Texas atop rankings is historic, but will they be a week 1 loser?

The Texas Longhorns have made history before the season even starts. They are in the top spot for the first time in the history of the college football coaches poll. But beware, Hook’em Nation, there will be a challenge to that ranking right out of the chute.

Which teams are ranked in the top 5?

According to the coaches’ poll, the preseason top five is led by Texas with 28 first-place votes. They are ranked just ahead of the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes, who came in with 20 first-place votes. The Penn State Nittany Lions earned 14 first-place votes and are ranked third, followed by Georgia and Notre Dame. The Southeastern Conference has nine teams in the coaches’ top 25, and the Big Ten isn’t far behind, with six.

The debate between the two conferences will continue all season, with one of the key matchups potentially deciding the outcome in the very first week. No. 1 Texas will play at No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday, Aug. 30. It’s a rematch of the College Football Playoff semifinal won by the Buckeyes in January.

This time around, both teams will have new quarterbacks. Texas will be led by phenom Arch Manning, starting just his third college game. Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day is still deciding between freshman Julian Sayin and sophomore Lincoln Kienholz.

“You want command of that offense,” Day said after the first day of practice. “When you stand in there as a quarterback, you want everybody in that hall to believe in you. You want them to follow your command. That’s a big part of it. Then, taking care of the football, making routine plays, routinely getting us into the right play. That’s one of the things last year that I feel like Will [Howard] probably doesn’t get enough credit for, was all the little things that kept the offense moving.”

Who are the next five teams in the poll?

The next five teams in the coaches poll are chock full of big names that could win a national championship. The Clemson Tigers, with veteran Cade Klubnik under center, received two number one votes and are ranked No. 6. Oregon, Alabama and LSU follow them. 

In a battle of Tigers, Clemson will take ninth-ranked LSU in the first game of the season, Aug. 30, in the Clemson version of Death Valley.

Miami lost their quarterback to the NFL in No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. But thanks to the transfer portal and a $6 million salary, former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck is ready to lead the way. The head coach for the 10th-ranked Canes, Mario Cristobal, said You can tell he’s played a lot of football in his career.

“His presence physically, it’s really, really impressive, right?” Cristobal said. “He has a way about him where he connects with people. They see his knowledge. They feel his football IQ, and they also feel his competitiveness. He’s got a very competitive nature.”

Why are the week one games so important?

No. 10 Miami will be in the spotlight Aug. 31, as they take on fifth-ranked Notre Dame. Cristobal is trying to temper the excitement his players might feel about a game four weeks away.

“The whole world knows when we’re playing and who we’re playing game one,” Cristobal said. “And that really can’t have any bearing on how we approach a certain part of our process as well. Like, we got to get really good at what we do first.”

Spoken like a coach that just kicked off training camp. A loss in week one, however, can ruin a season before it even begins. The preseason polls can have a direct impact on who will make the College Football Playoff in December.

Expanding the playoff to 12 teams in 2024 was a success, but there were complaints about how teams were seeded, leading to some changes for 2025. The top five conference champions will still get an automatic berth, but the final rankings will determine how teams are seeded.

That makes the polls that much more important to the selection committee. The next preseason poll, voted on by the Associated Press, will be revealed next week.