Illinois football team snubbed in 2026 preseason coaches poll

The Illinois Fighting Illini's number never came up in the 2026 US LBM preseason college football Coaches Poll on Tuesday.

The Illini did not catch a Top 25 spot, coming off a season in which they went 9-4 and earned a berth in the Music City Bowl.

Ohio State was ranked No. 1, pulling in the top spot on 38 of the 72 ballots cast by the coaches. Defending champion Indiana drew 14 No. 1 votes but was sixth in the poll.

Clemson was at No. 23, its lowest preseason coaches poll position since 2011.

There are five Big Ten teams that made the list, including Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan, Penn State and Iowa. Illinois was among "other teams receiving votes," the fourth position on that list with 62 points.

You can sign up for the USA Today college football newsletter here, which tracks the playoff race.

2026 US LBM Coaches Poll preseason Top 25 rankings

1 Ohio State, 1741 (38)

2 Oregon, 1637 (6)

3 Georgia, 1591 (7)

4 Texas, 1544 (2)

5 Notre Dame, 1524 (5)

6 Indiana, 1522 (14)

7 Miami (Fla.), 1709

8 Texas A&M, 1174

9 Oklahoma, 1104

10 Mississippi, 1096

11 Alabama, 1050

12 Texas Tech, 1034

13 Louisiana State University, 951

14 USC, 838

15 Brigham Young, 781

16 Michigan, 719

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

Other teams 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; NC 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.

Who has a vote?

The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2026 season:

Tim Albin, Charlotte; Blake Anderson, Southern Mississippi; Dave Aranda, Baylor; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, North Texas; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Jake Dickert, Wake Forest; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Matt Entz, Fresno State.

Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Virginia Tech; Willie Fritz, Houston; Scott Frost, Central Florida; Tony Gibson, Marshall; Alex Golesh, Auburn; Will Hall, Tulane; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; John Hauser, Ohio; Clay Helton, Georgia Southern; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Memphis; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; KC Keeler, Temple; Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Collin Klein, Kansas State; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo.

Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Kirby Moore, Washington State; Eric Morris, Oklahoma State; Dan Mullen, UNLV; Billy Napier, James Madison; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, Purdue; Tim Polasek, North Dakota State.

Tavita Pritchard, Stanford; Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Morgan Scalley, Utah; JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Will Stein, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Florida; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso; Kyle Whittingham, Michigan; Casey Woods, Missouri State.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Illinois football team snubbed in 2026 preseason coaches poll