When the Preseason Top 25 College Football Rankings Will Be Released

We’re officially inside one month until the 2026 college football season finally begins, and as the kickoff draws closer, some of the most consequential dates are fast approaching, as the Coaches and AP are set to announce their preseason top 25 college football rankings.

Now, we have an official date as to when the polls will go live.

When the top 25 college football rankings come out

When the Preseason College Football Rankings Will Be Released — USA Today Sports | IMAGN

First up, as per tradition, will be the Coaches Poll top 25, as the coaches offer their expertise and insider knowledge in the initial preseason rankings released at 12 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, August 4.

Then about two weeks later, AP top 25 voters will reveal their official 2026 preseason rankings at around 12 p.m. Eastern on Monday, August 17.

But, much like the polls themselves, their release time isn’t an exact science, as it’s common the polls may come out a little before or a little after the set time on the scheduled days.

Ohio State, Oregon, Notre Dame, and Texas are in the running to be named the No. 1 team in the preseason rankings, or at least to receive first-place votes in the initial poll.

When the College Football Playoff comes out

That’s a long way in the future, with plenty of football to be played before the selection committee convenes to announce their official rankings.

Tuesday, November 3 will be the first date when the College Football Playoff is scheduled to announce its first poll, releasing one every Tuesday until they unveil their final Selection Day 12-team playoff bracket on Sunday, December 6.

How the polls determine, or don't determine, the championship

How important are these preseason rankings, really? Well, it depends.

When it comes to going all the way and winning the national title, being the AP No. 1 team in the preseason poll isn’t the most important thing in the world, or really even close to it.

In the 21st century, only two teams that debuted at No. 1 finished as national champions: USC in 2004 under the old BCS system, and Alabama in 2017, which remains the only team in the College Football Playoff era that went wire-to-wire.

Where national champions are ranked in the preseason

Going strictly by history, debuting anywhere in the top-five is your best bet.

All but two teams in the College Football Playoff era that won the national championship started as the No. 5 team or better in the preseason AP rankings.

LSU’s historic 2019 team was the first outlier, but that wasn’t by much, starting out at No. 6 in the initial poll before running the table as the third 15-0 team in college football history and the second since the 1890s.

The second such team was Indiana last season, making its preseason debut at No. 20 in the AP voters’ first impression and then slashing its way through everything on its schedule on a 16-0 run right up to the school’s first ever national championship.

Those kind of runs don’t happen very often, or basically ever, in college football, but in an expanded playoff environment, teams lower down in the polls have more hope than ever before that they can make a run. We’ll see if that’s the case in 2026.

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