{"id":788016,"date":"2026-05-11T04:36:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/788016\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T04:36:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:36:36","slug":"college-football-rankings-sports-illustrated-names-five-teams-who-could-be-no-1-in-preseason-ap-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/788016\/","title":{"rendered":"College Football rankings: Sports Illustrated names five teams who could be No. 1 in Preseason AP Poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

College football isn\u2019t too far away and neither is the AP Poll<\/strong> rankings for the preseason! Sports Illustrated compiled five teams that have a case to be the No. 1 team when the time comes.<\/p>\n

So, we did the honors of breaking down those selected teams. Where will they end up in the preseason? That\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess right now.<\/p>\n

Still, it\u2019s never too early to take a look at the top of the AP Poll. Here are five teams, per SI<\/a>, that could be No. 1.<\/p>\n

Georgia could have a claim to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll when it comes to 2026. Despite losing talented players like WR Zachariah Branch, LB CJ Allen, CB Daylen Everette and DT Christen Miller, they brought in a good amount of transfer portal players.<\/p>\n

The big one might be CB Gentry Williams,<\/a><\/strong> who comes in from Oklahoma. Let\u2019s not forget, Gunner Stockton<\/a><\/strong> is back at quarterback and of course, Kirby Smart<\/a><\/strong> is still the head coach!<\/p>\n

Ohio State has a great argument to be the top team in the AP Poll when the preseason rankings come out. The Buckeyes fell short to Indiana and Miami, the two teams that played for the national title, last season.<\/p>\n

But with what they bring back, such as QB Julian Sayin<\/a><\/strong>, WR Jeremiah Smith<\/a><\/strong> and RB Bo Jackson<\/a><\/strong>, this team is still loaded. They have to replace an elite defense, but portal additions like Qua Russaw,<\/a><\/strong> James Smith<\/a><\/strong>, Terry Moore<\/a><\/strong> and Earl Little Jr.<\/a><\/strong>, they\u2019re going to be in good shape.<\/p>\n

Oregon decided to run it back for 2026 and they could very well be No. 1 in the AP Poll! QB Dante Moore <\/a><\/strong>elected to return to the program and hold off on the NFL. Plus, the Ducks added depth with two-year Nebraska starter Dylan Raiola<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Dan Lanning<\/a><\/strong> has improved this team every single season, and the Ducks were sure to add some key portal players. Koi Perich<\/a><\/strong> (Minnesota) and Carl Williams IV<\/a><\/strong> (Baylor) will help at safety. Let\u2019s not forget WR Evan Stewart<\/a><\/strong> is set to be back from injury as well.<\/p>\n

It hurts when you lose the No. 3 overall pick in Jeremiyah Love to the NFL, and Jadarian Price! But never fear, Notre Dame still brings back QB CJ Carr<\/a><\/strong> and brought plenty in via the transfer portal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

RB Aneyas Williams<\/a><\/strong> takes over and the defense should be great led by CB Leonard Moore<\/a><\/strong>. Transfers include Keon Keeley<\/a><\/strong>, Francis Brewu<\/a><\/strong>, DJ McKinney<\/a><\/strong> and Jayden Sanders<\/a><\/strong>, among others. Maybe Notre Dame won\u2019t be No. 1 to start the year in the AP Poll, but they have a shot to get there!<\/p>\n

Texas has a real shot to be the No. 1 team in the AP Poll when the time comes. Arch Manning<\/a><\/strong> is back at QB to help lead this team back to the CFP and beyond.<\/p>\n

Cam Coleman<\/a><\/strong> was arguably the top WR in the transfer portal and he comes in from Auburn. They also brought in LB Rasheem Biles<\/a><\/strong> from Pitt to help offset some defensive losses. Everything hinges on Steve Sarkisian<\/a><\/strong> and Manning, but early on, Texas should certainly be considered a national title contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"College football isn\u2019t too far away and neither is the AP Poll rankings for the preseason! Sports Illustrated…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":788017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[311477,6838,41426,6847,321969,153970,321970,159734,186559,155599,321971,73487,1318,321972,321973,33163,259209,321974,6872,107113,259217,157718,6888,6890,1317,1315,1316,234191,72784,62,164652,311497,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-788016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-aneyas-williams-24-hannibal","9":"tag-arch-manning-23-isidore-newman","10":"tag-bo-jackson-25-villa-angela-st-joseph-hs","11":"tag-cam-coleman-24-central","12":"tag-carl-williams-23-southern-university-lab-school","13":"tag-cj-carr-24-saline","14":"tag-d-j-mckinney-22-colleyville-heritage","15":"tag-dan-lanning-04-richmond","16":"tag-dante-moore-23-martin-luther-king-jr","17":"tag-dylan-raiola-24-buford","18":"tag-earl-little-jr-22-american-heritage","19":"tag-evan-stewart-22-liberty","20":"tag-football","21":"tag-francis-brewu-24-thomas-worthington","22":"tag-gentry-williams-22-booker-t-washington","23":"tag-gunner-stockton-22-rabun-county","24":"tag-james-smith-23-carver","25":"tag-jayden-sanders-25-kilgore","26":"tag-jeremiah-smith-24-chaminade-madonna-prep","27":"tag-julian-sayin-24-carlsbad","28":"tag-keon-keeley-23-berkeley-prep","29":"tag-kirby-smart-95-bainbridge","30":"tag-koi-perich-24-lincoln-secondary","31":"tag-leonard-moore-24-round-rock","32":"tag-ncaa","33":"tag-ncaa-football","34":"tag-ncaafootball","35":"tag-qua-russaw-23-carver","36":"tag-rasheem-biles-23-pickerington-central","37":"tag-sports","38":"tag-steve-sarkisian-92-west","39":"tag-terry-moore-22-washington","40":"tag-united-states","41":"tag-unitedstates","42":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}