Rankings
2026 Coaches Poll Top 25: Ohio State opens No. 1, Indiana reveals a divided ballot
The Buckeyes lead a poll dominated by the SEC and Big Ten, while the defending champion Hoosiers drew 14 first-place votes and finished only sixth.
Ohio State owns the first line of the 2026 preseason US LBM Coaches Poll. The more revealing result sits five spots lower. The Buckeyes received 38 first-place votes and 1,741 points to open at No. 1, while defending national champion Indiana collected 14 first-place votes—second-most in the poll—and still finished No. 6. That gap matters because it shows that coaches agree on the leading contenders for the college football season more than they agree on the order.
The American Football Coaches Association poll asks each voter to rank 25 teams. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 and the scale continues to one point for 25th. That system rewards broad agreement across the entire ballot, not just the number of coaches willing to put a team first. It does not determine a conference race or playoff field. Ohio State’s combination of 38 first-place votes and 1,741 total points produced a 104-point advantage over No. 2 Oregon.
The complete Top 25 is: 1. Ohio State; 2. Oregon; 3. Georgia; 4. Texas; 5. Notre Dame; 6. Indiana; 7. Miami; 8. Texas A&M; 9. Oklahoma; 10. Ole Miss; 11. Alabama; 12. Texas Tech; 13. LSU; 14. USC; 15. BYU; 16. Michigan; 17. Penn State; 18. Tennessee; 19. Washington; 20. SMU; 21. Utah; 22. Iowa; 23. Clemson; 24. Houston; and 25. Missouri.
Six teams received at least one first-place vote, and all six occupy the first six positions. Ohio State led with 38, Indiana followed with 14, Georgia received seven, Oregon six, Notre Dame five and Texas two. The ranking therefore contains two different messages for the season: Ohio State is the strongest consensus choice, but the 34 first-place votes cast for teams other than the Buckeyes leave plenty of disagreement at the top.
Indiana is the sharpest example. The Hoosiers’ 14 first-place votes exceeded the combined total for Oregon and Georgia, yet their 1,522 points left them sixth. Notre Dame finished fifth with 1,524 points—a two-point margin across the full poll. The result indicates that Indiana inspired more No. 1 conviction than every team except Ohio State while also appearing lower on enough ballots to pull its overall position down.
The conference distribution shows how concentrated the preseason field is. The SEC placed nine teams in the Top 25: Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and Missouri. The Big Ten placed eight: Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana, USC, Michigan, Penn State, Washington and Iowa. Together, those leagues account for 17 of the 25 ranked teams and five of the top six.
The rest of the poll is narrower but still nationally relevant. The Big 12 has four ranked teams—Texas Tech, BYU, Utah and Houston. The ACC has Miami, SMU and Clemson. Notre Dame is the lone independent. Texas Tech begins at No. 12 after a 12-2 season listed by the AFCA, while SMU checks in at No. 20 and Houston at No. 24. Those placements put each conference schedule in position to change the national order once games begin.
The cut line was almost as tight as the Notre Dame–Indiana split. Missouri secured the final ranked position with 158 points. Louisville was the first team outside the Top 25 with 153, only five points back, and Florida followed with 147. The AFCA’s previous-rank column also shows seven teams entering from outside the prior Top 25: LSU, Penn State, Tennessee, Washington, SMU, Clemson and Missouri.
Seven teams listed in the previous Top 25 dropped out: Vanderbilt, Virginia, Tulane, James Madison, Navy, Georgia Tech and Illinois. That movement should not be treated like a result on the field; it is a new preseason assessment set against the final order from last season. Still, it establishes the expectation line each team will carry into its first games and the comparison point for the next poll.
A preseason poll is best read as a map of confidence, not a forecast with certainty about the season, conference championships or playoff field. The point totals show where agreement is durable and where it is fragile. Ohio State’s lead is clear. Oregon and Georgia are separated by 46 points. Notre Dame and Indiana are separated by two. Missouri and Louisville are separated by five. Those margins are more informative than the rank numbers alone because they show where a small change in ballots could reorder the field.
The opening Coaches Poll ultimately creates two preseason standards. Ohio State starts as the consensus No. 1 and will be measured against the weight of that position. Indiana starts sixth but carries the unmistakable support of 14 first-place voters after its championship season. The Buckeyes lead the list; the Hoosiers explain why the list is already unsettled.