By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-17 18:47:40 | Updated at 2026-08-17 19:39:10
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Ohio State and Oregon were given 1-2 in The AP's rankings ahead of the new college football season, giving the Big Ten Conference the top two teams in the preseason rankings for the first time in 65 years and just the second time ever.
The Buckeyes received 40 first-place votes and Oregon received 14 in voting by 69 media members who cover college football.
Ohio State will go into a season No. 1 for the ninth time, and first since 2015. The Buckeyes are now tied with Alabama for second-most preseason No. 1 rankings behind Oklahoma's 10.
Oregon has its highest preseason ranking in program history after having opened No. 3 four times.
Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas round out the top five. Defending national champion Indiana starts at No. 6 and is followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
Notre Dame received six first-place votes, Indiana got eight and Miami one.
Ohio State and Oregon were given 1-2 in The AP's rankings ahead of the new season
Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas, led by quarterback Arch Manning, round out the top five
This is the first year a conference has held down the top two spots in the preseason poll since Oklahoma and Nebraska of the Big Eight were 1-2 in 1987.
The Big Ten has won three straight College Football Playoff championships (Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana) and will be going for an unprecedented fourth straight national title.
The SEC leads all conferences with nine teams in the preseason Top 25, marking the third straight year it has had at least that many. Five of the top 10 teams are from the SEC for the first time since 2013.
Four Big 12 teams are ranked, with conference champion Texas Tech the highest at No. 12.
The Atlantic Coast Conference has three ranked teams, with the Hurricanes joined by No. 19 SMU and No. 24 Louisville.
No. 1 -ranked Ohio State will get tested early and often. The Buckeyes visit Texas on September 12 and five of their nine conference games are against preseason ranked teams, including at Indiana and against Oregon at home.
The beat goes on for Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs. They're in the preseason top five for the ninth straight year.
The two-time defending SEC champion Bulldogs are favored to play in a sixth straight conference title game and appear in the CFP for the sixth time in 10 years.
Indiana is the seventh national champion in 40 years to be ranked outside the top five
Texas, the preseason No. 1 last year, opens in the top five for the third straight year.
No. 8 Texas A&M is in the preseason top 10 for the first time since it was No. 6 in 2022, the year that marked the beginning of the end for coach Jimbo Fisher.
Pete Golding's first full season as Mississippi head coach starts with the No. 9 Rebels in the preseason top 10 for the second time in three years and third time since 1970.
No. 10 Oklahoma is in the preseason top 10 for the first time since 2022, when it was in the Big 12.
Indiana is the seventh returning national champion in 40 years, and second in three years, to be ranked outside the top five in the preseason. Michigan went into the 2024 season ranked No. 9 after winning the national title.
The Hoosiers became the first team in the modern era to go 16-0, and they return lots of talent and signed a top-10 transfer class.
The move from Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 NFL draft pick Fernando Mendoza to TCU transfer Josh Hoover at quarterback has seemingly put doubts in the minds of voters.
