5 Most Disrespected Teams in the 2026 AP Preseason Poll

Some programs made expected appearances in the 2026 preseason AP poll... but not the appearances that they necessarily expected.

Is Texas and QB Arch Manning being disrespected in the preseason AP poll? Despite a No. 5 ranking, yes. (Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images) | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Preseason football rankings can bring the preseason soup of college football to a boil in a hurry. While fans are excited to see their top teams in the ranking of the top squads of the sport, something being there isn't half the fun. Here are five teams that didn't end up where they planned to be in the preseason poll.

Texas

Is being No. 5 a problem? Well, at least in one sense, yes. Texas was No. 4 in the coaches poll, but more troubling than the ranking is the lack of any real championship shot from the AP voters. AP voters predictably gave first-place votes to Ohio State and Oregon. Notre Dame (which Texas was ahead of in the coaches poll) got six first-place votes. Even Indiana (eight votes!) and Miami (one vote) got first-place votes. But not Texas. So between slipping a spot from the coaches' vote and being left out of the ballot for the top spot, Texas is maybe a bit miffed.

Alabama

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer could be the verge of disaster... or of making Alabama's lowest preseason ranking since 2008 look pretty silly. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Tide are slotted at No. 13, which might just be another reason around Tuscaloosa to shorten the expectations tightening around coach Kalen DeBoer. Yes, the Tide have lost four games in each of the last two seasons. But the last time Alabama was this low in the preseason poll? Well, that would be 2008-- Nick Saban's second season, fresh off a humiliating 7-6 year in 2007. That's about as much as Alabama fans would like to remember of the dark ages of Tide football-- which may be closing in again. The alternative possibility is that Bama is coming back, and the poll disrespect just might help egg the Tide on.

Tennessee

The Vols are in the top 25, but at No. 20, it's a little more tenuous than UT backers would prefer. Josh Heupel's last three teams started the preseason in the top 25, but failed to record the program's first CFP win. The Vols may be at something of a crossroads here, Tennessee averaged 39.8 points per game last year, but did see the defense take a step back. But new coordinator Jim Knowles figures to boost the Vols and it may be AP voters who ended up having made a mistake with this ranking.

Indiana

Is No. 6 a basis for disrepect? It could be. A year ago, the Hoosiers had made the CFP, plugged in a mildly unheralded transfer QB and took over the sport. Indiana has lost two games in the last two seasons-- to Ohio State and Notre Dame. The defending champions upgraded their talented and plugged in highly-touted TCU QB Josh Hoover to run the offense. Picking Indiana third in a conference in which they've lost one game over the past two years seems a little off.

Penn State

Yes, Penn State was 7-6 a year ago and Matt Campbell is a new face in town. And yes, they play in the Big Ten. But there are signs of a surprise here. Note that of the six losses, five came by a total of 16 points. Add a field goal into two games and a touchdown into three others and Penn State would have been 11-1. With Rocco Becht joining his former coach in a new place, Penn State has a chance to make a No. 18 preseason ranking look silly.