The Texas Longhorns scored the No. 1 spot in the preseason AP top 25 poll for the first time in planning history, which gave Penn State’s Nittany Lions a mere five points, making it the closest preseason poll in 27 years. Texas received a total of 25 votes, while Penn State received 23 votes. The Longhorns beat Nittany Lions with 1,552 points to 1,547.
“It’s a new year, a new face, a new team, obviously expecting high from our plans,” Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said in the SEC media era. “I’m not naive about it. I won’t put my head on the beach, and the expectations are high. But I also say we’re the University of Texas, the standard is the standard here, and it’s the annual champion.”
The defending champion, Ohio State Buckeyes, finished third in the AP poll. This is after they beat Notre Dame to fight the Irish 34-23 in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championships.
“This team has its own identity,” said Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day. “It wants to have its own identity, but it also wants to be the first Ohio State to win a back-to-back championship.”
One of the biggest games of the season will be held in less than three weeks, when Texas and Ohio State face to face at Ohio Stadium. Last year, the Buckeyes defeated the Longhorns in the college football playoff semifinals.
There will be two other top ten matches on the same weekend. On August 30, at 7:30 PM ET, Clemson will serve at #9 LSU. The next day, Notre Dame is facing Miami #10.
Clemson and Georgia ranked in the top five. After that, Notre Dame ranked sixth, followed by Oregon, Alabama, Louisiana State University and Miami. Other notable plans for the preseason top 25 include Michigan (#14), Florida (#15), Oklahoma (#18), Texas A&M (#19), and Tennessee (#24).
Ten teams from the Southeast Conference (SEC) won a place in the top 25. Meanwhile, the Big Ten has six shows. AP Poll also has four large 12 teams and three ACC teams. The last two plans included are Notre Dame and the Boise State Broncos, which are ranked 25th.
The full pre-season AP poll rankings are as follows:
- Texas
- Penn State University
- Ohio
- Clemson
- Georgia
- Notre Dame Cathedral
- Oregon
- Alabama
- LSU
- Miami
- Arizona
- Illinois
- South Carolina
- Michigan
- Florida
- SMU
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Indiana
- Ole Miss
- Iowa
- Texas Institute of Technology
- Tennessee
- Boise State
Other teams that received the vote: BYU, Utah, Baylor, Louisville, USC, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Duran, Nebraska, Nebraska, UNLV, Toledo, Auburn, James Madison, James Madison, Memphis, Florida, Duke, Freedom, Navy, Iowa, Iowa, tcu, tcu, pittsbrgh, Army, Army, colorisaa, colorisaa, colorisaa, colorisaa-aiana-aiana-luafayteen.
The 2025-26 college football regular season will begin on August 23 and includes five games, including the first 25 games between Kansas State and Iowa State. The game will begin in the regular season at 12:00 pm ET.
