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Where Alabama Football Ranks In Preseason Coaches Poll

The Crimson Tide enters 2026 with the lowest preseason coaches poll ranking in 18 years.
Jul 22, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Jul 22, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen Deboer speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Alabama football will begin the 2026 season with its lowest ranking in a preseason coaches poll in 18 years.

The Crimson Tide opened each season since 2009 in the preseason top 10, but checks in at No. 11 in the 2026 edition of the coaches poll, marking the program's lowest preseason ranking since 2008 when Alabama began unranked.

Kalen DeBoer's Alabama program started last season at No. 8 in the coaches poll, but fell to No. 20 after losing to Florida State in the season opener. The Crimson Tide rebounded ascended to as high as No. 4 last November but finished No. 9 in the final poll of the season.

2026 Preseason US LBM Coaches Poll

Rank

Team

Record

Points

First Place Votes

1.

Ohio State

0-0

1741

38

2.

Oregon

0-0

1637

6

3.

Georgia

0-0

1591

7

4.

Texas

0-0

1544

2

5.

Notre Dame

0-0

1524

5

6.

Indiana

0-0

1522

14

7.

Miami (FL)

0-0

1409

8.

Texas A&M

0-0

1174

9.

Oklahoma

0-0

1104

10.

Ole Miss

0-0

1096

11.

Alabama

0-0

1050

12.

Texas Tech

0-0

1034

13.

LSU

0-0

951

14.

Southern Cal

0-0

838

15.

BYU

0-0

781

16.

Michigan

0-0

719

17.

Penn State

0-0

463

18.

Tennessee

0-0

428

19.

Washington

0-0

406

20.

SMU

0-0

378

21.

Utah

0-0

313

22.

Iowa

0-0

291

23.

Clemson

0-0

235

24.

Houston

0-0

194

25.

Missouri

0-0

158

Others Receiving Votes

Louisville 153; Florida 147; TCU 63; Illinois 62; South Carolina 50; Arizona 50; Virginia 40; Vanderbilt 37; Auburn 29; Georgia Tech 26; Boise State 24; Oklahoma State 22; UNLV 17; North Carolina State 13; Florida State 13; Virginia Tech 12; Nebraska 12; Memphis 9; Arizona State 8; James Madison 6; Duke 6; Pittsburgh 4; New Mexico 4; Western Michigan 3; Navy 3; San Diego State 2; Kansas State 1; Jacksonville State 1; Hawaii 1; California 1;

List Of Voters

The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2026 season: Tim Albin, Charlotte; Blake Anderson, Southern Mississippi; Dave Aranda, Baylor; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, North Texas; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Jake Dickert, Wake Forest; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Matt Entz, Fresno State; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Virginia Tech; Willie Fritz, Houston; Scott Frost, Central Florida; Tony Gibson, Marshall; Alex Golesh, Auburn; Will Hall, Tulane; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; John Hauser, Ohio; Clay Helton, Georgia Southern; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Memphis; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; KC Keeler, Temple; Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Collin Klein, Kansas State; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Kirby Moore, Washington State; Eric Morris, Oklahoma State; Dan Mullen, UNLV; Billy Napier, James Madison; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, Purdue; Tim Polasek, North Dakota State; Tavita Pritchard, Stanford; Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Morgan Scalley, Utah; JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Will Stein, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Florida; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso; Kyle Whittingham, Michigan; Casey Woods, Missouri State.

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Joe Gaither
JOE GAITHER

Joe Gaither oversees videos and podcasts for Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral. He began his sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 he joined BamaCentral to cover a variety of Crimson Tide sports and recruiting, in addition to hosting the “Joe Gaither Show” podcast. His work has also appeared on the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt web sites.

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