The preseason AP Top 25 poll was released Monday ahead of the upcoming 2026 season, and several familiar teams top the list.
The 2026 college football campaign may be kicking off with more parity, more experienced quarterbacks and more legitimate championship contenders than we’re accustomed to seeing, but that doesn’t mean the top dogs aren’t running the kennel.
The first Associated Press Top 25 poll was released Monday, with Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas in the top five spots.
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Ohio State and Oregon are 1-2 in the preseason poll while the SEC leads conferences with nine ranked teams. pic.twitter.com/KIcOlA5YyB— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) August 17, 2026
Despite the perennial favorites lingering, Indiana’s championship run last season has plenty of people wondering who this year’s Hoosiers might be.
Here are five burning questions from the first AP Top 25 ahead of the 2026 season:
Who Is Favored to Win the National Championship?
It’s no wonder the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (+600, DraftKings) have been installed as the preseason favorite, as they possess the most important combination in college football: an elite returning quarterback, arguably the country’s best player at wide receiver, an explosive running game and a defense coming off a dominant season. There’s also an intangible that can’t be found on the stat sheet, and that’s hunger. Ohio State went 12-0 during the 2025 regular season before losing its final two games to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and Miami in the CFP quarterfinal. Seeking to avenge those losses are quarterback Julian Sayin and wideout Jeremiah Smith.
Sayin is back after completing a whopping 77.0% of his passes for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions in his first year as the starter. His 177.46 passer rating ranked second nationally, while he also became a Heisman Trophy finalist. The obvious next step is converting his efficiency into postseason success after throwing 3 interceptions across Ohio State’s final two losses.
With Smith, who has just two college seasons under his belt, he’s amassed 2,558 yards receiving and 27 touchdowns — the most yards and scores by a Big Ten player over his first two seasons. Pair him with Sayin, Brandon Inniss and freshman phenom Chris Henry Jr., and Ohio State owns potentially college football’s most difficult receiving corps to defend.
Who is the Sleeper in the Preseason Top 25?
The world doesn’t want to admit it, because why would it want to cheer for coach Lane Kiffin? But, yes, the LSU Tigers (+1800) are a legitimate national-championship sleeper because Kiffin has inherited something he never truly had at Ole Miss: a roster with championship-level talent across the board, combined with the resources to rebuild weaknesses almost overnight through the transfer portal.
His offensive track record makes the Tigers immediately dangerous. Now factor in him bringing aboard offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., and it’s the right answer after LSU badly needed an overhaul after finishing 103rd nationally in scoring last season. Kiffin consistently produces explosive offenses, and in getting to operate with LSU’s recruiting base and resources, the Tigers will boast one of the nation’s biggest turnarounds on that side of the ball.
The other factor is that LSU brought in 43 transfers among 59 newcomers, allowing Kiffin to construct much of the roster around his system immediately rather than waiting through several recruiting cycles.
A Shift in Power From the SEC to the Big Ten?
Big Ten programs have won the last three national championships, and now, for the first time in 65 years, the conference has two teams in the top two spots. That doesn’t mean the SEC has been displaced completely. It simply means the sport has moved from SEC dominance to a genuine Big Ten-SEC power struggle. The more significant indicator was Indiana’s 16-0 run last season, as the Hoosiers — who check in at No. 6 in the preseason poll — demonstrated that Big Ten championship strength now extends beyond traditional powers Ohio State and Michigan.
The Buckeyes being atop the poll doesn’t mean as much as Oregon at No. 2. The Big Ten didn’t just get bigger when it poached teams from the Pac-12; it merely imported another national championship-caliber program. The Ducks finished No. 4 last season at 13-2 and now enter 2026 with quarterback Dante Moore returning rather than entering the NFL Draft, plus considerable experience on both sides of the ball.
That said, the SEC still has nine teams in the preseason AP Top 25 compared with eight for the Big Ten, and five programs are in the Top 10: Georgia (No. 3), Texas (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 8), Ole Miss (No. 9) and Oklahoma (No. 10). The SEC’s middle- and lower-tier teams remain stronger by several advanced-metric measures, and it has more teams ranked entering 2026. This could become the season that determines whether we’re witnessing a temporary swing or an actual changing of the guard.
Top AP Top 25 Matchups with CFP Implications
The Sept. 12 showdown between No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 16 Michigan in Ann Arbor carries significant early CFP implications because both teams face schedules that leave little room for wasted opportunities.
Michigan vs. Oklahoma will be one of the most exciting & pivotal early-season match-ups in college football this season. @3xOptionShow pic.twitter.com/O9dAlee89A
— Mid-Michigan NOW (@midmichigannow) August 17, 2026
For Oklahoma, winning in The Big House would provide an immediate marquee road victory before entering a brutal SEC schedule. TeamRankings.com rates the Sooners’ schedule as the third-toughest in the country, as they’ll later play Texas, Georgia, Ole Miss and Texas A&M among others.
Michigan’s road might be even more daunting. Phil Steele says the Wolverines’ schedule is second-hardest nationally, with games against Oklahoma, Iowa, Penn State and defending champion Indiana before late-season trips to No. 2 Oregon and No. 1 Ohio State.
That makes this more than an early SEC-Big Ten measuring stick. Both programs know multiple losses could be waiting in conference play, so beating another ranked powerhouse provides valuable résumé insurance.
A loss won’t eliminate Oklahoma or Michigan in September, but the winner leaves with the type of quality victory that could become a deciding factor when the CFP committee starts comparing similar résumés in December.
What is the Most Intriguing Group of Six Game in September?
No Group of Six program made the preseason AP Top 25, which tells you how wide-open the race is for which team might find its way into the playoffs. That makes an Aug. 29 showdown in Las Vegas extremely intriguing, as the Memphis Tigers invade Allegiant Stadium to face the UNLV Rebels. Neither team is in the Top 25, but both received preseason AP votes (UNLV T39th with 4 points and Memphis T45th with 2 points).
The Rebels are now a legitimate national program after being a conference doormat for decades. Some experts feel this is the season, under second-year coach Dan Mullen, that UNLV emerges as the G6 team with the best chance of reaching the CFP.
FOX color analyst @DevinGarnerXCI gives his thoughts on #UNLVFB practice, Dan Mullen’s game plan, and the young talent stepping up this year. 👇
Along w/Tim Brando, the former Michigan QB is on the call of the Rebels opener against Memphis on Aug. 29. pic.twitter.com/HWCw7HS3sS
— COFIELD (@stevecofield) August 14, 2026
Memphis, meanwhile, is still one of the nation’s most talented G6 programs despite the transition to coach Charles Huff. The Tigers’ schedule gives them a huge opportunity to climb into the rankings and eventually the playoff picture. And an early-season jackpot in Vegas would enhance their CFP résumé quickly.
W.G. Ramirez is a veteran sports writer from Las Vegas and a Staff Writer at TeamFB7.com. Follow him on X at @WillieGRamirez.
