No SEC team drew a single first-place vote in the AP’s preseason college football rankings for 2026, a startling outcome in a poll that still had the conference everywhere else. Nine SEC teams landed among the top 25, but the message from voters was clear: the league’s championship grip is no longer being taken for granted.
At the top, Ohio State still looked like the safest bet. The Buckeyes earned 40 first-place votes and opened at No. 1, a nod to how much talent remains in Columbus even after key defensive departures.
Matt Patricia now has the job of replacing that production, and the offense is still built around Heisman finalist quarterback Julian Sayin and elite receiver Jeremiah Smith. The schedule won’t be soft, either, with six AP-ranked teams on the slate.
Oregon is the other team drawing real buzz as a title contender, with plenty of chatter this offseason about it being the Ducks’ “turn.” The roster has the kind of firepower that keeps that conversation alive.
Dante Moore is back at quarterback, and he’s working with what looks like college football’s best overall receiver room and maybe the Big Ten’s most talented backfield. On defense, Oregon added high-profile transfers at important spots and returns eight tacklers, giving it a group that could end up as the best in the country.
Georgia, meanwhile, is trying to make it three straight in Atlanta after back-to-back SEC titles. The Bulldogs have not won a College Football Playoff game since the mini-dynasty that produced national championships in 2021 and 2022, but they bring back enough to keep the machine humming.
Gunner Stockton returns as QB1 after a solid debut, Nate Frazier is the presumed lead back, and the offensive line could be the best in the SEC. Defensively, Kirby Smart’s group again looks suffocating, with eight starting tacklers back from a unit that allowed under 18 points per game a year ago.
Notre Dame has the pieces to stay in the mix even after losing Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price, which takes away the backbone of a top-five rushing attack. CJ Carr’s 2,741 passing yards last season were enough to suggest he can take real control of the offense, and the defense still has the kind of talent that keeps the Irish dangerous. Chris Ash is back for a second year coordinating a unit that ranked 10th in scoring and fourth with 21 interceptions, with Leonard Moore returning at corner and Alabama transfer Keon Keeley coming off the edge.
Texas also belongs in the conversation, but everything hinges on Arch Manning. If he looks like the quarterback who stumbled through those rough early games last season, the Longhorns’ title hopes disappear fast. If he keeps building off the strong finish to his first year as the starter - including wins over ranked Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, undefeated Texas A&M, and Michigan in the bowl - then Texas has a path to doing just about anything.
Indiana brings a different kind of pressure. The Hoosiers were warned by a strange historical trend: each of the last four times the reigning national champion started the next preseason outside the top five, that team finished unranked by season’s end.
LSU in 2008 and 2020, Auburn in 2011, and Michigan in 2024 all fit that pattern. Curt Cignetti has already done the hard part by winning 27 of his first 29 games, and Year Two comes with real expectations after he led one of college football’s most consistent losers to a 16-0 national title run.
Indiana returns a defense that allowed under 12 points per game and brings back six starters, along with a strong receiver group and what could be the best offensive line in the country. Josh Hoover is in at quarterback with experience and support.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Freshman Ja'Kobe Clapper Is Already Turning Heads
Fall camp has already given Notre Dame a glimpse of what Ja'Kobe Clapper might become. The freshman linebacker arrived as a three-star recruit, but position coach Brian Jean-Mary said he has stood out early enough to catch the staffs attention even while sitting behind more experienced players on the depth chart.
Clappers background helps explain why the Irish are intrigued. He put together a strong high school career in Ohio with 201 tackles and 15.5 tackles for loss over two seasons, and Notre Dame is now seeing some of that production translate into the kind of early promise that can matter later in the season if a young defender keeps stacking good days in camp. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Buzz Keeps Growing As An Overlooked Receiver Turns Heads
Notre Dames personnel department has already added a new face in Wes Yerty, who arrives as the programs director of scouting after working as player personnel coordinator at Ole Miss, while the broader picture around the Irish keeps drawing attention in a few different places. Three Notre Dame players also landed on the Associated Press 2026 college football preseason All-America team, a reminder that the roster still carries national respect even as the staff continues to shape what comes next.
Amid that bigger buzz, one of the more intriguing developments has come from wide receiver, where walk-on Matt Jeffery is starting to turn heads in practice and could force his way into meaningful snaps. It is the kind of storyline coaches like to monitor closely during camp, especially for a program that also has former receiver Malachi Fields showing well with the New York Giants in the NFL preseason, a sign that Notre Dames pass-catching pipeline remains worth watching from top to bottom. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Nears A Receiver Decision That Will Define Its Depth
With training camp winding down, Mike Brown is sorting through one of the most interesting groups on Notre Dames roster. The Irish wide receiver coach has plenty of bodies to evaluate, but much of the room remains unproven, which makes the final stretch of camp especially important for a team trying to settle its weekly rotation. Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, Mylan Graham and Micah Gilbert look positioned to be part of the varsity game-day mix, giving Notre Dame a core to build around as the season draws closer.
What happens next will shape not just who travels, but how deep the Irish can realistically go at receiver once the games start counting. Notre Dame is expected to trim the number of wideouts it rotates on Saturdays, while the rest of the group shifts toward scout-team work to help prepare the defense by simulating upcoming opponents. It is the kind of late-camp decision that rarely gets much public attention, but it can say plenty about which receivers are ready to contribute now and which ones still need more development before their roles expand. [Read more 🡒]