BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Associated Press has released its preseason top 25 poll for the upcoming 2026 college football season.
The LSU Tigers are ranked at no. 11.
With the 12-team College Football Playoff format, the ranking signals that AP voters currently see LSU football as a playoff team in Lane Kiffin’s first season as head coach.
The Tigers open their season on Sept. 5 at home against Clemson, who did not make the AP’s preseason top 25.
2026 AP Preseason Top 25
| Rank | Team (First-Place Votes) | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (40) | 1672 |
| 2 | Oregon (14) | 1597 |
| 3 | Georgia | 1513 |
| 4 | Notre Dame (6) | 1510 |
| 5 | Texas | 1483 |
| 6 | Indiana (8) | 1440 |
| 7 | Miami (Fla.) (1) | 1379 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 1131 |
| 9 | Ole Miss | 1102 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 1047 |
| 11 | LSU | 988 |
| 12 | Texas Tech | 983 |
| 13 | Alabama | 904 |
| t-14 | BYU | 839 |
| t-14 | USC | 839 |
| 16 | Michigan | 718 |
| 17 | Washington | 501 |
| 18 | Penn State | 482 |
| 19 | SMU | 434 |
| 20 | Tennessee | 394 |
| 21 | Utah | 304 |
| 22 | Iowa | 260 |
| 23 | Houston | 252 |
| 24 | Louisville | 194 |
| 25 | Missouri | 117 |
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