The 2026 college football season is getting off to an imposing start for the Big Ten. Ohio State is No. 1 and Oregon is No. 2 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll, making the conference only the second in history to have the No. 1 and No.
2 teams. State of Ohio were awarded 40 of the 69 first choice votes, with 14 to Oregon. Due to the poll, the Buckeyes and the Ducks sit above Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas in the first five. Is Ohio State’s ranking a step forward or backward? It can be both.
No. 1 for AP preseason No. 9 for the program and AP preseason No. 1 for the first time since 2015, Ohio State is in the NCAA as a prominent place in the program. With this, the program also is co No. 1 in the country with Alabama for the most PRE as No. 1 in the country for AP with most No. 1 Pre.: 1. The hype is so high because Ohio State has a lot of star offensive players to return.
Expect sophomore QB Julian Sayin and current best player, WR Jeremiah Smith to be the offensive leaders as Ohio State looks to balance the hype around them by winning a national championship. Though it will not be easy as they get into tough matchups against high ranked Texas, Indiana and Oregon. Oregon’s No. 2 spot is another historic moment for the program. It’s the highest preseason ranking to datethe Ducks have come as close as No.
3 four timesand they come into the season on the heels of a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance, with Dante Moore directing their offense to help them shoot for the Big Ten and national championship. The one-two ranking also is of historical importance to the Big Ten as a conference.
The last timeand only other timethe league had the top two programs in the AP preseason poll was in 1961, with Iowa and Ohio State holding those rankings.
The current outcome arrives on the heels of the Big Ten having won the last three College Football Playoff national championships, providing yet more hype into whether the conference can make it four in a row. While still having the top two positions, the SEC now has more teams than any other conference in the rankings with nine teams in the Top 25 to the Big Ten’s eight.
Georgia sits third with Notre Dame fourth and Texas fifth. Defending national champion Indiana leads the new season at number six while Miami are seventh. The poll also illustrates just how close the rivalries for the No. 1 spot in the pole tend to be. Five different teams received first-place votes with Ohio State Oregon Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami also grabbing votes.
Ohio State is the favorite but has some stiff competition from these other teams. The No. 6 ranking for Indiana is a result of the Hoosiers’ incredible 16-0 season and national title. They now must replace star players and demonstrate that last season represented the start of several successful years rather than a one-year fluke.
