Buckeyes, Ducks lead off preseason coaches' poll — SkimNews
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- Ohio State earned the No. 1 spot in the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll with 38 of 72 first-place votes — its first preseason No. 1 since 2015 — paced by Heisman contenders quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith.
- Oregon checked in at No. 2, followed by Georgia (No. 3), Texas (No. 4) and Notre Dame (No. 5); six different teams split the first-place votes, with Oregon (6), Georgia (7), Texas (2) and Notre Dame (5) joining Ohio State and Indiana.
- Indiana, the defending national champion after going 16-0 last season, opens at No. 6 with 14 first-place votes (second most), and coach Curt Cignetti pointed to Big Ten physicality as playoff preparation.
- The Hoosiers lost Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza, who went No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL draft, and replaced him with former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.
- Miami, which fell 27-21 to Indiana in last season's CFP National Championship, sits at No. 7 after grabbing quarterback Darian Mensah from Duke and returning tailback Mark Fletcher and receiver Malachi Toney.
- Last season, 11 teams in the preseason poll fell out of the final one, and three 2025 top-10 preseason teams — then-No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Clemson and No. 9 LSU — lost six games apiece, with Penn State firing James Franklin (replaced by Iowa State's Matt Campbell, now 17th-ranked) and LSU parting with Brian Kelly after eight games.
Why it matters: Six different teams collected first-place votes in this poll even as Big Ten teams have won each of the past three College Football Playoff national titles — and the source notes that 11 preseason-ranked teams fell out of last year's final poll, with both Penn State (new coach Matt Campbell) and Michigan (new coach Kyle Whittingham at No. 16) entering 2026 under fresh leadership after high-profile firings.
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