The Associated Press college football preseason rankings have placed Ohio State at No. 1 and Oregon at No. 2, marking the first time since 1961 that the Big Ten Conference has held the top two positions in the initial poll. The Buckeyes received 40 first-place votes from 69 media members, while Oregon garnered 14.
This marks the ninth time Ohio State has entered a season ranked No. 1, and the first since 2015. The Buckeyes are now tied with Alabama for the second-most preseason No. 1 rankings, trailing only Oklahoma's ten. For Oregon, this is its highest preseason ranking in program history; the Ducks have previously opened the season at No. 3 on four occasions.
Rounding out the top five are Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas. Defending national champion Indiana is ranked No. 6, followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Notre Dame secured six first-place votes, Indiana received eight, and Miami earned one.
This preseason top-two alignment for the Big Ten mirrors a similar situation in 1987 when Oklahoma and Nebraska of the Big Eight held the top two spots. The Big Ten has been dominant in recent College Football Playoffs, winning the last three championships with Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana. The conference will aim for an unprecedented fourth consecutive national title.
The SEC continues to lead conferences with nine teams in the preseason Top 25, a streak of at least that many teams for three consecutive years. Five of the top 10 teams are from the SEC, the first time this has occurred since 2013.
The Big 12 features four ranked teams, with Big 12 champion Texas Tech ranked highest at No. 12. The Atlantic Coast Conference has three ranked teams: Miami, No. 19 SMU, and No. 24 Louisville.
No. 1-ranked Ohio State faces a challenging early schedule, including a visit to Texas on September 12 and five conference games against preseason ranked opponents, with road games at Indiana and a home matchup against Oregon.
Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs are in the preseason top five for the ninth consecutive year. The two-time defending SEC champions are favored to reach their sixth straight conference title game and appear in the College Football Playoff for the sixth time in a decade.
Texas, which was ranked No. 1 in the preseason last year, opens the season in the top five for the third year in a row. Texas A&M, ranked eighth, is in the top 10 for the first time since 2022. Mississippi, at No. 9, is in the preseason top 10 for the second time in three years and the third time since 1970.
Oklahoma's No. 10 ranking marks its first preseason top-10 appearance since 2022, when it was part of the Big 12.
Indiana enters the season ranked outside the top five as the seventh returning national champion in 40 years to do so, and the second in three years. Michigan was ranked No. 9 in the 2024 season after winning the national title.
The Hoosiers achieved a 16-0 record, becoming the first team in the modern era to do so. They return significant talent and have signed a top-10 transfer class. Doubts about their quarterback situation, with the departure of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza for the NFL, and the transition to TCU transfer Josh Hoover, may have influenced voters.