Ohio State enters the season sitting where it wanted to be: at the top of the AP preseason poll.
The Associated Press released its Top 25 on Monday afternoon, and the Buckeyes checked in at No. 1 after already being ranked No. 1 in the Coaches’ Poll. With Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith and what the poll calls a loaded roster back in the fold, Ohio State opens the regular season as the sport’s top team.
Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas follow to complete the top five. Indiana lands at No. 6, with Miami, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma rounding out spots No. 7 through No. 10.
The rest of the first 25 is packed tightly behind them. LSU is No. 11, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama, BYU, USC, Michigan, Washington, Penn State, SMU and Tennessee at No.
- Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville and Missouri finish off the rankings from No. 21 through No.
The real headline, though, is what Ohio State is chasing. Only two teams in AP Poll history have opened at No. 1, stayed there all season and finished with the national championship: 1999 Florida State and 2004 USC.
Former AP college football reporter Ralph D. Russo noted that those are the only programs to go wire-to-wire from the preseason through the postseason as the AP’s top team.
Now the Buckeyes have a chance to join that list. Ohio State has the talent to make the run. The question is whether it can actually do it.
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 🡒]