Texas and Penn State at the top of the first ranking after top 25

The Texas Longhorns obtained first place in the opening survey of the top 25 of the pre-season AP for the first time in the history of the program, ahead of the Penn Stateny Lions of only five points, which makes it the nearest pre-season survey in 27 years. Texas received a total of 25 votes in first place, while Penn State received 23 votes from first place. The Longhorns have ahead of Nittany Lions in the ranking of 1,552 points to 1,547.

“This is a new year, new faces, a new team and, obviously, expectations are high for our program,” said Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian during the dry media. “I am not naive on this subject. I do not put my head in the sand, and the expectations are very high. But I also say that we are the University of Texas, and the norm is the norm here, and this is in competition for championships from year to year.”

The reigning champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, won third place in the AP survey. This occurs after defeating Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2025 34-23 University Football Championship.

“This team has its own identity,” said Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day. “He wants to have his own identity, but he also wants to be the first Ohio team to win consecutive national championships.”

One of the biggest games of the season will take place in less than three weeks, when Texas and Ohio State face the Ohio stadium. Last year, the Buckeyes beat the Longhorns in the semi-final of the 28-14 university football playoffs.

There will be two other top ten games the same weekend. At 7:30 p.m., Hae on August 30, # 4 Clemson will welcome # 9 LSU. The next day, n ° 6 Notre-Dame was on the road from the front # 10 Miami.