Ohio State Tops Preseason AP Top 25 as Clemson Falls Unranked for First Time Since 2011

Ohio State opens the 2026 season right where it left off: at the top. The Buckeyes landed the No. 1 spot in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, released Monday, collecting 40 of a possible 69 first-place votes to lead Oregon and Georgia in a poll that also delivered one of the more jarring storylines in recent memory — Clemson is unranked for the first time since 2011, snapping a run of 14 straight preseason Top 25 appearances.

The Buckeyes enter the year as defending national champions and will try to become just the 12th team since the preseason poll began in 1950 to start and finish a season ranked No. 1. Ohio State has now opened a season atop the poll nine times, tying Alabama for second-most all-time behind Oklahoma’s 10, and this marks the program’s first preseason No. 1 ranking since 2015. Only one team has pulled off the wire-to-wire feat since 2017, when Alabama did it, so history is not exactly on the Buckeyes’ side even with the talent and momentum they carry into the fall.

Big Ten Grabs the Top Two Spots for the First Time in 65 Years

Oregon checked in at No. 2 with 14 first-place votes, giving the Big Ten the top two spots in a preseason poll for just the second time ever and the first time since Oklahoma and Nebraska did it out of the old Big Eight in 1987. Georgia rounded out the top three without a first-place vote, followed by Notre Dame at No. 4 (six first-place votes) and Texas at No. 5. Indiana continued its remarkable rise under Curt Cignetti, cracking the top six with eight first-place votes, while Miami grabbed the final first-place vote at No. 7. In all, five programs — Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami — received at least one first-place vote from the 69 media members who participated in the poll.

The rest of the top 25 reflects the sport’s shifting power balance: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas Tech and Alabama fill out the eight through 13 spots, while BYU and USC share No. 14. Michigan, Washington, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville and Missouri close out the poll. The SEC placed nine teams in the rankings, edging the Big Ten’s eight, underscoring just how deep both conferences remain heading into the season. Bettors weighing early season futures can find CFB championship markets already reacting to the poll’s release.

Clemson’s Unranked Shock Headlines the Poll

No storyline generated more buzz than Clemson’s absence from the rankings. The Tigers received 112 votes in the “others receiving” category — the most of any unranked team — placing them at an unofficial No. 26, just five votes behind Missouri’s No. 25 slot. It’s the first time Dabo Swinney’s program has opened a season outside the AP Top 25 since 2011, ending a streak of 14 consecutive preseason appearances that dated back to 2012, including nine top-10 preseason starts over the last decade.

The fall from grace followed a disappointing 2025 campaign in which Clemson opened the year ranked No. 4, started 1-3, and stumbled to a 7-6 finish capped by a bowl loss to Penn State. The Tigers had also slipped to No. 23 in the preseason Coaches Poll earlier this month — their lowest coaches ranking since 2011 — a decision that drew sharp criticism from national analysts. The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel questioned the justification for ranking Clemson at all given the roster turnover and an unproven quarterback situation, drawing a comparison to how voters kept ranking Miami out of habit during that program’s early-2000s decline. USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer went further, calling the coaches’ inclusion of Clemson a “lifetime achievement recognition” for Swinney rather than a reflection of the current roster.

What Comes Next for the Contenders

History suggests the preseason poll is far from a lock. Eleven teams in last year’s preseason Top 25 finished the season unranked, and no team that opened a season unranked has won a national title outright since Georgia Tech split the crown with Colorado in 1990 — a reminder that plenty of chaos still awaits between now and the College Football Playoff. Fans looking to get a jump on the year can already track college football odds as lines begin forming around marquee September matchups.

For Ohio State, the pressure now shifts to proving the preseason hype is warranted against a slate that includes several ranked opponents. For Clemson, the mission is simpler and more urgent: prove the pollsters wrong and claw back into the postseason conversation after a season that fell well short of expectations. Both storylines will shape the sport’s early narrative as the 2026 season kicks off in the coming weeks.