After a run of preseason rankings in college football, from conference predictions all the way to our FBS-wide CBS Sports 138, the pecking order of note is set to be released on Monday with the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2026 season. The rankings are scheduled to be released around noon ET, which means all of our favorite scoreboards (like the CBS Sports app!) will soon have little numbers beside the names of the best teams in the country. Though the College Football Playoff Rankings will determine the bracket for the national championship, the AP Top 25 poll is the ranking set that connects decades of college football history, all the way back to 1936.
Though the AP voters no longer have a direct say in determining the national champion, the rankings remain a core part of the college football conversation. It's out of respect for the institution that we celebrate the AP poll each week with Tomorrow's Top 25 Today, a Saturday night lookahead to Sunday's reset rankings. We'll predict movement up and down in the poll and offer a recap of how the day's action will impact the new top 25.
In years past, we have been able to identify certain trends in voting behavior during a season, establish some tiers among top teams and more once the ballots start getting tabulated. But for now, in the preseason, our projections are as blind as they will be all year. Luckily, the widespread availability of preseason rankings and power polls has established some tiers that should remain consistent to the AP voters.
There may be six or seven teams who are all getting some attention for potentially being No. 1 in the country, but that group of six or seven seems pretty set across most preseason rankings sets. Here's how we project the AP Top 25 poll to look when the preseason rankings are released on Monday: 1. Ohio State: While there is some voter churn each year the continuity factor is going to contribute to Ohio State getting some advantages when comparing top teams.
These are largely the same AP voters who had Ohio State at No. 1 in the country with a 12-0 record going into conference championship weekend, and the 2026 squad is headlined by the same coach, quarterback and star player. If Heisman finalist Julian Sayin and All-American wide receiver Jeremiah Smith were garnering 61 of 66 first-place votes prior to the postseason, they'll probably be the starting point for a lot of ballots even after a pair of December defeats. 2. Oregon: Dan Lanning's teams have finished inside the top four of the AP poll in each of the last two seasons, and with all the talent and production returning the Ducks present another high-floor propositions for voters.
There will be varying opinions about Oregon's candidacy as the No. 1 team, but Dante Moore and the Ducks are going to be showing up inside the top four on most ballots. 3. Texas: The AP voters put the Longhorns in the top spot heading into last season, so there might be some burned bridges from the preseason No. 1 finishing in the Cheez-It Bowl. But even if there's a penalty for under-performing expectations in 2025, you can't put a team this talented too far down a ballot.
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