With just under two weeks until Week 0 kicks off, the Associated Press has announced it’s preseason Top-25 ahead of the college football season. Before we list off which teams checked in as a preseason Top-25 squad, along with all of their betting odds at DraftKings Sports, let’s go over some historical trends and facts about the AP Top-25.
While the preseason Top-25 is by no means an indication of where these teams will finish the season, which you’ll see later, being highly-ranked ahead of the season is generally where you’ll find your national champion. Of the last 22 national champs, 19 of them have been ranked in the top seven teams of the preseason AP Poll, per Brett McMurphy of Action Network. Obviously, last season was one of those outliers, as Indiana checked in at No. 20 in the Preseason Poll.
Below are some other fun facts about the CFB Preseason AP Poll, per McMurphy.
- 20 of the last 22 preseason No. 1 overall teams have failed to win the national title (last was Alabama in 2017).
- In 22 of the last 23 seasons, at least one team in the preseason Top-10 has finished the year unranked.
- In 29 of the last 32 seasons, at least one team that was not in the preseason Top-25 went on to finish the season ranked in the Top-10.
- This is the fourth time in the last 34 years that Notre Dame has been ranked in the preseason Top-5 — the Irish finished the season ranked 17th or lower in each of the previous three.
- This is Alabama’s lowest preseason ranking (13) since 2008 — outside of the preseason Top-10 for the first time in 18 years.
- Clemson is not ranked in the preseason Top-25 for the first time in 15 years (2011).
While being near the top of the preseason rankings does help predict national champs, you can see plenty of evidence that this Preseason AP Poll does not always get it right. Look no further than last season, when nearly half of the teams in the 2025 Preseason AP Top-25 finished the season unranked. Penn State (2), Clemson (4), LSU (9), Arizona State (11), Illinois (12), South Carolina (13), Florida (15), SMU (16), Kansas State (17), Iowa State (22), Tennessee (24) and Boise State (25) all went on to drop from those rankings to outside of the Top-25 by season’s end — that’s 12 teams!
Last year’s No. 1 overall in the preseason was Texas. The Longhorns finished the season ranked No. 12 overall and missed out on the College Football Playoff.
Let’s take a look at the 2026 Preseason AP Top-25 Poll, along with some odds from DraftKings.
No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes
National Championship: (+600) *Co-favorite
Conference Championship: (+180) *Favorite
Make College Football Playoff: (-360)
No. 2 Oregon Ducks
Conference Championship: (+240)
Make College Football Playoff: (-320)
No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs
Conference Championship: (+260) *Favorite
Make College Football Playoff: (-240)
No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
National Championship: (+600) *Co-favorite
Make College Football Playoff: (-800) *Favorite
Win Total: 11.5 *Highest
No. 5 Texas Longhorns
Conference Championship: (+310)
Make College Football Playoff: (-200)
No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers
Conference Championship: (+260)
Make College Football Playoff: (-350)
No. 7 Miami Hurricanes
National Championship: (+1000)
Conference Championship: (-140) *Favorite
Make College Football Playoff: (-280)
No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies
National Championship: (+2500)
Conference Championship: (+1200)
Make College Football Playoff: (+154)
No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels
National Championship: (+3000)
Conference Championship: (+1150)
Make College Football Playoff: (+200)
No. 10 Oklahoma Sooners
National Championship: (+3000)
Conference Championship: (+1100)
Make College Football Playoff: (+210)
No. 11 LSU Tigers
National Championship: (+1800)
Conference Championship: (+900)
Make College Football Playoff: (+160)
No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders
National Championship: (+2200)
Conference Championship: (+100) *Favorite
Make College Football Playoff: (-200)
No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide
National Championship: (+2500)
Conference Championship: (+800)
Make College Football Playoff: (+154)
No. 14 BYU Cougars
National Championship: (+9000)
Conference Championship: (+550)
Make College Football Playoff: (+330)
No. 15 USC Trojans
National Championship: (+3500)
Conference Championship: (+1600)
Make College Football Playoff: (+240)
No. 16 Michigan Wolverines
National Championship: (+4000)
Conference Championship: (+1700)
Make College Football Playoff: (+250)
No. 17 Washington Cougars
National Championship: (+12000)
Conference Championship: (+2400)
Make College Football Playoff: (+400)
No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions
National Championship: (+6500)
Conference Championship: (+2200)
Make College Football Playoff: (+360)
No. 19 SMU Mustangs
National Championship: (+10000)
Conference Championship: (+650)
Make College Football Playoff: (+350)
No. 20 Tennessee Volunteers
National Championship: (+7000)
Conference Championship: (+1700)
Make College Football Playoff: (+380)
No. 21 Utah Utes
National Championship: (+11000)
Conference Championship: (+650)
Make College Football Playoff: (+350)
No. 22 Iowa Hawkeyes
National Championship: (+14000)
Conference Championship: (+4200)
Make College Football Playoff: (+900)
No. 23 Houston Cougars
National Championship: (+20000)
Conference Championship: (+1700)
Make College Football Playoff: (+850)
No. 24 Louisville Cardinals
National Championship: (+12000)
Conference Championship: (+850)
Make College Football Playoff: (+550)
No. 25 Missouri Tigers
National Championship: (+10000)
Conference Championship: (+3300)
Make College Football Playoff: (+700)
For more analysis check out our College Football homepage on DraftKings Network.
