Ohio State No. 1 in Coaches Poll: The Buckeyes Are the 2026 College Football Preseason Favorite
The Ohio State Buckeyes are the No. 1 team in the country entering the 2026 college football season, according to the USA Today Coaches Poll. Six teams received first-place votes, but the Buckeyes got the most, and they enter August as the clear preseason favorite to win a national championship.
The top of the poll is what you would expect. Ohio State at No. 1. Texas No. 2. Notre Dame No. 3. Georgia No. 4. Alabama No. 5. The Buckeyes edged out the Longhorns and Fighting Irish, largely because of the returning talent, the coaching stability under Ryan Day, and a roster that includes some of the best returning quarterback talent in the sport.
Ohio State always sits near the top of the preseason poll. What is different this year is that the Buckeyes really do have the roster to back it up. Ryan Day survived another year of “he cannot beat Michigan” discourse by, in fact, finally beating Michigan and making the College Football Playoff, and now he brings back most of that team plus a top-five recruiting class.
The defense is elite. The offensive line is stable. The running back room is loaded. The wide receiver group is the deepest in the country, and the quarterback battle between Julian Sayin and Air Noland has become one of the most-watched competitions in college football.
Texas is the Big 12-turned-SEC power at No. 2. Steve Sarkisian has recruited elite talent for four years in a row, and Arch Manning enters his second season as the starting quarterback with a real chance to be a Heisman finalist. Texas’ schedule includes a road trip to Ohio State in Week 3, and that game is already being talked about as the potential preview of the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Notre Dame is the surprise No. 3. The Irish had a great 2025 season and Marcus Freeman has continued to build a program that combines physical toughness with modern offensive scheme. They are the outsider that everyone is scared of.
Georgia at No. 4 is a slight downgrade from where they usually sit. Kirby Smart’s team lost a lot of NFL talent, and there are real questions about the offensive line and secondary. They are still Georgia, they are still going to win 10 games. But the top of the SEC has clearly moved to Alabama and Texas.
What is interesting further down the poll is Indiana in the top 15 for the second straight year, Texas Tech at No. 12 after adding a massive NIL-funded portal class, and reigning champion (in the Coaches Poll voters’ minds) still having Indiana’s Curt Cignetti as a legitimate threat despite losing significant talent.
The 2026 season is going to be about whether Ohio State can back up the top ranking with actual on-field results. They have failed at this before. The talent is there. The coaching stability is there. The schedule is manageable.
Ryan Day is on the shortest leash of any coach in the sport. Winning the national championship might not save him. Losing to Michigan again would end him.
The pressure starts now.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
