AP Top 25 poll: Ohio State preseason No. 1, Oregon at No. 2 in college football rankings
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- Ohio State tops the AP preseason Top 25 with 40 of 69 first-place votes, its first No. 1 preseason ranking since 2015, followed by Oregon at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3, Notre Dame at No. 4 and Texas at No. 5
- Alabama (2017) and USC (2004) are the only preseason No. 1 teams to win a national title this century, underscoring how rarely the August favorite finishes the job
- Texas was preseason No. 1 last year for the first time in program history before losing its opener at Ohio State and finishing 10-3
- Indiana, the defending national champion under Curt Cignetti, debuts at No. 6 after also placing sixth in the preseason Coaches Poll
- The Big Ten lands eight teams in the AP Poll, tying the SEC for the most selections of any conference
- The SEC has not returned to the CFP National Championship Game since Georgia won its second straight title after the 2023 season
Why it matters: Preseason No. 1 has won the title just twice this century, so Ohio State's top billing is more coronation than prophecy — and with eight Big Ten teams in the poll tying the SEC's conference high, the league's depth signals a structural power shift heading into the 12-day countdown to Week 0.
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