College Football Live - CFB LIVE - PRESEASON AP POLL REACTIONS

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

The Preseason AP Poll is officially here! Join our crew Zubin Mehenti, Sam Acho, and EJ Manuel as they breakdown the rankings. Which teams were snubbed? Which teams are overrated? Is reigning champion Indiana ranked too low? See what the guys think on today's episode of College Football Live!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Indiana Hoosiers are the kings of college football. If you want to be the champion, you've got to beat the champion. Arch Manning looking like Grandpa. Nobody's going to have higher expectations for our team than us. We don't run a hype machine up here in the Midwest. We don't cry a river, whine and complain. And that's why we're the best. Signetti and 24 other coaches are loving this poll right now

because everybody on it is undefeated. for the moment, the preseason AP top 25 out earlier today, the Big Ten and the SEC dominating, as you might expect. And we're going to spend our entire show today talking about this poll as we welcome you inside college football live. I'm Zubin Mahenty. Let's run into some of the big things that you absolutely need to know are takeaways. It'll start with Ohio State and Oregon.

I mentioned it's Big Ten SEC heavy, but it's really Big Ten heavy at the top. They got the top two spots for the first time in 65 years. Oregon, by the way, has their highest preseason ranking ever at two. Texas, for the third straight year is in the top five. But this year, can they finish the job with Arch, a year under his belt, with Cam Coleman now in the fold. Indiana, meanwhile, seventh champ to be outside the top five here in the last 40 years. And if you heard, Signetti at the top of the show, that is all the motivation they are going to need.

Let's talk about it for the next 30 minutes. We're going to up and down the poll with E.J. Manuel, Sam, macho. Guys, great to have you here. You know, the one thing I would say, E.J., tongue planted firmly in cheek, the longer I've been doing this, I know generally coaches in the media don't get along in any sport, but in this case, they do get along. Ohio State number one in the coaches poll. Ohio State number one in the Associated Press poll. And on the manual meter, they're number one as well.

Why do you got them in the top spot? No doubt. One, it's hard to disagree with my poll, with the AP poll, with the coaches poll. at Ohio State at number one. And it's because you have two potential Hosman trophy winners on the team. You bring back Julian Sane who passed for over 3,000 yards, also 77% completion. That's ridiculous. And then you also bring back Jeremiah Smith.

Now, my only worry with the Buckeyes is defensively. You lost some key pieces. Caleb Downs go to the NFL. Sunny Stiles goes to the NFL. Arvro Rees goes to the NFL. And this was a top 10 defense in the country that only gave up nine points per game, you guys. So there is a little bit of worry on the defensive side. but overall Ohio State is still going to roll.

I know it's a little bit of worry for you, but E.J, it's a little bit bigger worry for me. You had three guys on that defense, first round picks that are no longer there. These are three defensive leaders, studs. Caleb Bounce, for the last couple years, people have said he could have been the number one overall player taken in the draft, but it's not just that.

It's also the depth. Caden McDonald, the interior player in the second round. Innocent as well, second round picks. There's so much talent that has gone. I understand how the offensive side of the ball, there's a lot of talent with Jeremiah Smith. and Julian San, but it's hard to replace that much leadership, not just talent, but leadership on the defensive side of the ball. That's why I think that one is high for Ohio State.

Yeah, Sam, you make some great points, but you know what? When you had a first year starter in saying last year, I would have loved to go into the season with all those great draft picks because that told me, hey, look, I don't have to just win the game offensively. Now he's had a year into his belt. You had all those great defensive players go to the NFL. Julian San is prepared to go ahead and win games offensively, scoring 35, maybe 40 points a game. I wouldn't be surprised by that. And by the way, Arthur Smith is their offensive coordinator coming from the NFL so you can guarantee he's going to be pushing a football

down the field. I'm glad you mentioned that the former head coach of the Falcons, Ohio State is such a well-oiled machine that every other team in the country when they lose coordinators left and right, it's like a big deal. For Ohio State, it's not a big deal at all. It is a big deal to go wire to wire, try to finish at number one after starting at number one. This is

the list since 1980 hasn't been done in our sport since Alabama in 2017. So that's the deal led number one. Let's talk about teams two through five. Sam, I want to start with you. Once again, just to reiterate for our viewers at home, two Oregon, three, Georgia, four, Notre Dame, five, Texas. There is one school in the four that I just mentioned in two through five that you think has a legit case to maybe be number one. Yeah, I think Notre Dame is that school that should have been not only higher, but should

have been number one based off of, you talk about talent returning and highsman candidates. CJ Carr is that highestman candidate, but Leonard Moore on the defensive side of the the ball is likely to be or maybe the first defensive player drafted. You have Carr who led his team last season and it did an outstanding job. There was some adversity early on, but he was able to finish extremely strong. Talents there.

