If preseason college football rankings are any indication, then the Aug. 30 matchup between Texas and Ohio State should be dubbed "The Game of the Century" – a distinction given toward regular-season matchups between No. 1 and No. 2.
Sporting News released its Post Spring Top 25. We also looked at other publications, including 247Sports.com, Action Network, Athlon, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and On3.com. That's 11 publications that form a consensus Top 25 for the 2025-26 season.
Texas held the consensus No. 1 spot. The Longhorns were voted No. 1 by seven publications. Ohio State is No. 2 in the consensus rankings. The Buckeyes – the defending national champions – were voted No. 1 by three publications. Ohio State beat Texas 28-14 in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl Classic on Jan. 10.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
The rematch in Week 1 will be at Ohio Stadium.
Penn State had one first-place vote. The Nittany Lions were No. 3 on the consensus top 25. Clemson is No. 4, and Georgia is No. 5. Those were the five schools that had more than 200 points based on our scoring system.
We used an inverse scoring method (awarding 25 points to a No. 1 selection, 24 for a No. 2 selection, all the way down to one point for a No. 25 selection) to determine the score for each school.
SN QB RANKINGS: Top 25 | Big Ten | SEC | Big 12 | ACC
2025 Composite top 25 preseason college football rankings
A look at a composite Preseason Top 25 college football ranking across 11 major websites. Here is each school with the total points scored and their high and low ranking:
| RANK | SCHOOL | TOTAL | HIGH | LOW |
| 1 | Texas | 244 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 236 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Penn State | 234 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | Clemson | 213 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Georgia | 211 | 4 | 8 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 199 | 2 | 7 |
| 7 | Oregon | 192 | 5 | 9 |
| 8 | LSU | 185 | 6 | 15 |
| 9 | Alabama | 155 | 7 | 23 |
| 10 | Miami | 144 | 9 | 21 |
| 11 | Illinois | 136 | 9 | 17 |
| 12 | Arizona State | 126 | 9 | 21 |
| 13 | Florida | 123 | 10 | 22 |
| 14 | South Carolina | 106 | 12 | 22 |
| 15 | BYU | 96 | 10 | NR |
| 16 | Michigan | 92 | 15 | 20 |
| 17 | Kansas State | 75 | 12 | NR |
| 18 | Tennessee | 67 | 9 | NR |
| 19 | SMU | 59 | 12 | NR |
| 20(t) | Ole Miss | 56 | 11 | NR |
| 20(t) | Iowa State | 56 | 14 | NR |
| 22 | Texas Tech | 48 | 11 | NR |
| 23 | Louisville | 38.5 | 17 | NR |
| 24 | Oklahoma | 33 | 14 | NR |
| 25 | Indiana | 31 | 16 | NR |
Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 29.5, TCU 13, Auburn 9, Baylor 8, Missouri 7, Georgia Tech 6, Boise State 5, North Carolina 5, Nebraska 4, Navy 3, UNLV 3, Kansas 2, Iowa 1.
MORE: Ranking 2025 CFB head coaches, from 1-136
2025 Composite top 25 rankings by site
A look at those Preseason College Football Top 25 rankings shook out by the following sites: Sporting News, 247Sports, Action Network, Athlon, The Athletic, Bleacher Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, USA Today and On3.
| SCHOOL | SN | 24/7 | ACTION | ATHLON | T-ATH | B/R | CBS | ESPN | SI | USA | ON3 |
| Texas | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Penn State | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Georgia | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
| Notre Dame | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| Oregon | 6 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Clemson | 7 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Alabama | 8 | 8 | 23 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 |
| LSU | 9 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 15 |
| Illinois | 10 | 14 | 12 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 9 |
| Florida | 11 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 22 | 10 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 10 |
| Miami | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 20 |
| South Carolina | 13 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 22 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 12 |
| Arizona State | 14 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 16 |
| Ole Miss | 15 | 18 | 21 | 18 | - | 11 | - | 24 | - | 19 | 19 |
| Michigan | 16 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 17 |
| BYU | 17 | 22 | 14 | - | 13 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 18 |
| Tennessee | 18 | - | 9 | 21 | - | 20 | 20 | - | 13 | 14 | 21 |
| SMU | 19 | 12 | 16 | 24 | - | 21 | 24 | 15 | 18 | - | 14 |
| Texas A&M | 20 | 23(t) | - | 19 | 15 | - | - | 23 | - | - | - |
| Iowa State | 21 | 19 | 22 | 23 | - | 14 | 19 | 14 | - | 20 | 23 |
| Kansas State | 22 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 25 | 18 | 13 | 18 | - | 12 | - |
| Louisville | 23 | 23(t) | 20 | - | 23 | - | 23 | 22 | 17 | 18 | 24 |
| Oklahoma | 24 | 25 | - | 20 | 14 | 24 | 18 | 25 | - | 25 | - |
| Texas Tech | 25 | 16 | - | 22 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 16 | 22 | - | 11 |
| Auburn | - | 21 | - | - | 24 | - | 25 | - | 25 | - | 13 |
| Missouri | - | - | 19 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kansas | - | - | 24 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Navy | - | - | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | 24 | - | - |
| Indiana | - | - | - | 16 | 18 | 25 | - | 17 | 23 | - | - |
| Boise State | - | - | - | 25 | 22 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Baylor | - | - | - | - | 21 | 23 | - | - | - | - | - |
| TCU | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | - | - | 24 | - |
| Georgia Tech | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | - | - |
| North Carolina | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 21 | - | - |
| Nebraska | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | 22 |
| UNLV | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | - |
| Iowa | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 25 |