Baylor Left Out of All The Way-Too-Early Top 25 Rankings

With the Indiana Hoosiers knocking off the Miami Hurricanes in an instant classic to win the College Football Playoff, college football now enters its longest part of the year, the offseason. The 2026 season does not kick off for seven months but it’s never too early to rank what the top 25 will look like heading into next season.

Multiple publications released their way-too-early top 25 late Monday and early Tuesday. Here is a quick rundown of what the most notable websites put out and how it relates to the Baylor Bears:

ESPN

The Worldwide Leader in Sports gives Indiana the benefit of the doubt despite having to replace Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt and multiple starters on defense. The Hoosiers sit atop these rankings followed by Texas, Notre Dame, Georgia and Oregon. Baylor did not make the cut but multiple 2026 opponents for the Bears made the list with Texas Tech at #7, BYU at #11, TCU at #20 and Arizona State at #23.

On3

On3’s team of experts put together a list that was released Monday night and was the only one to give any mention to Baylor, as well as to receive votes. Their rankings look a bit different at top with Ohio State leading the way followed by Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame and Indiana. Three of Baylor’s 2026 opponents made the cut with Texas Tech coming in at #7, BYU at #13 and Houston at #22.

Sporting News

Baylor S Jacob Redding — Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

College football writer Bill Bender took a stab at the early rankings and Baylor once again did not make the cut even with a section of teams that just missed out. Similar to ESPN, Sporting News placed Indiana at #1 followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame. Three of Baylor’s 2026 opponents made the rankings with Texas Tech at #7, BYU slotting in at #11 and Houston at #21.

FOX Sports

Fox Sports national college football analyst RJ Young pushed out his rankings early Tuesday morning and to no one’s surprise, Baylor did not make the list. Young’s top 25 opened with Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas Tech and Ole Miss. Texas Tech is one of two 2026 opponents for Baylor on this list, the other is BYU at #10. Fellow Big 12 teams Utah and Arizona slotted in at #19 and #25, respectively.

CBS Sports

CBS Sports took a different route from the rest of the sites on this roundup by putting Indiana at #8. Ohio State was put at #1 and is followed by Texas, Georgia, Oregon and Notre Dame. As we’ve seen with all these rankings, Baylor did not make the top 25 and has three of their 2026 opponents on it with Texas Tech at #7, BYU at #12 and Houston at #21. Fellow Big 12 brethren Utah made it in at #18.

More from Baylor on SI