Ohio State, Oregon atop college football preseason coaches' poll - ESPN

Big Ten teams won each of the past three College Football Playoff national championships, and Ohio State will start the 2026 season as the No. 1 team in the AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Buckeyes, who will be led by a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates in quarterback Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith, received 38 of 72 first-place votes. It's the first time the Buckeyes will start a season No. 1 in the coaches' poll since 2015.

Another Big Ten team, Oregon, is No. 2, followed by No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Notre Dame.

Defending national champion Indiana, which went 16-0 last season to win its first title in school history, will start this season at No. 6. The Hoosiers brought in former TCU quarterback Josh Hoover to replace Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who was the first overall pick of the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL draft.

The Hoosiers were among six teams that received first-place votes and had the second-most with 14. Oregon (six), Georgia (seven) Texas (two) and Notre Dame (five) also received first-place votes.

The top 25 teams in the preseason AFCA college football coaches poll, released Tuesday (first-place votes in parentheses).

«The Big Ten is the best league in football, and a lot of really good football teams,» Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said at last week's Big Ten media days. «It's hard to win on the road [against] very physical football teams, very well-coached. It definitely prepares you for the playoffs. There's no doubt about it; the numbers speak for themselves.»

Miami, which fell 27-21 against the Hoosiers in last season's CFP National Championship presented by AT&T, is No. 7 in the initial poll. The Hurricanes grabbed quarterback Darian Mensah from ACC foe Duke and return star