Ohio State and Oregon are 1-2 in preseason coaches poll, SEC's 9 ranked teams leads all conferences

The Associated Press

Aug 4, 2026


Ohio State and Oregon hold down the top two spots and the Southeastern Conference has five of the top 10 teams in the USA Today preseason coaches football poll released Tuesday.

The Buckeyes received 38 of the 72 first-place votes and were well ahead of the Ducks, who got six first-place votes.

No. 3 Georgia received seven first-place votes, No. 4 Texas got two and No. 5 Notre Dame five.

Defending national champion Indiana was No. 6 with 14 first-place votes and was followed by Miami, the team it beat in the College Football Playoff championship game. Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Mississippi rounded out the top 10.

Texas Tech, at No. 12, was the highest-ranked of four Big 12 teams in the poll. The SEC, with nine, had the most ranked teams.

No teams from a Group of Six conference were in the Top 25.

Ohio State went 12-0 in the 2025 regular season before losing to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and to Miami in the first round of the CFP. The Buckeyes return a Heisman Trophy finalist in quarterback Julian Sayin, one of the nation's top receivers in Jeremiah Smith and an experienced offensive line.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be released at noon Eastern on Aug. 17.

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Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

More CFB News

CFB 2025 Leaders

CFB 2025 Rankings

CFB 2025 Standings

Atlantic CoastWLPCT
1
9
5
.643
2
11
3
.786
3
13
2
.867
4
8
5
.615
5
9
4
.692
6
9
4
.692
7
7
6
.538
8
7
6
.538
9
8
5
.615
10
9
4
.692
11
9
4
.692
12
4
8
.333
13
5
7
.417
14
4
8
.333
15
3
9
.250
16
2
10
.167
17
3
9
.250
SoutheasternWLPCT
1
12
2
.857
2
11
4
.733
3
13
2
.867
4
11
2
.846
5
10
3
.769
6
10
3
.769
7
10
3
.769
8
8
5
.615
9
8
5
.615
10
7
6
.538
11
5
7
.417
12
4
8
.333
13
5
7
.417
14
5
8
.385
15
4
8
.333
16
2
10
.167
Big 10WLPCT
1
15
0
1.000
2
12
2
.857
3
13
2
.867
4
9
4
.692
5
9
4
.692
6
9
4
.692
7
9
4
.692
8
8
5
.615
9
9
4
.692
10
7
6
.538
11
7
6
.538
12
7
6
.538
13
3
9
.250
14
5
7
.417
15
4
8
.333
16
4
8
.333
17
4
8
.333
18
2
10
.167
Mountain WestWLPCT
1
10
4
.714
2
9
4
.692
3
9
4
.692
4
9
5
.643
5
9
4
.692
6
9
4
.692
7
6
7
.462
8
4
8
.333
9
4
8
.333
10
3
9
.250
11
3
9
.250
12
2
10
.167
American AthleticWLPCT
1
12
2
.857
2
11
3
.786
3
11
2
.846
4
9
4
.692
5
9
4
.692
6
8
5
.615
7
7
6
.538
8
7
6
.538
9
5
7
.417
10
4
8
.333
11
5
8
.385
12
4
8
.333
13
4
8
.333
14
1
11
.083
IndependentWLPCT
1
10
2
.833
2
9
4
.692
Big 12WLPCT
1
12
2
.857
2
12
2
.857
3
11
2
.846
4
10
3
.769
5
9
4
.692
6
8
5
.615
7
8
4
.667
8
6
6
.500
9
9
4
.692
10
7
6
.538
11
5
7
.417
12
5
7
.417
13
5
7
.417
14
4
8
.333
15
3
9
.250
16
1
11
.083
Pac-12WLPCT
1
7
6
.538
2
2
10
.167
Mid-AmericanWLPCT
1
10
4
.714
2
7
7
.500
3
9
4
.692
4
8
5
.615
5
7
6
.538
6
5
7
.417
7
5
7
.417
8
5
7
.417
9
4
8
.333
10
4
8
.333
11
4
8
.333
12
3
9
.250
13
0
12
.000
Sun BeltWLPCT
1
12
2
.857
2
8
6
.571
3
10
3
.769
4
7
6
.538
5
6
7
.462
6
6
7
.462
7
7
6
.538
8
7
6
.538
9
5
7
.417
10
7
6
.538
11
5
8
.385
12
4
8
.333
13
1
11
.083
14
3
9
.250
Conference USAWLPCT
1
10
4
.714
2
9
5
.643
3
9
4
.692
4
8
5
.615
5
7
6
.538
6
7
6
.538
7
7
6
.538
8
4
8
.333
9
3
9
.250
10
4
8
.333
11
2
10
.167
12
2
10
.167

CFB 2025 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Sat
11/15
@
24-22
Sat
11/15
@
38-41
Sat
11/15
@
30-31
Sat
11/15
@
24-38
Sat
11/15
@
26-42

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Sat
8/29
@
12:00 PM
Sat
8/29
@
3:00 PM
Sat
8/29
@
3:30 PM
Sat
8/29
@
5:30 PM
Sat
8/29
@
6:30 PM