5 Thoughts on the 2026 Preseason AP Poll:

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It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s the day the preseason AP Top 25 is released, and now it’s on.

Much like the Coaches Poll, the SEC dominated the top with seven teams in the top 13, but the Big Ten holds the top two spots with Ohio State No. 1 and Oregon No. 2, and has eight teams in the top 22.

Who’s overrated, who’s underrated, and what matters about the poll? Here are our five thoughts.

5 Thoughts on the 2026 College Football AP Top 25

• CFN Preseason Rankings
• CFN Preview: All 138 Teams
• College Football Schedule & Predictions
• 5 Thoughts on the Coaches Poll
• The Preseason AP Top 25

5. Difference Between Preseason AP and Coaches Polls

Real edgy, AP voters.

Where are the massive changes and differences between the preseason AP top 25 and the Coaches Poll? They’re about as different as night and later that night.

There’s supposed to be some difference between the two entities. There are far more AP voters than there are coaches who vote, and yet the exact same teams are in each of the respective top ten – in a slightly different order.

– Texas is 4 in the Coaches, 5 in the AP
– Oklahoma and Ole Miss go 9, 10 in the Coaches, flip that around for the AP
– Clemson made the Coaches Poll at 23, Louisville got in the AP at 24.

That’s about it. Outside of the Tigers not making the AP, and the Cardinals not getting into the Coaches, the other 24 teams are the exact same, with 13 in the same spots in both.

4. Group of Six Teams Received a Little More Attention

But not a ton.

Boise State received 43 votes. Navy 10, Louisiana, New Mexico, and UNLV all received four votes, James Madison three, Memphis two, and Liberty, Tulane, and Western Michigan each received a single vote. That might not seem like much, but it’s far more love than the teams from the American, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Pac-12, and Sun Belt received from the Coaches Poll.

Boise State is technically ranked 28th according to the AP and 36th in the Coaches. Nine other Group of Six programs were ranked in the Coaches Poll, but only UNLV (17) received double-digit votes.

3. Overrated Teams

Where do we not see eye-to-eye with the AP voters in our preseason beliefs? These three teams were a bit higher than they should’ve been.

Ole Miss at No. 9
Tenth in the Coaches Poll was a tad too high, and ninth in the AP is about the voters remembering that the Rebels made the CFP Semifinal and get quarterback Trinidad Chambliss back. This is still a terrific team, but talent-wise going into the season – and yeah, coaching-wise without Lane Kiffin around – it’s closer to the 20-25 range than a sure-thing top ten squad.
– Ole Miss 2026 Team Preview

SMU at No. 19
Few Power Four programs have benefited more from the schedule imbalances than SMU. It’s been strong since moving up to the ACC, and it’s even better this season with depth, a great run in the portal, and … the schedule. It should be at the high end of the Other Receiving Votes category than easily into the top 20.
– SMU 2026 Team Preview

Boise State at No. 28
It’ll be deep in the Pac-12 Championship hunt, and it should be front and center in the race for the top Group of Six champion to make the College Football Playoff, but even being up high in the Others Receiving Votes section isn’t right. It’s not a better team than Arizona (29), TCU (30), South Carolina (32), or Illinois (33) coming into the season.
– Boise State 2026 Team Preview

2. Underrated Teams

It’s not about being predictive with the top 25 rankings. It’s about coming up with the 25 best teams in college football, and these three didn’t even get a whiff of respect.

Kansas State (No votes)
This wasn’t a horrible team last season – it just lost its mojo. There’s plenty of talent back, new head coach Collin Klein is bringing a new energy, and at the very least, it should’ve received at least one vote over Oklahoma State (8), along with any of the Group of Six programs, especially Liberty and Louisiana.
– Kansas State 2026 Team Preview

Arizona State (No votes)
Continuing with our belief that college football people just don’t pay any attention to the Big 12, Arizona State not easily being in the Others Receiving Votes category – it got eight votes in the Coaches Poll – is ridiculous. This is a fringe top 25 team talent-wise.
– Arizona State 2026 Team Preview

Indiana at No. 6
Let’s shop in the high-rent district here. It’s fair not to put the Hoosiers in the top three, and depending on how you feel about Georgia and Notre Dame, the top four. Five is disrespectful, and six is ridiculous considering the defensive line returning, the skill talent, the coaching, and … have we not learned anything yet from the Curt Cignetti era?

The Hoosiers received eight first place votes, which means a whole lot of voters put them in way low on their top 25 ballots.
– Indiana 2026 Team Preview

1. The AP Top 25 Poll Still Matters

No, the AP Top 25 doesn’t mean the world like it did back when it meant everything to the national championship race, but it’s still the poll everyone looks at until the College Football Playoff rankings come out in November.

They hold the sway and influence because they’ve been the standard for so long. There might always be issues with how the voters do this during the season – please, voters, respect the results and don’t just record rank – but for the average college football fan, if Alabama is 13, it’s 13.

And remember, the College Football Playoff committee members are people with jobs, and lives, and things to do. They’re not diving into how good Western Michigan is, and they’re probably not reading our Georgia Tech preview. Perception matters here.

Fortunately, unlike before 1998, and really, before 2012, this gets settled on the field. But there’s a responsibility here when it comes to voting in this. The AP Top 25 is out, and now it’s time for the teams to do their thing.

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