Ohio State was voted No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll, according to results released Tuesday by USA Today. Defending College Football Playoff champion Indiana, coming off an undefeated season, is not the Big Ten conference member at the top of the preseason coaches poll, but instead comes in at No. 6.
Preseason Rankings
Another Big Ten program, Oregon, landed at No. 2, ahead of Southeastern Conference programs Georgia and Texas, then Notre Dame, an independent. Indiana comes in at No. 6 but with 14 of the 72 first-place votes cast, second only to Ohio State’s 38.
Miami, which lost to Indiana in the CFP title game last winter, was voted No. 7, with Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss rounding out the top 10. Alabama is No. 11, marking the first time since 2008 that the Crimson Tide will start a season outside the top 10 in the coaches poll.
Ohio State (Julian Sayin), Oregon (Dante Moore), Georgia (Gunner Stockton), Texas (Arch Manning) and Notre Dame (C.J. Carr) all return their starting quarterbacks from the 2025 season. Indiana will have a new QB (TCU transfer Josh Hoover) following the graduation of Francisco Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy and was the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
