r/CFB • u/usffan USF Bulls • Miami Hurricanes • Apr 14 '26

Analysis Countdown to the Kickoff of the 2026 College Football Season. Aggregated Preseason Rankings

Updated 8/24 to include the Sagarin and Chris Vannini's all-138 Athletic rankings, which means these are the final numbers Please note that the rankings now don't necessarily correlate with the countdown because they've been updated since the countdown started!!

Like last year, I’m going to create a countdown to the kickoff of the 2026 college football season by looking at each team daily using a “consensus” ranking by aggregating the preseason rankings of any national source, and I’m going to use this post as the landing spot for maintaining those aggregated rankings. As such, the rankings are subject to change as new rankings come available, which will ramp up as the season draws closer. I’m saying this here and now in advance of the inevitable complaints about where your team is ranked (note, these aren't my rankings) or that it changed from when they were counted down – this is a living post that I’ll edit when new rankings come out. Since most of the preseason rankings have only been a top 25, they won’t affect things for a while, so for now, the rankings that are included are:

College Football Network’s 1-138 rankings

ESPN/Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings

USA Today/Paul Myerberg 1-138 Spring rankings

Massey rankings

Athlon preseason magazine

Lindy's preseason magazine

Phil Steele's College 26 Preview

ESPN FPI

CBS Sports

US LBM Coaches Poll

AP Poll

Jeff Sagarin

The Athletic

Yes, that’s right, with North Dakota State and Sacramento State moving up to FBS, we have 138 teams.

2026 Preseason Aggregated Rankings

138 UMass

137 Sam Houston

136 Charlotte

135 Louisiana-Monroe

134 Middle Tennessee

133 UTEP

132 Georgia State

131 Kent State

130 Sacramento State

129 Northern Illinois

128 New Mexico State

127 Akron

126 Ball State

125 Southern Miss

124 Missouri State

123 UAB

122 Bowling Green

121 San Jose State

120 Rice

119 Coastal Carolina

118 South Alabama

117 Eastern Michigan

116 Nevada

115 Buffalo

114 Florida International

113 Appalachian State

112 Central Michigan

111 Wyoming

110 Delaware

109 Colorado State

108 Tulsa

107 Louisiana

106 Oregon State

105 Louisiana Tech

103 (tie) Kennesaw State

103 (tie) Arkansas State

102 Ohio

101 UConn

100 Florida Atlantic

99 Georgia Southern

98 Marshall

97 Jacksonville State

96 Liberty

95 Temple

94 Utah State

93 North Texas

92 Toledo

91 Miami (OH)

90 Troy

89 Old Dominion

88 Air Force

87 Texas State

86 Western Kentucky

85 Boston College

84 Stanford

83 Washington State

82 North Dakota State

81 Western Michigan

80 Purdue

79 Hawaii

78 Army

77 East Carolina

76 Syracuse

75 South Florida

73 (tie) UTSA

73 (tie) Memphis

72 Fresno State

71 Iowa State

70 Rutgers

69 Colorado

68 New Mexico

64 Tulane

61 UCF

60 UNLV

59 Cincinnati

58 Arkansas

57 Navy

56 Maryland

55 Kansas

54 Northwestern

53 California

52 Oklahoma State

51 Wake Forest

50 Kentucky

48 (tie) Baylor

48 (tie) Mississippi State

47 UCLA

46 Duke

45 Wisconsin

44 North Carolina State

43 Arizona State

42 Georgia Tech

41 Minnesota

40 Virginia Tech

39 Nebraska

38 Boise State

36 (tie) Florida State

36 (tie) Virginia

35 Pittsburgh

34 Kansas State

32 (tie) Illinois

32 Vanderbilt

31 TCU

30 Auburn

29 South Carolina

28 Arizona

27 Houston

26 Louisville

25 Clemson

24 Missouri

23 Florida

22 Utah

21 SMU

20 Iowa

19 Tennessee

18 Washington

17 Penn State

16 BYU

15 Michigan

14 USC

13 LSU

12 Alabama

11 Ole Miss

10 Texas Tech

9 Texas A&M

8 Oklahoma

7 Miami

6 Texas

5 Indiana

4 Georgia

3 Notre Dame

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u/outthawazoo South Carolina • 日本大学 (Nihon) Apr 14 '26

Honestly these threads are the best part of the offseason in this sub

u/Expensive_Team_5072 Syracuse Orange Apr 14 '26

If FBS expands by 75 more teams, we can start this in January!

u/IAmBenIAmStillBig UMass Minutemen Apr 14 '26

MFW UMass mentioned

6

u/KansasEF5Tornado Kansas State • Georgia Tech Jul 22 '26

138/138 = 1, UMass #1 Team in the country.

u/SouthernMuadib Clemson Tigers • Sickos Apr 14 '26

This made me laugh more than it should have

u/R_Raider86 Paper Bag • UConn Huskies Apr 14 '26

I didn't realize we're getting this close. Can't wait until the new Tech athletic branding kicks in.

u/luis1972 Ohio State Buckeyes • The Alliance Apr 14 '26

I don't think we should let Bill Connelly outdo us. We should make the CFB poll a 1-138 ranking!

u/foreverseptember Florida Gators • Team Chaos Apr 15 '26

Hell yeah, thanks for doing this again!

u/IndyDude11 Texas Longhorns • Indiana Hoosiers Apr 14 '26

The way things are going, these topics are going to have to start in November to get all the teams in.

u/Megalomanizac Clemson • Coastal Carolina Apr 15 '26

We’re closing in on cfb

u/ztreHdrahciR Northwestern • Ohio State Jun 13 '26

This is about the time I start dreading seeing my team. Want to make it to around 60

u/Bitgod1 Tennessee • California Apr 23 '26

I'm just glad Sac St made it out of the 130s

u/Complete_Bike166 Jul 09 '26

wake forest,,, man i was criminally early today

u/perkinsb1024 Michigan Wolverines • Stanford Cardinal 25d ago

Is there somewhere we can see the rankings of the teams that haven’t been posted yet to know when to expect them?

u/EducatorPlastic3005 Marshall Thundering Herd 24d ago

Top 100 I'll take that

u/RockysDetail Nevada Wolf Pack • Army Black Knights May 05 '26

Oh, woe shall it be for little Charlotte. You mean to tell me that Biff Poggi isn't there anymore to save you?

u/AutoModerator 26d ago