College football coaches poll: Ohio State and Oregon lead the 2026 preseason top 25
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The Big Ten has the top-two teams in the 2026 preseason coaches poll.
Ohio State got 38 first-place votes and sits ahead of Oregon and Georgia to start the season. After winning the College Football Playoff at the end of the 2024 season, the Buckeyes lost to Miami in the College Football Playoff a season ago.
Oregon, which lost to defending national champion Indiana in the Peach Bowl, got six first-place votes and finished 46 points ahead of the Bulldogs. Georgia got seven first-place votes.
Indiana got the second-most first-place votes with 14, but sits at No. 6, behind Texas at No. 4 and Notre Dame at No. 5.
While the Big Ten has three of the top-six teams in the poll, the SEC has five teams in the top 10 and seven teams in the top 13 of the coaches poll. After Miami at No. 7, the top 10 is filled out by SEC teams in Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Alabama is at No. 11 and Lane Kiffin's LSU is at No. 13.
Overall, the SEC has nine teams in the top 25 and Big Ten has eight. The Big 12's highest team is Texas Tech at No. 12, and the Red Raiders might have been in the top 10 if Brendan Sorsby was still on the team's roster. There are four Big 12 teams in the top 25, while the ACC has three.
Below is the full top 25 ahead of the season, which unofficially begins with Week 0 on Aug. 29.
2026 preseason coaches poll
1. Ohio State (38 first-place votes)
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
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