1,741 points. Oregon ranks No. 2 with six first-place votes and 1,637 points. Georgia comes in at No. 3 with seven first-place votes and 1,591 points.

Texas is ranked No. 4 and Notre Dame rounds out the top five in the Coaches Poll.

Schedule in no way, shape or form influences my preseason poll. Zero impact.

Of course, that changes as the season unfolds and games are actually played. Otherwise, I’m trying to figure out how good a team is compared to the others, not how many wins it can get.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

The Longhorns entered the 2025 season at No. 1 after receiving 25 first-place votes — two more than No. 2 Penn State. But after a Week 1 loss to Ohio State, Texas found itself fighting upstream to maintain its top-ranked status. An October loss to a struggling Florida team didn’t help either, knocking Texas out of the rankings altogether.

The Longhorns, despite gutting out a few impressive wins, ultimately fell short of the 12-team College Football Playoff after Georgia handed them a third loss.

Eyes will be on quarterback Arch Manning, who the Longhorns hope makes the expected jump from year one to year two as a full-time starter. Manning, a favorite for the Heisman Trophy this year, will have to lead a team facing plenty of expectations once again.

No team since Alabama in 2017 has started No. 1 and finished as national champion.

The Crimson Tide’s only loss that season was to Auburn, and they went into the College Football Playoff ranked No. 4. They beat Clemson and Georgia to win it all.

Since the preseason poll debuted in 1950, a total of 11 teams have started No. 1 and won the national title: 1951 Tennessee, 1952 Michigan State, 1956 Oklahoma, 1974 Oklahoma, 1975 Oklahoma, 1978 Alabama, 1985 Oklahoma, 1993 Florida State, 1999 Florida State, 2004 Southern California, 2017 Alabama.

Technically, they’re not supposed to.

But it goes back to what I said about the College Football Playoff selection committee properly doing its job. One of its top tasks is to scrub everything clean on a weekly basis and reevaluate each team with the latest data and visuals.

But let’s face it, they’re human beings. It’s hard to believe that the perceptions established during the preseason aren’t baked in to some degree, even if subconsciously.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

It’s a legit question.

Teams ranked in the preseason have a different weight than others. They’re more often given the benefit of the doubt after a 2-2 September because they were ranked in the preseason. The flip side is that unranked teams are sometimes overlooked, that a 4-0 September was smoke and mirrors or the fault of the teams they beat. It’s harder for them to make up ground.

Evidence: A team unranked in the preseason hasn’t won the national title since Georgia Tech split it with Colorado in 1990. So perception matters.

But that’s all immaterial if the College Football Playoff selection committee properly does its job.

That would leave preseason polls to serve their primary purposes: to provide an early barometer for the season even if it proves to be flawed; shed light on teams and players that large swaths of the country might not know much about; and to provide debate and discussion enough to satisfy (to a degree) college football fans during the dog days of summer.

After all, is it ever bad to be talking about college football, especially when the games seem so far away?

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Indiana went into last season ranked No. 20 in the AP preseason poll after breaking through with a College Football Playoff appearance in 2024.

The Hoosiers tore through their schedule, finished 16-0 and No. 1 after winning their first national championship.

Penn State, Clemson and LSU are proof positive that the preseason Top 25 is just the voters’ collective educated guess for how teams might look.

The Nittany Lions were No. 2 behind Texas in the 2025 preseason poll. Texas got 25 first-place votes; Penn State got 23. With just five voting points separating the two, it was the closest margin between the preseason Nos. 1 and 2 since 1998.

After a double-overtime loss to Oregon at home, Penn State went to the West Coast and lost 42-37 to a winless UCLA in the upset of the year. James Franklin got fired eight days later and the losing streak stretched to six games. The Nittany Lions finished 7-6 and unranked.

Clemson, coming off a 10-4 record and College Football Playoff appearance in 2024, was No. 4 in the preseason and got four first-place votes. The Tigers started 1-3 and finished 7-6 and unranked after a bowl loss to Penn State.

LSU started No. 9 and was as high as No. 3 during a 4-0 start. The Tigers lost four of five in the teeth of their SEC schedule, Brian Kelly got fired Oct. 26 and they ended up 7-6 and unranked.

In all, 11 teams in the 2025 preseason Top 25 were unranked at the end of the season.

It’s tough.

Back in the day (as in, like, four or five years ago), you could look at who each team had returning, who was gone and juxtapose that with its schedule. Of course, there would still be some surprise teams, disappointments, etc., but the hit rate was pretty strong.

And it’s not awful now. But there are so many things thrown into the mix that are tough to quantify.

A good example: just because a team has a highly rated portal class, that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be an on-field monster. Portal talent doesn’t always jell with pre-existing players and culture. Think Florida State over the past few years.

Sports writer Scott Hamilton has been an AP Top 25 voter for nine years. You can follow him on X: @ScottHsports.

▶ Ask him a question about the Top 25 poll

Ohio State enters the season with the best odds to win the national championship at +600. It’s the first time the Buckeyes have topped the list since the 2015 preseason.

Ohio State ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the entire regular season last year, only dropping after a Big Ten Championship game defeat from Indiana. With a 12-1 record, Ohio State still earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes ultimately went on to drop 24-14 to eventual runners-up, Miami, in the Cotton Bowl.

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Ohio State’s Julian Sayin throws during the first half of the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Indiana in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

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Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Michigan, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

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This season appears promising with quarterback and receiver duo Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith returning to the offense. Veteran defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr. is expected to anchor the defense.

Notre Dame and Texas are tied for the second best odds at +650. Indiana (+800) and Oregon (+800) round out the top five.

There was a time when voters called, emailed and faxed their votes to the AP. Long ago, the ballots were tabulated by hand.

Now voting is done online and all the tabulation is automated.

There is a 1-25 point system, with a team voted No. 1 receiving 25 points down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote. After that, it’s simple: The poll lists the teams with the most points from 1 to 25 and others receiving votes are also noted.

After shocking the nation with a perfect 16-0 record, Big Ten title and national championship victory, the Indiana Hoosiers were unanimously voted No. 1 in the final poll of the season.

Runners-up Miami finished right behind after falling just short of a national title. Miami’s No. 2 ranking was its highest since the 2002 season.

Ole Miss, Oregon and Ohio State rounded out the top five.

But a lot can change from one year to the next.

Eight Hoosiers ascended to the pros, including Heisman winner and first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza. Miami had nine draftees, including three first-rounders.

Ole Miss, Oregon and Ohio State have the advantage of a returning quarterback in 2026 — each in the Heisman conversation ahead of the season.

The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll started in 1936, the brainchild of former sports editor Alan J. Gould.

The number of teams ranked, the number of voters on the panel and how the ballots are tabulated has fluctuated over the years, but no news organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than the AP. It has been the Top 10, Top 20 and, since 1989, the Top 25.

College football writer and Top 25 voter Scott Hamilton will answer a few questions before and after the rankings drop.