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The Associated Press' 2025 preseason college football rankings were released on Monday, with Texas ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history. That is not the only history the Longhorns made with their ranking ahead of a marquee Week 1 matchup with defending national champions Ohio State.
Barring a significant change in the betting market, the Buckeyes are slated to enter the game as the favorites. Should that trend last through kickoff, it would be the first time a preseason No. 1-ranked team would begin the season as Week 1 underdogs, according to ESPN Research.
With Week 1 usually featuring hundreds of squash matches, the No. 1-ranked team often finds itself in a warm-up game of sorts against a lesser opponent. Before this Texas-Ohio State matchup, the previous closest betting line for a top-ranked team was when No. 1 Florida State was a four-point favorite over No. 8 Miami, according to ESPN.
Texas and Ohio State both experienced heavy turnover in the offseason. Both teams will introduce new quarterbacks, with the Longhorns beginning the highly anticipated Arch Manning era and the Buckeyes unleashing former five-star prospect Julian Sayin.
Without much certainty for either program, voting rankers backed Steve Sarkisian's Texas team, while Las Vegas oddsmakers put more faith in Ryan Day and Ohio State.
Texas tops 2025 preseason college football rankings
Although Texas enters the 2025 college football season ranked No. 1, Ohio State is not far behind. The Buckeyes will begin the year at No. 3.
The Associated Press ranked Penn State at No. 2, with Clemson and Georgia rounding out the top five. Of the top-five ranked teams, three will debut new quarterbacks in Week 1.
Notre Dame, which finished the 2024 season as runner-up, came in at No. 6, with Oregon, Alabama, LSU and Miami concluding the top 10. Clemson was the biggest riser of the top 10, as the Tigers were never ranked higher than No. 12 in the 2024 season.
Alabama at No. 9 was also a semi-surprising inclusion, considering how poorly the Crimson Tide ended the 2024 season. While they briefly held a No. 1 ranking in 2024, Alabama won just one of its last three games of the year and suffered a pair of bad losses to Oklahoma and a shorthanded Michigan team. They are also enduring a quarterback switch from Jalen Milroe to longtime backup Ty Simpson.
