The AP’s preseason All-America teams landed Wednesday afternoon, and while plenty of the sport’s biggest names showed up, eight AP Top 25 programs were left off the lists entirely.
That kind of omission stands out in a preseason built around hype and projection, especially when the teams in question are all ranked and loaded with recognizable talent. From College Station to Louisville, several of the country’s most watched rosters didn’t land a single All-America selection.
Texas A&M is the highest-ranked of the bunch, checking in at No. 8 in the preseason AP Top 25. The Aggies have one of the most talented rosters in the country, led by star quarterback Marcel Reed.
They also bring back senior safety Marcus Ratliffe, who was named to the preseason Bronko Nagurski and All-SEC watchlists. With that kind of profile and national championship expectations attached, Texas A&M coming up empty was one of the bigger surprises of the release.
USC sits next on the list at No. 15, and the Trojans have no shortage of star power either. Jayden Maiava is the headliner after leading the Big Ten in passing in 2025 with 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns. Southern Cal also returns corner Jontez Williams, who made the Jim Thorpe Award preseason watchlist, along with tailback Waymond Jordan.
Washington, ranked No. 16, is another team many see as a potential College Football Playoff sleeper, and the Huskies are built around quarterback Demond Williams Jr., one of the Big Ten’s top passers a year ago. They also return important pieces up front, including guard John Mills, who draft experts expect to be an early-first-round pick next spring.
Penn State is heading into its first season under Matt Campbell, and the roster has been reshaped by the transfer portal. Even so, senior linebacker Tony Rojas is staying put and should be one of the nation’s top players at his position in 2026. The Nittany Lions also added several Iowa State transfers, including tight end Benjamin Brahmer and safety Jeremiah Cooper.
SMU, which is aiming for its second CFP appearance in three seasons, also didn’t place a player on the preseason All-America teams. The Mustangs are expected to be a factor in a deep ACC, and offensive lineman PJ Williams is a major reason why. He earned Second Team All-ACC honors after starting all 13 games at left tackle in 2025 and helping power one of the country’s best offensive lines.
Tennessee is trying to rebound from an 8-5 season in 2025, including a 4-4 mark in SEC play, and it too was shut out. The Vols’ top returnee is offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr., who started 11 games after transferring from Arizona and earned first-team All-SEC and second-team All-American honors. Tennessee also brings back 2025 freshman All-American tackle David Sanders Jr. and third-team All-SEC defensive back Ty Redmond.
Utah enters a new era in 2026, with someone other than Kyle Whittingham set to be head coach in Salt Lake City for the first time in more than 20 years. Several of the Utes’ best players from last season left with Whittingham for Michigan, but quarterback Devon Dampier stayed. Now a senior, Dampier has already landed on multiple preseason watchlists after producing more than 3,300 total yards and 34 total touchdowns in 2025.
Louisville rounds out the list of ranked teams without a preseason AP All-American. The Cardinals are coming off a nine-win season and will lean heavily on running back Isaac Brown, who led the nation in yards per attempt last year at 8.8. Entering his junior season, Brown is positioned to be one of college football’s most explosive playmakers again in 2026.
In Other News...
USC-UCLA Has One Tradition College Football Should Stop Copying
When Alabama and Tennessee announced they would both wear their home uniforms for their meeting this season, it stirred up an old college football debate: whether more rivalries should embrace the look that has long defined USC and UCLA. In Los Angeles, the setup works because it is tied to one specific game, one specific feel and one of the sports most recognizable visual traditions, with the Trojans cardinal and the Bruins blue playing off each other in a way that instantly says something about the rivalry itself.
But making double-home uniforms a routine habit across college football would risk turning a special wrinkle into a gimmick. The NFL learned as much during its Color Rush experiment, where color-on-color matchups sometimes looked fresh and sometimes just looked awkward, and thats the caution here for USC fans who know the rivalrys aesthetic is part of the event. What makes USC-UCLA stand out is that it is not everywhere, and college football is usually better when it leaves a few traditions alone. [Read more 🡒]
Why USC Fans Still Treat One Enemy Different Than Everyone Else
For USC fans, the old grievances still have a way of dwarfing the modern rivalry map. ESPNs recent list of arch-enemies for power conference programs put the NCAA at the top of the Trojans board instead of a fellow school, a nod to how deeply the sanctions from the Reggie Bush investigation still linger in the fan bases memory. The punishment tied to improper benefits never faded into simple history around here; it became part of how USC supporters tell the story of what the program lost and who they blame for it.
The resentment is sharpened by the feeling that college footballs enforcement has never looked even-handed. USCs punishment remains a touchstone in debates over fairness because the NCAAs handling of violations has often seemed inconsistent, and Penn States less severe sanction for far more serious infractions is still a painful comparison for Trojan fans. So while rivalries usually come with a school, a mascot or a border war, USCs most personal beef remains institutional, and it is not hard to see why that edge has never really gone away. [Read more 🡒]
USC Secondary Hype Around Jontez Williams Comes With One Big Catch
Jontez Williams arrives at USC with the kind of rsum that naturally gets people talking. The Iowa State transfer was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2024, and his reputation as a disruptive defensive back has already made him one of the more intriguing pieces in the Trojans secondary heading into the upcoming season. An analyst even slotted him 145th among college football players, which says plenty about the respect he carries and the level of expectation surrounding him in Los Angeles.
For USC, the appeal is obvious: Williams is expected to play a significant role right away in a unit that needs difference-makers. The catch is just as obvious, though no less important. His value to the Trojans hinges on health, and that makes his availability one of the quieter but more consequential storylines as USC tries to stabilize its defense and turn a promising addition into a real asset. [Read more 🡒]