Athleticism is there. Leadership is there. Confidence is there from CJ Carr's perspective. Oh, by the way, the offensive line that was a little bit young last year is even better this year. So you have a quarterback. Offensive line. They're reloading in the running back room and then defense is going to be dominant. Well, how about Georgia?

I mean, you've got to think about Georgia being a team that's won the SEC the past two seasons. And I'm pretty sure has battle for the SEC championship, even if they didn't win it the past four or five seasons. So they bring back Gunner Stockton, KJ Bowden on the defensive side of the football. He's in his third year. Just feel like Kirby Smart always has his team playing excellent football.

And think about this, too, guys. They only lost two games last season. I believe they lost to Alabama within the touchdown. And he also lost to Ole Miss for the second time that they played them in the quarterfinal and the CIP within the touchdown. So I really believe Georgia, with all that they have coming back, and overall, they're consistent. yearly pedigree is going to have a good chance to maybe fight for that number one spot

at some point this season. EJ, it's hard to argue with anything that you just said, but as you well know, being a titan of the sport in your era, the arbiter is now changed. It's not even about winning the SEC. That used to be more than enough. It's about doing things in the playoff, and that's where Georgia has fallen short. Sam, I want to go to you on your squad, the Texas Longhorns, this time last year, on the show. All the hype didn't seem like it was warranted early.

Now that they've got some fortifications, great portal class. How do you see the horns? I think it should be higher. Absolutely. Last year, you could say number one was too high. I would agree with that. This year, five, I think is entirely too low. The reason why it's not just on the offensive side and more mature Arch Manning,

a transfer in Cam Coleman and Hollywood Smothers and Relique Brown. But the defensive side of the ball with Will Mudge Champ as defensive coordinator, that's going to be the biggest difference. That way, all the pressure is not going to be on Arch. Archmanning did struggle early in the season last year. And it wasn't just him. Sometimes it was the offensive line. The offensive line is better, more mature.

And not just him. the defense struggled at times. And all of a sudden, they have Blake Gideon, who's returning, was a Georgia Tech coordinator last year. He's returning back to up the secondary. And then Will Muncheon, we said earlier, I think that addition is overlooked far too often so far this year. Yeah, well, look, I think Texas isn't a good spot. I mean, being at five, that shows a lot of sign of respect, especially considering how they were last season and then ultimately didn't get off to a fast start. But Arge learned a lot. I feel like he's gotten stronger over the off season. Everything I've read and seen for Arge Manning is trending up. And then also Cam Coleman

coming in as a receiver and a huge target for him is going to give him that easy 50-50 ball opportunities down the field so i like what texas i understand that sam wants them a little bit higher but come on sam can't have everything out there at tex i know you're in a long man you're a hall of famous man i'm just being honest man last year i thought they were too high at one this year they're too low i'm just trying to keep it a buck man fair enough the x-dick i'm too too i'm too i'm too low five is pretty good the number you're going to keep in mind you're more talented Let me give you one number. It's week two.

That's the Ohio State game, and that's where we're really going to find out what Texas is all about. Still to come here on college football line with the fellas. You'll notice, and Sig said at the top, you know, we did win the national title. We were 16 and 0, and we're number six, and the team we barely beat is below us. What's up with Indiana and Miami? We'll talk about their odds and chances and rankings next. Mysteries unravel and stunning truths are revealed when 2020, investigates. Follow the clues, the evidence, the breaking new details. ABC's 2020 means true murder mystery.

Shocking. If you follow true crime in 2020, then you've got to listen to this. Subscribe now to 2020 True Crime Plus. Add free exclusive true crime content. Search 2020 True Crime Plus on Apple podcasts and start for free trial. Terms apply. We're back on college football live. A closer look at the top 25 as we winnow it into the top. Top 10. Seven of the 10 schools on your screen are either Big Ten or SEC, which seems appropriate because they're shaping the entire sport off the field and they're dominating it on the field. Let's welcome the guys back inside. E.J. Sam Zubin here with you. E.J., let's start with you. I mean, they go in 16 and 0. They had the greatest story in college football history.

They made the playoff two times in two years with two different starting quarterbacks. They got a third and they're sitting outside the top five. Help me understand what the voters are thinking here. Yeah, well, look, Zuba, I don't agree with the voters. And actually, this is probably one of the more kind of head scratch and thoughts because you've got a team like you just said, 16-0-Hisman Trophy winning quarterback. And now you're replacing him with another really solid quarterback, at least in his 10-year throughout college and Josh Hoover coming over from TCU.

