RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesThe reigning ACC champions will begin the 2026 season outside the preseason Top 25.
Duke football received six points in the preseason US LBM College Football Coaches Poll, released Tuesday, Aug. 4, and fell short of cracking the Top 25. Ohio State claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame. Twenty-five points are awarded for a first-place vote, 24 for second, down to one point for 25th.
Three ACC teams landed in the poll: Miami at No. 7, SMU at No. 20 and Clemson at No. 23. Duke is scheduled to face the Hurricanes and Tigers during the regular season, traveling to Miami on Nov. 14 before hosting Clemson on Nov. 20 at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke is coming off a 9-5 finish in 2025 that saw it win its first ACC title since 1989. The Blue Devils lost 17 starters from last year's squad but are set to bring back 10 as Manny Diaz enters his third season at the helm.
Here's the full Preseason US LBM College Football Coaches Poll:
Preseason US LBM College Football Coaches Poll
Rank School 2025 Record Points Final 2025 Rank 1st-Place Votes 1 Ohio State 12-2 1,741 6 38 2 Oregon 13-2 1,637 4 6 3 Georgia 12-2 1,591 5 7 4 Texas 10-3 1,544 13 2 5 Notre Dame 10-2 1,524 11 5 6 Indiana 16-0 1,522 1 14 7 Miami (Fla.) 13-3 1,409 2 0 8 Texas A&M 11-2 1,174 8 0 9 Oklahoma 10-3 1,104 10 0 10 Mississippi 13-2 1,096 3 0 11 Alabama 11-4 1,050 9 0 12 Texas Tech 12-2 1,034 8 0 13 LSU 7-6 951 NR 0 14 Southern California 9-4 838 21 0 15 Brigham Young 12-2 781 12 0 16 Michigan 9-4 719 22 0 17 Penn State 7-6 463 NR 0 18 Tennessee 8-5 428 NR 0 19 Washington 9-4 406 NR 0 20 SMU 9-4 378 NR 0 21 Utah 11-2 313 14 0 22 Iowa 9-4 291 17 0 23 Clemson 7-6 235 NR 0 24 Houston 10-3 194 19 0 25 Missouri 8-5 158 NR 0
Dropped out: No. 15 Vanderbilt (10-3); No. 16 Virginia (11-3); No. 18 Tulane (11-3); No. 20 James Madison (12-2); No. 23 Navy (11-2); No. 24 Georgia Tech (9-4); No. 25 Illinois (9-4).
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.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Is Duke football ranked in preseason US LBM Coaches Poll?
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