Ohio State football is ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press football poll for the first time since 2015.
The Buckeyes will enter the season as the top-ranked team in both major college football polls, as they also earned the No. 1 spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll, which was released on Aug. 4.
After earning 38 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes received 40 of 69 possible first-place votes in the AP Poll, totaling 1,672 vote points.
Oregon, ranked No. 2 by both the media and coaches, tallied 1,597 points and 14 first-place votes in the AP Poll. Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami also received at least one first-place vote.
Including Oregon and No. 6 Indiana, the Buckeyes will face six teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll – No. 5 Texas, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan and No. 22 Iowa. Illinois, Ohio State’s oponent on Sept. 26, missed making the top 25, but was listed as receiving votes.
Across the previous nine AP preseason polls, Ohio State cracked the top five, receiving at least one first-place vote in seven of those rankings, but always fell short of the No. 1 spot.
Ohio State ranked No. 3 in the 2025 preseason poll, with Texas and Penn State earning the top two spots. The Buckeyes went on to defeat both teams during the regular season.
Only two teams ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll have proceeded to win the national college football championship, the most recent being Alabama in 2017.
2026 preseason AP Poll
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football earns No.1 ranking in preseason AP Poll
Reporting by Brianna Mac Kay, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Brianna Mac Kay, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
