Ohio State and Oregon are 1-2 in preseason coaches poll, SEC’s 9 ranked teams leads all conferences

Ohio State and Oregon hold down the top two spots and the Southeastern Conference has five of the top 10 teams in the USA Today preseason coaches football poll released Tuesday.

The Buckeyes received 38 of the 72 first-place votes and were well ahead of the Ducks, who got six first-place votes.

No. 3 Georgia received seven first-place votes, No. 4 Texas got two and No. 5 Notre Dame five.

Defending national champion Indiana was No. 6 with 14 first-place votes and was followed by Miami, the team it beat in the College Football Playoff championship game. Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Mississippi rounded out the top 10.

Texas Tech, at No. 12, was the highest-ranked of four Big 12 teams in the poll. The SEC, with nine, had the most ranked teams.

No teams from a Group of Six conference were in the Top 25.

Ohio State went 12-0 in the 2025 regular season before losing to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and to Miami in the first round of the CFP. The Buckeyes return a Heisman Trophy finalist in quarterback Julian Sayin, one of the nation’s top receivers in Jeremiah Smith and an experienced offensive line.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be released at noon Eastern on Aug. 17.

USA Coaches Poll

1. Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Oregon Ducks
3. Georgia Bulldogs
4. Texas Longhorns
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
6. Indiana Hoosiers
7. Miami (FL) Hurricanes
8. Texas A&M Aggies
9. Oklahoma Sooners
10. Ole Miss Rebels
11. Alabama Crimson Tide
12. Texas Tech Red Raiders
13. LSU Tigers
14. USC Trojans
15. BYU Cougars
16. Michigan Wolverines
17. Penn State Nittany Lions
18. Tennessee Volunteers
19. Washington Huskies
20. SMU Mustangs
21. Utah Utes
22. Iowa Hawkeyes
23. Clemson Tigers
24. Houston Cougars
25. Missouri Tigers