But beyond Hoover, I also look at the fact that you bring back some really good receivers and also Coach Signetti. Look, when you look at a team that was 22 with the turnover margin last year, there was plus 22, 30 times that they took the football away and only gave it away eight times. if Hoover can just cut his interception total in half. He had 13 last season for TCU. If he can get that to six or seven, you have another chance to win a title.

So for me, Indiana should have been in the top three considering what they did last season, but also with what they bring back, Relaja Hardy, Isaiah Jones, all these kind of guys in the middle of their defense, they're going to be just fine this year. I like Indiana at six. I don't think they should be higher.

You talk about what they bring back, but what about what they lost? They lost eight guys to the draft. And not just anybody. You're talking about Fernando Mendoza, growing overall. His star receiver, Omar Cooper, another first round pick. Talk about the defense and turnover's force. Aiden Fisher, their star

inside linebacker. He got drafted as well. E.J. Williams, another one of the stud receivers. He's in the NFL playing with the Raiders. So so much is lost. I get it. Curtsinetti's a phenomenal coach. I think Indiana will be just fine. But to put them at one or two just because what they did last year, I think it would be a little bit much considering

what they have to replace and what they lost. E.J. Take me inside the mind of a player. Nobody carries himself with more swagger than Kurt Signetti, after everything. We heard at Big Ten Media days, but how do you kind of take this slight that you and I think is a slight, same things it's okay, but we're on the same page here. How do you take this slight and sort of morph it into fuel

considering I think they already believe they're the best team in the country to begin with? Yeah, well, look, you have a team that's going to be business as usual. And when you sign up to play in Indiana, whether you're a part of the 16-0 championship run or you come in as a high school recruit or a transfer portal player, you know what to expect. The standard and the standard. And so that's one thing that's not going to be. going to change. That's why I mentioned

Coe Signetti. And look, I'm not going to be on the side of rooting against him or saying like, hey, they can't do it again because all they're going to continue to do is just find ways to win games. So it's not always sexy. It's not always the 50 points and all that kind of stuff that we love to see with offense, but they find ways to win. And the big key for me, guys, is really just that

turnover margin. If they can get back to plus 20, plus 25, I mean, that's elite stuff that doesn't really get talked about enough. So I feel like they'll be again, just fine. And, you know, ultimately, as long as they stay healthy in some key spots, they'll be okay. That's a great point, E, E, because the one bugaboo for Hoover, if there is one,

as he was turnover prone at TCU. And this is a year-to-year sport. And who has been better year-to-year than Indiana? On the other side, of course, they knocked off Miami in the championship game, tight one down in Miami. E.J actually saw the Keynes in person with his own two eyes. We'll get more on that in just a second. But Sam, I want to start with you because it is a year-to-year sport,

but you really believe in order to have Miami ranked a little bit higher than seven, you need to see some overall consistency for Mario's men. True, right. So Mario Cristobal, there was kind of this story of, man, he didn't really do it in big moments. And you could argue that last year he did, right? Man, took his team to a national championship. But how do you respond after that? Do you respond going back to an adie? Or is it more like casuals not the right word?

But sometimes you can have things overlooked. I remember when I was at Texas and we went to a national championship one year. We ended up losing. And sometimes that can cause you to feel like, man, I'm here. I've arrived. I've made it. I understand that Darren Mensa is going to be in there. He's one of the most accurate quarterback to all of college football.

Malachi Tony. dynamic receiver. But I just want to see, not even more consistency, but consistently, I mean can you do it over and over again from a head coaching perspective and a decision-making perspective in critical moments. Yeah, well, here's the thing with Miami, though. You know, we all going to get caught out with Darien Minter for good reason. Great quarterback, win the ACC at Duke last year. He's made a lot of money in college football, which is fantastic. And he's earned all that. Now you bring over Cooper Barcate from Duke as well, an elite receiver for the Blue Devils. But also defensively, they are losing Ruben,

Bain and the Keene Mezzador, obviously as draft picks, but I'm telling you guys, from what I saw at practice, they got bodies up front, Ahmad Mowton, and these kind of guys who can push the middle of the offensive line for them. So I think, again, when you look at Miami, you know, the secondary is going to be really strong. They got some tall, long, rangy

corners that can run. Guys, they're with 6'1, 6'2, so it's not going to be easy for quarterbacks to throw balls and windows. So I expect, again, Miami, not just offensively to be sound, but I think the defense might be even better this year, despite losing those great pass rushes to the NFL. does say something. So Miami's sitting there at seven. At number eight is Texas A&M, who

