Ohio State Named No. 1 in 2026 AP Preseason Top 25 Ahead of Oregon and Georgia
Ohio State is your 2026 AP preseason No. 1, and it is not particularly close.
The Buckeyes picked up 40 first-place votes in the poll released Monday, well ahead of Oregon at No. 2 with 14 and Georgia at No. 3 with zero. Notre Dame took fourth with six first-place votes, and Texas rounded out the top five.
Defending national champion Indiana came in at No. 6 with eight first-place votes, an unusual placement for a returning champ. Miami, which lost to Indiana in the national title game in January, is right behind at No. 7 with one first-place vote.
Why Ohio State Is No. 1
The Buckeyes bring back a stacked roster, most of the offensive line, and one of the best running-back rooms in the country. Ryan Day has finally quieted the criticism that followed the 2024 team, and the program went through the 2025 season with the kind of quiet dominance that voters reward.
Voters also seem to be baking in the Ohio State recruiting pipeline. When the roster is this loaded and the returning production is this high, the preseason ranking almost writes itself.
Oregon and Georgia Are Right There
Oregon at No. 2 is a statement. The Ducks have been building toward this under Dan Lanning, and their recruiting classes are legitimately competing with anyone in the SEC. Oregon has a real quarterback, real playmakers, and a defense that is starting to look like a Lanning defense.
Georgia at No. 3 is where you would expect them. Kirby Smart never gets ranked lower than the top five in August, and that trend continues. The Dawgs are always in the conversation, and voters are not going to be the ones to break that pattern.
The Conference Story
The SEC has seven teams in the top 13. The Big Ten has the top two spots and the reigning champ at No. 6. This is the annual argument that gets played out every August and settled every January.
The Big Ten has won three straight national titles. That is not a fluke anymore. Ohio State, Michigan and Indiana have all cut down the nets in that stretch, and the depth of the conference has caught up to the SEC in a real way.
Indiana at No. 6 Is Notable
Defending champs usually get more preseason love. The fact that Indiana is No. 6 despite winning it all last season says a lot about how voters view the returning roster. The Hoosiers lost several key pieces to the NFL and the transfer portal, and voters are skeptical they can repeat.
That skepticism could be motivation. Curt Cignetti has already turned Indiana into something nobody thought was possible. Ranking them sixth after a title is going to make for great early-season storylines when they inevitably beat a top-10 team on the road.
The Watch List
BYU and USC are tied at No. 14. Boise State and Navy are the highest-ranked Group of Six programs. And there is a wide gap between the top 10 and everyone else in this poll, which usually means the playoff picture is going to sort itself out fast.
The season kicks off in less than two weeks. Ohio State starts with a real early-season test that will tell us in a hurry whether the preseason ranking is going to hold.
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.
