Indiana football ranked 6th in coaches poll? With 14 first-place votes! Here's how

It was only the second time in the past 15 years that a reigning national champion was outside the top 5 of the preseason US LBM coaches poll when Indiana football was revealed as sixth Tuesday.

The Hoosiers , though, garnered 14 first-place votes from the 72 coaches who votes, second most behind first-place Ohio State (38 first-place votes). The teams between them were second-place Oregon (six), Georgia (seven), Texas (two) and Notre Dame (five).

Curt Cignetti has few of the precious James Madison transfers that served a narrative that he's worked to squash. He had a great line at Big Ten media days about how he was "stalking complacency" and has said he turned the page on the national championship the next day.

During their run to the national championship, Cignetti and his staff landed several key transfers: Quarterback Josh Hoover, wide receiver Nick Marsh, defensive linemen Chiddi Obiazor, Tobi Osunsanmi and Josh Burnham and more. IU also worked to retain stars such as Charlie Becker, Carter Smith, Mario Landino, Isaiah Jones, Amare Ferrell and others.

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Some commenters believed if the words "Ohio State" or other blueblood programs were draped across the chest of the Hoosiers, there is no doubt they'd be ranked higher than sixth . So, what was the voting breakdown that landed IU sixth?

For those thinking the math ain't mathin', a breakdown of how the college football coaches voted IU is as follows from USA TODAY college sports editor Matt Glenesk:

First-place votes: 14

Second: 1

Third: 6

Fourth: 5

Fifth: 13

Sixth: 17

Seventh: 9

Eighth: 3

Ninth: 2

Tenth: 1

Fourteenth: 1

#iufb voting breakdown. pic.twitter.com/oS6Jo3EPX3

— Matt Glenesk (@MattGlenesk) August 5, 2026 College football coaches who vote in 2026 US LBM coaches poll

Here are the 72 coaches voting in this year's poll:

The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2026 season:  Tim Albin, Charlotte; Blake Anderson, Southern Mississippi; Dave Aranda, Baylor ; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, North Texas; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Curt Cignetti, Indiana ; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State ; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Jake Dickert, Wake Forest; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Matt Entz, Fresno State ; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Virginia Tech; Willie Fritz, Houston; Scott Frost, Central Florida; Tony Gibson, Marshall; Alex Golesh, Auburn; Will Hall, Tulane; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; John Hauser, Ohio; Clay Helton, Georgia Southern; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Memphis; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; KC Keeler, Temple; Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Collin Klein, Kansas State ; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Dowell Loggains,  Appalachian State ; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Kirby Moore, Washington State; Eric Morris, Oklahoma State; Dan Mullen, UNLV; Billy Napier, James Madison; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, Purdue; Tim Polasek, North Dakota State; Tavita Pritchard, Stanford; Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Morgan Scalley, Utah; JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Will Stein, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Florida; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso; Kyle Whittingham, Michigan; Casey Woods, Missouri State.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football ranked 6th in coaches poll? With 14 first-place votes! Here's how

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