Josh’s College Football Rankings 2026–Preseason

Are we ready for another fun and exciting year of college football?? Are you prepared for my weekly rankings? The top forty teams. Yes, that is a ton of work for me. And yes, it is totally worth it and possibly the most fun I have all year.

I did research on all 136 teams. I looked at last season, how many players returned, the portal and recruiting rankings, multiple other ranking systems, and who the QB and head coach are this season. I put it all together to come up with the best Top 40 possible.

It will go Team (Last Year’s Record)-Last Year’s Final Ranking

1. Ohio State (12-2)–#4–Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith are back, and another year older. The Buckeyes lost a decent amount, but naturally they just reloaded.
2. Georgia (12-2)–#5–Gunnar Stockton should be better, the defense will be fantastic.
3. Oregon (13-2)–#6–Dante Moore came back, and the defense is basically the same…they should be dangerous.
4. Texas (10-3)–#11–Arch Manning is a year older and wiser, plus the Longhorns brought in some top-tier weapons via the portal.
5. Notre Dame (10-2)–#12–C.J. Carr leads a loaded offense, plus they improved the defense.
6. Indiana (16-0)–#1–Josh Hoover is the new QB, I liked him at TCU and had him in my early Heisman watch last year. I think this team will continue to shock people.
7. Alabama (11-4)–#8–The defense is elite, and you can never discount an elite defense.
8. Miami (13-3)–#2–Darian Mensah is the new QB, but how quickly can that new offensive line come together for him?
9. Ole Miss (13-2)–#3–Chambliss is back, and another team that loaded up on talent from the portal.
10. Oklahoma (10-3)–#10–Strong defense again, but the question is whether or not John Mateer can take a step to the next level.
11. Texas A&M (11-2)–#7–Marcel Reed looks like an elite QB at times, but I wonder how he does with a new OC.
12. Texas Tech (12-2)–#9–They have a bunch of big questions, but they continue to use the portal and recruit well, so I look for them to be in the playoff hunt again.
13. USC (9-4)–#28–The Trojans had the top recruiting class, and they have strong pieces returning. They will be good, but I am hesitant to rank them much higher.
14. LSU (7-6)–NR–Lane Kiffin brought in Sam Leavitt plus some other high-end talent. The Tigers will be much improved, but I am not quite ready to give them a National Championship yet.
15. BYU (12-2)–#13–They have plenty of their team returning, including Bear Bachmeier.
16. Washington (9-4)–#21–This is a great offense led by Demond Williams, I think they could be a sneaky contender for the Big Ten this year.
17. Michigan (9-4)–#18–Can Kyle Whittingham unlock that potential in Bryce Underwood? If so, this team will also be right there in the thick of the Big Ten hunt.
18. Utah (11-2)–#14–New head coach for the first time in like forever. They have plenty of talent, this team should be good.
19. SMU (9-4)–#22–Not sure about this defense, but at least they still have Kevin Jennings!
20. Tennessee (8-5)–#29–The Vols always have talent, but this year there are plenty of questions about this team.
21. Houston (10-3)–#31–The Cougars brought in some pieces for Connor Weigman.
22. Louisville (9-4)–#33–New QB Lincoln Kienholz has plenty of weapons, but can he live up to the potential (he came from Ohio State).
23. Missouri (8-5)–#32–The Tigers are rebuilding, but I think they are still solid enough to be formidable.
24. Penn State (7-6)–#35–Last year was a weird season for the Nittany Lions. They were not nearly as bad as their record showed, and I think Matt Campbell has enough pieces to have a very strong season. I see other outlets ranking them higher, but I am not quite ready to do that until I see them in action.
25. Clemson (7-6)–NR–Dabo dipped his toe into the portal to help fix the secondary. They will be better than last year.
26. Iowa (9-4)–#16–Great line on both sides of the ball. They will be in every game they play.
27. Virginia (11-3)–#15–Both lines are good, plus they brought in Beau Pribula.
28. Vanderbilt (10-3)–#17–How will this team do without Diego?
29. South Carolina (4-8)–NR–I like LaNorris Sellers, this team will be much better than last year.
30. Arizona (9-4)–#30–Noah Fifita is back, this team should be good.
31. Pittsburgh (8-5)–NR–Mason Heintschel is going to do great things this year for the Panthers.
32. Florida (4-8)–NR–Lots of pressure on Jon Sumrall to turn things around, but this team has talent, so he should be able to get back to the winning side this season.
33. Auburn (5-7)–NR–Same as above for Alex Golesh.
34. Illinois (9-4)–#23–Some work rebuilding both lines, but that is Bielema’s bread & butter. They have a new QB, Katin Houser from East Carolina.
35. Kansas State (6-6)–NR–Avery Johnson is still the QB (I feel like he has been around forever), and they have a new head coach.
36. TCU (9-4)–#27–A QB from Harvard, Jaden Craig. I feel like there has to be a solid joke in there somewhere…
37. Nebraska (7-6)–NR–They brought in the QB from UNLV (Anthony Colandrea). I will be interested in seeing how he transitions to the Big Ten.
38. Baylor (5-7)–NR–DJ Lagway is their QB. This is his chance to shine.
39. Arizona State (8-5)–#34–Had to hit the portal hard this off-season, but they found plenty of help, but can they come together?
40. Virginia Tech (3-9)–NR–I was hesitant to rank this team, but I think James Franklin brought enough talent over from Penn State (Ethan Grunkemeyer and Luke Reynolds), that they should be pretty good.

Honorable Mentions
Georgia Tech (9-4)–#24–They brought in Alberto Mendoza, Francisco’s brother, and somehow they have another running back named Haynes.
Boise State (9-5)–NR–New conference, but Maddux Madsen and those two very good RBs, should have the Broncos on top of the Pac-12.
Florida State (5-7)–NR–They have to be good at some point, right?
Wisconsin (4-8)–NR–The Badgers had a solid defense last year that is mostly returned. They brought in the QB from Old Dominion, Colton Joseph. He is definitely a dual threat QB, having rushed for a 1000 yards last season (could he join the illustrious 50/50 club? He has 32 passing TDs & 24 rushing TDs in his career).
NC State (8-5)–#40–This was a sneaky team last year, I expect them to be similar this year.

Week 1 is exciting because college football is back, but there are not that many games to be very excited about. The only ranked games we will see are #22 Louisville at #9 Ole Miss and #25 Clemson at #14 LSU. I guess #38 Baylor at #33 Auburn also counts. The season kicks off again in Ireland with TCU and UNC. Some other interesting games: Memphis at UNLV, Colorado at Georgia Tech, Liberty at James Madison, Boise State at #3 Oregon, Washington State at #16 Washington, and Wisconsin at #5 Notre Dame.

If you are looking for some possible FCS upsets over FBS schools, I would watch Tarleton State at Bowling Green, or maybe South Dakota State at Northwestern (I do not think this will be an upset, but I could see it being a closer game than Northwestern would like). And finally, if you have a weird interest in Pennsylvania FCS schools, you could also check out Duquesne at Air Force, Mercyhurst at New Mexico State, or Lafayette at UConn.