2026 Preseason AP Top 25 Football Poll

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Football · 2026 · Preseason

Explore the Ballots Behind the Rankings

Compare voter ballots and explore the poll’s standout votes.

AP Top 25 Preseason

2026 · 2026-08-17

69 Complete Ballots

My Teams

AP Top 25 — 2026 Preseason · Compact Rankings
Rank	Team	Points	1st	Ranked By
1	Ohio State	1,672	40	69/69
2	Oregon	1,597	14	69/69
3	Georgia	1,513	—	69/69
4	Notre Dame	1,510	6	69/69
5	Texas	1,483	—	69/69
6	Indiana	1,440	8	69/69
7	Miami	1,379	1	69/69
8	Texas A&M	1,131	—	69/69
9	Ole Miss	1,102	—	68/69
10	Oklahoma	1,047	—	69/69
11	LSU	988	—	68/69
12	Texas Tech	983	—	69/69
13	Alabama	904	—	69/69
14	BYU	839	—	68/69
14	USC	839	—	69/69
16	Michigan	718	—	69/69
17	Washington	501	—	62/69
18	Penn State	482	—	65/69
19	SMU	434	—	68/69
20	Tennessee	394	—	61/69
21	Utah	304	—	53/69
22	Iowa	260	—	62/69
23	Houston	252	—	58/69
24	Louisville	198	—	49/69
25	Missouri	117	—	31/69

AP Top 25 — 2026 Preseason
Rank	Team		1st		Ranked High / Low
Rank 1	Ohio State	1,672	1st Votes40	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low1 / 7	1.2
Rank 2	Oregon	1,597	1st Votes14	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low1 / 10	1.7
Rank 3	Georgia	1,513	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low2 / 8	1.4
Rank 4	Notre Dame	1,510	1st Votes6	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low1 / 10	1.9
Rank 5	Texas	1,483	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low2 / 9	1.6
Rank 6	Indiana	1,440	1st Votes8	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low1 / 9	1.9
Rank 7	Miami	1,379	1st Votes1	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low1 / 9	1.7
Rank 8	Texas A&M	1,131	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low7 / 17	1.9
Rank 9	Ole Miss	1,102	1st Votes—	99%68/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low6 / 18	2.4
Rank 10	Oklahoma	1,047	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low7 / 17	2.1
Rank 11	LSU	988	1st Votes—	99%68/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low5 / 18	2.7
Rank 12	Texas Tech	983	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low5 / 23	3.0
Rank 13	Alabama	904	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low8 / 20	2.2
Rank 14	BYU	839	1st Votes—	99%68/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low8 / 18	2.1
Rank 14	USC	839	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low8 / 25	2.9
Rank 16	Michigan	718	1st Votes—	100%69/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low10 / 23	2.4
Rank 17	Washington	501	1st Votes—	90%62/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low10 / 24	2.3
Rank 18	Penn State	482	1st Votes—	94%65/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low14 / 25	2.4
Rank 19	SMU	434	1st Votes—	99%68/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low12 / 24	2.5
Rank 20	Tennessee	394	1st Votes—	88%61/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low14 / 25	2.8
Rank 21	Utah	304	1st Votes—	77%53/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low15 / 25	2.3
Rank 22	Iowa	260	1st Votes—	90%62/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low15 / 25	2.1
Rank 23	Houston	252	1st Votes—	84%58/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low15 / 25	2.5
Rank 24	Louisville	198	1st Votes—	71%49/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low16 / 25	1.9
Rank 25	Missouri	117	1st Votes—	45%31/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low18 / 25	2.1

Other Teams Receiving Votes (24)

