College football updated polls: How AP Top 25 compares to Coaches Poll rankings for 2026 season
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College football updated polls: How AP Top 25 compares to Coaches Poll rankings for 2026 season originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Preseason Polls are complete.
The AP Poll was released Monday, and Ohio State took the No. 1 spot. The Buckeyes also were ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. That’s a clean sweep heading into the 2026 college football season.
Did that math change when you factor in the Sporting News Preseason Top 25, which has defending national champion Indiana at No. 1? Sporting News looked at the AP Poll and Coaches Poll and compared that to our Top 25 to form a consensus top 25.
Ohio State remains No. 1 when you look across all three sets of rankings. Georgia, the two-time defending SEC champions, is No. 2 in that consensus ranking. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 in all three polls. Oregon is next at No. 3, followed by Texas and Indiana in a tie. The Big Ten and SEC have all three teams in the top five.
Notre Dame and Miami come in at No. 6 and No. 7 when you total those three rankings. How did the rest of the consensus Top 25 shake out? Here is a closer look at the AP Top 25, Coaches Top 25, SN Top 25 and consensus rankings:
Here is how the AP Preseason Top 25 compares with the Coaches Poll and Sporting News Top 25.
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Preseason AP Top 25
The Preseason AP Top 25 was released Monday. No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon lead the first AP Preseason Poll.
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES |
| 1 | Ohio State (40) | 1,672 |
| 2 | Oregon (14) | 1,597 |
| 3 | Georgia | 1,513 |
| 4 | Notre Dame (6) | 1,510 |
| 5 | Texas | 1,483 |
| 6 | Indiana (8) | 1,440 |
| 7 | Miami (1) | 1,379 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 1,131 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 1,102 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 1,047 |
| 11 | LSU | 988 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 983 |
| 13 | Alabama | 904 |
| 14 | BYU | 839 |
| 14 | USC | 839 |
| 16 | Michigan | 718 |
| 17 | Washington | 501 |
| 18 | Penn State | 482 |
| 19 | SMU | 434 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 394 |
| 21 | Utah | 304 |
| 22 | Iowa | 260 |
| 23 | Houston | 252 |
| 24 | Louisville | 194 |
| 25 | Missouri | 117 |
Others receiving votes: Clemson 112, Florida 51, Boise State 43, Arizona 32, TCU 11, Navy 10, South Carolina 10, Illinois 9, Oklahoma State 8, Vanderbilt 8, Pittsburgh 7, Virginia Tech 6, Minnesota 5, UNLV 4, New Mexico 4, Georgia Tech 4, Louisiana 4, James Madison 3, Auburn 3, Memphis 2, California 2, Liberty 1, Western Michigan 1, Tulane 1, Virginia 1
MORE: Sporting News 2026 college football Preseason All-America team
Preseason USA Today UFCA Coaches Poll
A look at the Preseason USA Today UFC Coaches Poll, which was released on Aug. 4:
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES |
| 1 | Ohio State (38) | 1,741 |
| 2 | Oregon (6) | 1,637 |
| 3 | Georgia (7) | 1,591 |
| 4 | Texas (2) | 1,544 |
| 5 | Notre Dame (5) | 15,24 |
| 6 | Indiana (14) | 1,522 |
| 7 | Miami | 1,409 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 1,174 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 1,104 |
| 10 | Ole Miss | 1,096 |
| 11 | Alabama | 1,050 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 1,034 |
| 13 | LSU | 951 |
| 14 | USC | 838 |
| 15 | BYU | 781 |
| 16 | Michigan | 718 |
| 17 | Penn State | 463 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 428 |
| 19 | Washington | 406 |
| 20 | SMU | 378 |
| 21 | Utah | 313 |
| 22 | Iowa | 291 |
| 23 | Clemson | 235 |
| 24 | Houston | 194 |
| 25 | Missouri | 158 |
Others receiving votes: Louisville 153; Florida 147; TCU 63; Illinois 62; South Carolina 50; Arizona 50; Virginia 40; Vanderbilt 37; Auburn 29; Georgia Tech 26; Boise State 24; Oklahoma State 22; UNLV 17; North Carolina State 13; Florida State 13; Virginia Tech 12; Nebraska 12; Memphis 9; Arizona State 8; James Madison 6; Duke 6; Pittsburgh 4; New Mexico 4; Western Michigan 3; Navy 3; San Diego State 2; Kansas State 1; Jacksonville State 1; Hawaii 1; California 1
Composite Top 25 of AP, Coaches, SN Polls
Here is a look at a composite of the AP Top 25, Coaches Poll and SN Preseason Top 25. We totaled the three polls to give each school a composite ranking:
| RANK | SCHOOL | SN | COACH | AP | TOTAL |
| 1 | Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 1 | 74 |
| 2 | Georgia | 3 | 3 | 3 | 69 |
| 3 | Oregon | 6 | 2 | 2 | 68 |
| 4 | Indiana | 1 | 6 | 6 | 65 |
| 4 | Texas | 4 | 4 | 5 | 65 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 5 | 5 | 4 | 64 |
| 7 | Miami | 7 | 7 | 7 | 57 |
| 8 | Ole Miss | 8 | 10 | 9 | 51 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 11 | 8 | 8 | 51 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 9 | 9 | 10 | 50 |
| 11 | Alabama | 12 | 11 | 13 | 42 |
| 12 | LSU | 14 | 13 | 11 | 40 |
| 13 | USC | 10 | 14 | 15 | 39 |
| 14 | BYU | 15 | 15 | 14 | 34 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 20 | 12 | 12 | 34 |
| 16 | Michigan | 13 | 16 | 16 | 33 |
| 17 | Penn State | 17 | 17 | 18 | 26 |
| 18 | Utah | 16 | 21 | 21 | 20 |
| 19 | Washington | 24 | 19 | 17 | 18 |
| 20 | SMU | 23 | 20 | 19 | 16 |
| 21 | Iowa | 19 | 22 | 22 | 15 |
| 22 | Tennessee | – | 18 | 20 | 14 |
| 23 | Missouri | – | 25 | 2 | 12 |
| 24 | Louisville | 18 | – | 24 | 10 |
| 24 | Houston | 21 | 24 | 23 | 10 |
| 26 | Illinois | 22 | – | – | 4 |
| 27 | Clemson | – | 23 | – | 3 |
| 28 | Virginia Tech | 25 | – | – | 1 |
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