Biggest Takeaways from College Football's 2026 AP Preseason Poll

The preseason version of the AP Top 25 has been unveiled, and there is much celebration in Big Ten country.

Ohio State landed the prestigious No. 1 slot, followed by conference foe Oregon. Indiana, the reigning national champion, also checked in sixth for this initial release, giving the Big Ten three of the nation's top-six teams.

It's not where you start, of course, it's where you finish.

But is sure is nice to open the season with a mountain of national respect.

We're diving into that unsurprising Big Ten situation, along with several other takeaways from the preseason AP Top 25.

Big Ten Flexes Its Muscle

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Dante Moore

Hey, when you've won three straight national championships, you can be loud.

Such is life in the Big Ten, a coast-to-coast conference that has continued to amass influence—on and off the field. (We'll focus on the former, not the latter.)

Ohio State, as expected, collected a majority of first-place votes. Despite the frustrating finish to the 2025 campaign, the Buckeyes return quarterback Julian Sayin and star receiver Jeremiah Smith this season. As a program, OSU has been one of the nation's most consistent teams for a long, long time anyway.

Behind the Buckeyes, there was a question of where Oregon and Indiana would fall. Sure, it would be a significant spot, but exactly how high?

Second and sixth, not too shabby.

Indiana fans may feel a bit slighted, given the team won a national title last season. Two things! First, it's a new year. New perceptions. And secondly, you think Curt Cignetti isn't loving the disrespect of merely being the No. 6 team? He's thrilled.

This trifecta has plenty to prove, but the AP voters strongly believe in them.

SEC's Depth Shines

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We don't need the No. 1 ranking to show how good we are, says every fan of a program not from the No. 1 team's conference.

Oh, we hear you already, SEC faithful.

While annual power Georgia headlines the league's results in the AP poll, Texas also rounds out the Top Five. Texas A&M (eighth), Ole Miss (ninth), Oklahoma (10th), LSU (11th) and Alabama (13th) aren't far behind.

Unfortunately for the conference, it fell shy of cracking double-digits like in 2025. Tennessee (20th) and Missouri (25th) are the SEC's last teams included, and Florida ended as the second-highest team in others receiving votes.

Even as the Big Ten takes a well-earned victory lap, the SEC is confident it has a bunch of serious contenders this season.

Texas Tech Clips BYU in Big 12 Picture

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Given that offseason dialogue is a product of early consensus, well, it's only sensible for a preseason Top 25 to reflect those perceptions.

Texas Tech is set to open the campaign as the highest-ranked Big 12 team, while BYU enters as the league's No. 2 program.

The gap, though, was a little narrower than expected.

Following its offseason drama, Texas Tech checks in 12th with BYU at 14th. To be clear, the totals of Tech's 983 points to BYU's 839 means the voters see a reasonably defined, small line between the teams.

But that is much, much closer than the ACC, where Miami (seventh) is well in front of SMU (19th), the second ranked team in the conference.

Utah (21st) and Houston (23rd) round out the Big 12's ranked group.

No Love for Group of 6

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Maddux Madsen

What's new, right?

No program from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12 or Sun Belt appears in the initial AP poll. That happened in 2024, as well.

Look, it's not surprising. My own contribution to B/R's preseason Top 25 leans heavily on power-conference schools, because those are always the most talented—not necessarily most successful—teams in the country.

For those who support G6 programs, though, it's still a bummer.

Boise State, the lone representative last preseason at 25th, effectively sits at 28th followed by Navy at 31st. Eight more G6 squads are in the "others receiving votes" section but managed four points or less, which is essentially one 22nd-place vote (or lower) from one AP contributor.

Early Top 25 Games to Know

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Trinidad Chambliss

Yes, these rankings may change because of Week 1 performances. Even if a ranked team wins, it might fall because an unranked team impressed so much. That possibility must be considered.

Short of that, though, we have a few near-official Top 25 showdowns!

Clemson's ever-so-narrow miss at 26th—sorry, No. 11 LSU—means the Week 1 headliner is between No. 24 Louisville and No. 9 Ole Miss.

The marquee Week 2 clashes, as we've known, are No. 1 Ohio State at No. 5 Texas and No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 16 Michigan.

Week 3 brings a trio of matchups—and, by that point, perhaps more.

No. 23 Houston plays at No. 12 Texas Tech on Friday night, and Saturday's slate features No. 19 SMU at No. 24 Louisville and No. 11 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss.