A couple of weeks after Ohio State landed at No. 1 in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes doubled down and were voted as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press preseason college football poll. It's the first time OSU will begin the year as the top-ranked team in the country since the beginning of the 2015 season, the year following a College Football Playoff national title run in 2014.
The Buckeyes weren't just barely voted No. 1 either; they were far ahead of No. 2 Oregon. Ohio State accumulated 1,672 total points to Oregon's 1,597 and received 40 of the 69 first-place votes. The Ducks grabbed 14 first-place votes, with the other nine going to Indiana (8), Notre Dame (6), and Miami (FL) (1).
Behind OSU and Oregon, and rounding out the top ten of the preseason AP poll were Georgia (3), Notre Dame (4), Texas (5), Indiana (6), Miami (FL) (7), Texas A&M (8), Ole Miss (9), and Oklahoma (10). If you are keeping track, that's three Big Ten teams and five SEC teams in the top ten. Michigan checked in at No. 16.
Here's a look at the complete preseason poll just dropped midday today:
Associated Press 2026 Preseason College Football Poll
| RK | Team | REC | PTS | TREND |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State(40) | 0-0 | 1672 | NR |
| 2 | Oregon(14) | 0-0 | 1597 | NR |
| 3 | Georgia | 0-0 | 1513 | NR |
| 4 | Notre Dame(6) | 0-0 | 1510 | NR |
| 5 | Texas | 0-0 | 1483 | NR |
| 6 | Indiana(8) | 0-0 | 1440 | NR |
| 7 | Miami(1) | 0-0 | 1379 | NR |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 0-0 | 1131 | NR |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 0-0 | 1102 | NR |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 0-0 | 1047 | NR |
| 11 | LSU | 0-0 | 988 | NR |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 0-0 | 983 | NR |
| 13 | Alabama | 0-0 | 904 | NR |
| 14 | USC | 0-0 | 839 | NR |
| 14 | BYU | 0-0 | 839 | NR |
| 16 | Michigan | 0-0 | 718 | NR |
| 17 | Washington | 0-0 | 501 | NR |
| 18 | Penn State | 0-0 | 482 | NR |
| 19 | SMU | 0-0 | 434 | NR |
| 20 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 394 | NR |
| 21 | Utah | 0-0 | 304 | NR |
| 22 | Iowa | 0-0 | 260 | NR |
| 23 | Houston | 0-0 | 252 | NR |
| 24 | Louisville | 0-0 | 194 | NR |
| 25 | Missouri | 0-0 | 117 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Clemson 112, Florida 51, Boise State 43, Arizona 32, TCU 11, South Carolina 10, Navy 10, Illinois 9, Vanderbilt 8, Oklahoma State 8, Pittsburgh 7, Virginia Tech 6, Minnesota 5, UNLV 4, Louisiana 4, New Mexico 4, Georgia Tech 4, James Madison 3, Auburn 3, Memphis 2, California 2, Western Michigan 1, Tulane 1, Liberty 1, Virginia 1
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Where did Ohio State land in the AP Preseason College Football Poll?