Buckeyes, Ducks lead off preseason coaches' poll
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- Ohio State earned the No. 1 spot with 38 of 72 first-place votes — its first preseason coaches' poll No. 1 since 2015 — paced by Heisman contenders quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith.
- Oregon came in at No. 2, followed by Georgia (3), Texas (4) and Notre Dame (5); six teams total received first-place votes, with Indiana getting 14 and Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame splitting the rest.
- Defending champion Indiana starts the season at No. 6 after going 16-0 in 2025, replacing Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza — the Las Vegas Raiders' No. 1 overall NFL draft pick — with former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover.
- Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said "the Big Ten is the best league in football" at Big Ten media days, citing the conference's physicality as playoff preparation, after the Big Ten won the last three CFP national titles.
- Miami, which fell 27-21 to Indiana in last season's CFP title game, is No. 7 after adding Duke transfer Darian Mensah at quarterback.
- The SEC placed nine teams in the poll — half of the top 10 — compared to eight for the Big Ten, four for the Big 12 and three for the ACC.
- Preseason polling proved volatile last year: 11 teams ranked in the 2025 preseason poll were absent from the final one, and three top-10 preseason teams (Penn State, Clemson, LSU) each lost six games, leading to the firings of James Franklin and Brian Kelly.
Why it matters: The poll cements the Big Ten's grip on college football's top of the rankings — six of the first eight slots, including No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon — and reinforces Indiana's legitimacy as defending champion despite losing its Heisman-winning QB. Eleven teams fell out of last year's final poll, a reminder that preseason positioning rarely holds for the full season.
