The 2026 Coaches Preseason Poll is wrong. At least that is what the poll's history tells us. Since 1991, only eight times has the Coaches preseason No. 1 won the National Championship. Alabama fans will quickly claim the first Coaches Poll of the 2026 season is also wrong about its ranking of the Crimson Tide. My immediate take is that Alabama has enough question marks to justify the Tide's No. 11 preseason ranking.
Ohio State, with 38 first-place votes. is ranked No. 1. Five more teams received first-place votes: Oregon, ranked No. 2 overall, had six first-place votes; No. 3 Georgia had seven; No. 4 Texas, two; No. 5 Notre Dame, five; and No. 6 Indiana, 14 first-place votes. The Hoosiers having the second-most first-place votes, by far, and an overall ranking of No. 6 means more than a few voters were sold on IU.
The SEC and the Big Ten have the most teams in the Coaches Poll Top 25. The SEC edges out the B1G with nine teams, compared to the Big Ten's eight. Outside the Power Two, the Top 25 has four Big 12 teams, three ACC teams and, of course, Notre Dame, ranked No. 5 overall.
A few days ago, writing that Alabama fans should "brace themselves" for the AP and Coaches preseason polls, I included some facts about the accuracy of the two main preseason polls. They have been pretty good each season in projecting college football's top teams. Outside the top teams, the two polls are just over 50% accurate, with their preseason Top 25 teams finishing in the final poll Top 25.
Texas A&M (No. 8), Oklahoma (No. 9), and Ole Miss (No. 10) were ranked higher than Alabama. The LSU Bengal Tigers were close behind at No. 13. Other ranked SEC teams are Tennessee (No. 18) and the Missouri Tigers (No. 25).
August is no time time to worry about polls. Alabama football fans know that how a team finishes is what matters.
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