The first AP top 25 of the 2026 college football season is out, and TCU is on the outside looking in.
The Horned Frogs missed the AP rankings, though they did collect enough votes to land at No. 30. College coaches were a little more generous, putting TCU at No. 28 in their initial poll, but that still kept the Frogs out of the top 25 there as well.
The Big 12 showed up four times in the AP poll, with Texas Tech leading the way at No. 12. The other ranked teams from the conference were not listed by name in the source, but Texas Tech’s spot stood out as the highest among Big 12 programs.
Texas also landed high in the AP poll at No. 5, while Texas A&M checked in at No. 8. SMU came in at No. 19 and Houston at No. 23, giving the Lone Star State a strong presence in the opening rankings.
TCU’s path to the poll starts immediately. The Horned Frogs open against North Carolina, then face Grambling State and Arkansas State. A fast start, paired with a few losses from teams clustered near the bottom of the rankings, could push TCU into the top 25 quickly.
The first real test on the schedule comes later. TCU is set to play BYU on Saturday, Oct. 3, with the Cougars ranked No. 14 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the coaches poll.
Before that, though, the Frogs kick off the season against UNC at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Aviva Stadium.
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Jeff Gladney Still Means So Much To TCU Football
Jeff Gladneys name still carries a special weight around TCU football. The former Horned Frogs cornerback spent five seasons in Fort Worth, became one of the programs most decorated defensive backs and earned multiple All-Big 12 honors before hearing his name called in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
His football path was only beginning to expand after he later signed with the Arizona Cardinals, but his life ended in a Dallas car accident along with his girlfriend. Even so, Gladney remains part of TCUs story, remembered not just for what he did on the field but for the impact he left on the program and the people around it. [Read more 🡒]