RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesMizzou will start the 2026 season ranked by the nation’s coaches.
Missouri football was ranked as the nation’s No. 25 team in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll , which was released Tuesday, Aug. 4. It is just the second time since Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz took over the program in 2020 that the Tigers have opened the season as a ranked team in the coaches poll, following the 2024 campaign.
The Tigers finished last season unranked after going 8-5 with a Gator Bowl loss to Virginia. Missouri received 158 voting points, which checked in just ahead of Louisville, the first team outside of the rankings, with 153 voting points.
Ohio State was the preseason No. 1, receiving a first-place vote from 38 of the 72 voting coaches. Last season’s national champions, Indiana, received the second-most first-place votes in the preseason poll with 14, but the Hoosiers were ranked at No. 6 to begin their title defense.
Oregon was No. 2 in the poll, while Georgia and Texas checked in at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. Notre Dame rounded out the top five.
Nine SEC teams were ranked among the top 25, which was one more than the Big Ten with eight ranked teams. After Georgia and Texas, Texas A&M was No. 8, Oklahoma was No. 9, and Ole Miss was No. 10. Mizzou faces all five of those preseason top-10 teams this year.
Elsewhere in the SEC, Alabama was No. 11, LSU was No. 13, and Tennessee was No. 18. Florida, South Carolina, Auburn and Vanderbilt each received votes but were unranked in the preseason poll.
72 FBS head coaches vote in the poll, including Drinkwitz. Former Missouri OC Kirby Moore, now the head coach at Washington State, and Missouri State head coach Casey Woods, who previously worked as an assistant under Drinkwitz, also are voters this season.
Full US LBM Coaches Poll top 25
Ranked teams are listed alongside their 2025 record, total voting points received in the latest poll and number of first-place votes:
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1 Ohio State (12-2), 1,741 (38)
2 Oregon (13-2), 1,637 (6)
3 Georgia (12-2), 1,591 (7)
4 Texas (10-3), 1,544 (2)
5 Notre Dame (10-2), 1,524 (5)
6 Indiana (16-0), 1,522 (14)
7 Miami (Fla.) (13-3), 1,409
8 Texas A&M (11-2), 1,174
9 Oklahoma (10-3), 1,104
10 Mississippi (13-2), 1,096
11 Alabama (11-4), 1,050
12 Texas Tech (12-2), 1,034
13 LSU (7-6), 951
14 Southern California (9-4), 838
15 Brigham Young (12-2), 781
16 Michigan (9-4), 719
17 Penn State (7-6), 463
18 Tennessee (8-5), 428
19 Washington (9-4), 406
20 SMU (9-4), 378
21 Utah (11-2), 313
22 Iowa (9-4), 291
23 Clemson (7-6), 235
24 Houston (10-3), 194
25 Missouri (8-5), 158
Others receiving votes: Louisville (9-4) 153; Florida (4-8) 147; TCU (9-4) 63; Illinois (9-4) 62; Arizona (9-4) 50; South Carolina (4-8) 50; Virginia (11-3) 40; Vanderbilt (10-3) 37; Auburn (5-7) 29; Georgia Tech (9-4) 26; Boise State (9-5) 24; Oklahoma State (1-11) 22; UNLV (10-4) 17; Florida State (5-7) 13; North Carolina State (8-5) 13; Nebraska (7-6) 12; Virginia Tech (3-9) 12; Memphis (8-5) 9; Arizona State (8-5) 8; Duke (9-5) 6; James Madison (12-2) 6; New Mexico (9-4) 4; Pittsburgh (8-5) 4; Navy (11-2) 3; Western Michigan (10-4) 3; San Diego State (9-4) 2; California (7-6) 1; Hawaii (9-4) 1; Jacksonville State (9-5) 1; Kansas State (6-6) 1.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Is Missouri football ranked in preseason US LBM Coaches Poll?
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