The AP preseason poll was released on Monday, and Ohio State was ranked number one. It's the first time the Buckeyes have been ranked at the top of the poll since 2015. The Buckeyes have been ranked inside the top five of the preseason poll every year since 2017.
Despite some major questions at key positions, the Buckeyes have all the qualities of a team that gets ranked at the number one spot in the preseason. 15 of the last 18 preseason number ones have won a national championship within the last two years. 10 of the last 14 preseason number ones have had a returning starting quarterback. The last 10 preseason number ones have been led by a head coach who has been on the job for at least four years.
Ohio State has a national championship-winning head coach in Ryan Day. They have a returning Heisman finalist at quarterback in Julian Sayin. They have the best overall player in college football in wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. While some could make the argument that teams like Notre Dame, Oregon, or Texas have a better roster, and Indiana is the defending national champions, they don't have the reputation that Ohio State has, which lands them at the top of the poll.
There are six ranked opponents on Ohio State's 2026 schedule. Their season really starts with a road game at fifth-ranked Texas on September 12. They begin October with a trip to 22nd-ranked Iowa. Their toughest stretch of the season will be a three-game stretch where they play at sixth-ranked Indiana, at 14th-ranked USC, and at home vs second-ranked Oregon.
The season ends with a matchup against 16th-ranked Michigan. They will also play Illinois, which received nine top-25 votes. They play the next four highest-ranked teams in the Big Ten and the second-highest-ranked team from the SEC.
You can't predict exactly how the season will go. Last season, Ohio State had the top two teams in the preseason poll on its schedule in Texas and Penn State, and neither team ended up in the playoff at the end of the season. For this season, Ohio State is scheduled to play six teams ranked in the top 25. The last time they played six ranked teams in the regular season was 2005. Three of those five teams are in the top ten. The last time they did that was in 2024.
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