Other Teams Receiving Votes — 2026 Preseason
Rank	Team		1st		Ranked High / Low
Rank NR	Clemson	112	1st Votes—	49%34/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low15 / 25	2.1
Rank NR	Florida	51	1st Votes—	20%14/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low17 / 25	2.6
Rank NR	Boise State	43	1st Votes—	22%15/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low18 / 25	2.2
Rank NR	Arizona	32	1st Votes—	13%9/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low19 / 25	1.9
Rank NR	TCU	11	1st Votes—	7%5/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low23 / 25	1.0
Rank NR	Navy	10	1st Votes—	10%7/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low24 / 25	0.5
Rank NR	South Carolina	10	1st Votes—	4%3/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low20 / 25	2.1
Rank NR	Illinois	9	1st Votes—	4%3/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low20 / 25	2.2
Rank NR	Oklahoma State	8	1st Votes—	4%3/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low20 / 25	2.4
Rank NR	Vanderbilt	8	1st Votes—	4%3/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low21 / 25	1.7
Rank NR	Pittsburgh	7	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low19 / 19	0.0
Rank NR	Virginia Tech	6	1st Votes—	3%2/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low22 / 24	1.0
Rank NR	Minnesota	5	1st Votes—	3%2/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low22 / 25	1.5
Rank NR	Georgia Tech	4	1st Votes—	3%2/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low23 / 25	1.0
Rank NR	New Mexico	4	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low22 / 22	0.0
Rank NR	UNLV	4	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low22 / 22	0.0
Rank NR	Auburn	3	1st Votes—	3%2/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low24 / 25	0.5
Rank NR	James Madison	3	1st Votes—	3%2/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low24 / 25	0.5
Rank NR	California	2	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low24 / 24	0.0
Rank NR	Memphis	2	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low24 / 24	0.0
Rank NR	Liberty	1	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low25 / 25	0.0
Rank NR	Tulane	1	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low25 / 25	0.0
Rank NR	Virginia	1	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low25 / 25	0.0
Rank NR	Western Michigan	1	1st Votes—	1%1/69 Voters	Ranked High / Low25 / 25	0.0

Coverage and Sources

The 2026 Preseason AP Football poll was published on 2026-08-17. 49 teams received votes.

Browse All 2026 Polls →

Biggest Ballot Outliers

Voters whose rankings differ most from the AP Top 25, comparing teams both rank.

Voter

Javon Edmonds22 Compared · 3 Added / 3 Omitted3.41 Jon Wilner20 Compared · 5 Added / 5 Omitted3.35 Mike Griffith22 Compared · 3 Added / 3 Omitted2.91 Brett McMurphy24 Compared · 1 Added / 1 Omitted2.79 Rece Davis22 Compared · 3 Added / 3 Omitted2.77

Minimum 10 shared ranked teams.

Explore All Voters →

Biggest Inclusion Differences

Voters with the most additions and omissions compared with the AP Top 25.

Voter
Jon Wilner	5 / 5
David Jablonski	5 / 5
Dylan Sinn	4 / 4
Koki Riley	4 / 4
Ralph Russo	4 / 4

Ballot Distribution

Choose a team to see how its votes are distributed.

Team

Texas Tech3.0

100% · 69 of 69 Voters
Average When Ranked: #11.75 · 0 Unranked

Ranked High #5 · Low #230 / 69 Ballots

View Exact Distribution

Texas Tech votes by rank, including zero counts
Rank	Voters
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	1
6	0
7	0
8	4
9	8
10	10
11	16
12	8
13	9
14	5
15	2
16	1
17	2
18	0
19	1
20	0
21	1
22	0
23	1
24	0
25	0
NR	0

69Complete Ballots

49Teams Receiving Votes

1.78

2.95Texas Tech · 69 Ranked Votes

Read the Numbers

Hover, focus, or tap an underlined term for a quick explanation.

How We Calculate This →

Biggest Individual Outliers

The largest gaps between a voter’s rank and the AP rank for the same team.

Voter	Team	Vote
Jon Wilner	Texas Tech	#23	#12	-11
Brett McMurphy	USC	#25	#14	-11
Nicole Auerbach	Ole Miss	#18	#9	-9
Ralph Russo	Texas A&M	#17	#8	-9
David Briggs	Texas Tech	#21	#12	-9
Jon Wilner	Ole Miss	#17	#9	-8
Matt Murschel	Texas A&M	#16	#8	-8
Bob Asmussen	Houston	#15	#23	+8

Who’s In, Who’s Out

Teams voters included outside the AP Top 25, and Top 25 teams they left out.

View All Added and Omitted Teams

2026 · Preseason · 2026-08-17 · 69/69 complete ballots.

Rank	Voters
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	1
6	0
7	0
8	4
9	8
10	10
11	16
12	8
13	9
14	5
15	2
16	1
17	2
18	0
19	1
20	0
21	1
22	0
23	1
24	0
25	0
NR	0

Rank	Voters
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	1
6	0
7	0
8	4
9	8
10	10
11	16
12	8
13	9
14	5
15	2
16	1
17	2
18	0
19	1
20	0
21	1
22	0
23	1
24	0
25	0
NR	0

AP Rankings and Voter Ballots

AP Top 25 Preseason

My Teams

Read the Numbers

Biggest Individual Outliers

Who’s In, Who’s Out

Rank	Voters
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	1
6	0
7	0
8	4
9	8
10	10
11	16
12	8
13	9
14	5
15	2
16	1
17	2
18	0
19	1
20	0
21	1
22	0
23	1
24	0
25	0
NR	0