Where Indiana football ranks to start 2026 season after national championship

BLOOMINGTON —  Indiana football didn't hold onto its No. 1 ranking in the US LMB Coaches Poll .

USA TODAY revealed the preseason top 25 during a live stream on Tuesday with the reigning national champions ranking at No. 6. The Hoosiers will open the season ranked in the coaches poll for only the third time since 1991.

After opening last season as the No. 19 team in the country, IU climbed to the top spot for the first time in program history by knocking off then No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. The Buckeyes are back in the top spot to open 2026 with Oregon — a team Indiana beat twice last year — ranked at No. 2.

The Hoosiers have a tough schedule this year with five games against ranked opponents, including No. 1 Ohio State, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan, No. 19 Washington.

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US LMB 2026 preseason college football poll

The preseason US LBM coaches poll Top 25 with team's records FROM LAST SEASON in parentheses, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th, ranking in last year’s final poll and first-place votes received.

Rank School (record) Points Last Season's Final Rank First-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 USC (9-4) 838 21 0 15 BYU (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 21 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.

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: Where Indiana football ranks to start 2026 season after national championship

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