AP Top 25: Texas No. 1 In Preseason Poll, Setting Up Top-3 Matchup vs. Ohio State

When Texas and Ohio State meet in Columbus on Aug. 30 (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), it’ll likely be for the No. 1 ranking in the nation. 

Texas received the No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 college football preseason poll for the 2025 season, which was unveiled on Monday. Ohio State, meanwhile, received the No. 3 ranking, nearly giving us the first-ever Week 1 matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation in the history of the AP poll. Penn State was ranked second between Texas and Ohio State.

[Related: RJ Young’s Ultimate 136 college football rankings]

Texas received its No. 1 ranking after two appearances in the College Football Playoff semifinals in each of the last two years, earning 25 of the 65 first-place votes. It also received the No. 1 ranking as Arch Manning is set to take over at quarterback for the 2025 season. Manning, a redshirt sophomore, sat behind Quinn Ewers the last two seasons, but briefly played in 2024, recording 939 passing yards, two interceptions, 108 rushing yards and 13 total touchdowns.

As for Ohio State, it received the No. 3 overall ranking after winning its first national championship under head coach Ryan Day last season. Fourteen players from that team were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, including quarterback Will Howard and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka. But the Buckeyes arguably have the two best players in college football entering 2025, with wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs returning. Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are battling for the starting quarterback job. Ohio State got 11 first-place votes. 

Penn State nearly got the No. 1 overall ranking. It earned 23 first-place votes and was only five points shy of Texas’ point total. The Nittany Lions return quarterback Drew Allar, along with running backs Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, helping them receive their highest ranking a AP Top 25 preseason poll since 1997.

Clemson, which returns quarterback Cade Klubnik and several stars on defense, earned the No. 4 ranking, receiving four first-place votes. Georgia rounds out the top five, receiving one first-place vote. 

Notre Dame, Oregon (which got the final first-place vote), Alabama, LSU and Miami round out the top 10.

The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams in the preseason Top 25, most ever by a conference and one more than a year ago. The SEC has four teams in the top 10 for the second straight year.

The Big Ten, which has won the last two national championships, has two of the top three teams in the poll for the third straight year and six in the Top 25 for the third year in a row.

Four Big 12 teams are ranked, with defending conference champion Arizona State the highest at No. 11. The Atlantic Coast Conference has three.

Poll nuggets

• Texas will try to become the 12th team to start and finish No. 1 since the AP preseason poll debuted in 1950. The last team to do it was Alabama in 2017.
• Notre Dame is in the preseason top 10 for the third time in four years. The Fighting Irish will have a new quarterback, CJ Carr or Kenny Minchey. The two played a combined eight snaps last season as Notre Dame went all the way to the CFP title game won by Ohio State.
• With Boise State at No. 25, all 12 teams in the 2024 College Football Playoff are ranked in the preseason. The Mountain West’s Broncos are the first team from a Group of Five conference to crack the preseason Top 25 since Tulane was No. 24 in 2023.
• No. 16 SMU, which returns quarterback Kevin Jennings from its CFP team, is in the preseason Top 25 for the first time in 40 years. The 1985 team was No. 3 and finished 6-5 and unranked.

Here’s the full top 25:

1. Texas
2. Ohio State
3. Penn State
4. Clemson  
5. Georgia
6. Notre Dame
7. Oregon
8. Alabama
9. LSU
10. Miami (Fla.)
11. Arizona State 
12. Illinois 
13. South Carolina
14. Michigan
15. Florida
16. SMU 
17. Kansas State
18. Oklahoma 
19. Texas A&M 
20. Indiana 
21. Ole Miss
22. Iowa State
23. Texas Tech
24. Tennessee 
25. Boise State

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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