Miami defeated en route to the national championship game last year after Texas A&M is Ole Miss. I don't think there's any team in the country. You don't want to be eight. You don't want to be 10. They're so happy to be nine because Lane Kippin and LSU is number 11. Let's just be honest. Right now, that's the biggest win they're going to get against one another. They'll face each other in the third week of the season when Kippin returns to Oxford. And that's going to be probably one of the games you've got to have to circle the entire season. and EJ, let's start with you. Last year, obviously, all the momentum,

the emotion of the Kippin departure kind of carried them, but this is the first full year for Golding with Chambliss back. What do you think of them being ranked at 9? Yeah, well, look, I think they could have been ranked higher as well. You think about Trinidad Chambliss getting an extra year of eligibility, which was huge for him, but also for this football team, for the leadership factor, but also just for the poise of the position. When you watch Trinidad Chambler's play last year,

He very rarely got kind of rattled in the pocket. And if he did, he got out of the pocket and was able to make a play and find ways to get the football to Kwan Lacey, who was an excellent runnerback coming back from last year's team, over 1,300 yards rushing. If these two guys can stay healthy, I guarantee that Ole Miss can have a chance to make it to a college football final. I can't say they win the championship because a lot of things got to go right for that.

But if those two guys are on the football field, I'm not picking against them. Kowan Lacey is a guy who also can catch the football out the backfield. So I would imagine this Ole Miss offense, might be even better, even though they lost some great receivers to the league than they were last year. Yeah, I agree with you on that, E.J. I got a chance to be at two of the last three games that this Trinidad Chambliss and Ole Miss played. And I understand that people could say that the momentum or the, you know, anger carried them through that game, losing Lane Kiffin. But it was really that momentum, that thing could have like broken them apart. It actually brought them together. I think the team has a lot of confidence in what Pete Golding can do as not just a defensive coordinator, but also a head coach.

And so yes, Kiwan Lacey, Trinidad Champlain, that defense is going to be dominant. I know. And so if anything, I think that nine is a good number for Ole Miss. And I wouldn't be surprised to end up being higher as a season goes on. You know, one thing we should mention is this offseason, Ole Miss and Clemson had themselves a big Ted Aet over tampering. And on that note, when college football live continues, when is the last time Clemson was left out of the preseason, top 25?

They didn't make the cut today. Wait till you see how long it's been. We'll talk about that next. We're back on college football live. Pro football, taking center stage on ESPN and the NFL network. Little juicy there. I don't know how much Aaron Rogers will see, but his last two teams, the Jets and Steelers, get together in Aaron's last year in the NFL.

That's later this week on the NFL network. If you take a look at the top 25 by conference, complete and total domination, as usual, the SEC and the Big Ten, but that one on the extreme right, number one, the independent Notre Dame, they might have the easiest schedule in the country, and they might have all the motivation in the world after the snub they got last season. By the way, they take on Miami November 7th, and we talk to Coach Freeman on the show about this. They are ready for that here in August. We're back inside college football live. The guys are here. Let's go to some quick hitters, and Sam, I want to start with you.

you know, there's a lot of talk about Clemson not being in the poll, which we'll talk about in just a little bit. And there's some dissension about who the top team should be. You were thinking Notre Dame. But I think everybody had generally agreed for 17 straight seasons. Alabama had earned the right to be in the top 10 due to their performance, draft picks, and of course, their head coach. But that is no longer the case this year because Bama comes in at 13. So what do you make about them being outside of the top 10 for the first time in nearly two decades? I think it's a fair assessment, and I think it's the right assessment, Alabama, not being in the top 10.

Think about this. They had over 20 players leave through the transfer portal, right? So there's a lot of movement that's happening, right? Starting tackles are gone. Some guys are getting drafted right. Welcome Forby is over at A&M right now. And then so you lose that. Also, you're trying to figure out what you're doing at the quarterback position.

There's a current quarterback battle going on that may get solved, but I'm still concerned about, okay, who's going to be protecting, right? Kate and Frotter's in the NFL right now. Ty Simpson's your quarterback. He's in the league as well. So you're trying to figure out what to do with QB, trying to figure out how to protect them. We're talking about some of the guys who have left. And so that's my concern. I don't think that Alabama, just because they have that A on the side of the helmet, should be a top 10 team.

You saw how they ended last season, struggled versus Indiana, kind of struggle trying to get into the playoff. And so I have a little bit of, yeah, no issues with where they're at right now based off of who they've lost and what they're trying to replace. Yeah, Sam, I actually think 13 is pretty favorable because they maybe could have been lower, especially because of the question market quarterback, but also can they run the football and can they stop the run? That's the biggest question with me about Alabama. To me, when I think about the Bama teams, when I was playing with Sam was playing,

and even the past few years, the ones that were really dominant were great at the lines of scrimmage. So that's going to be a huge question. If they're better up front, I do think the quarterback situation would get figured out, regardless of who's it going to be at QB1. All right, so let's dip a little bit below 13. Let's go all the way down to 23,

and that's where we've got the Houston Cougars. EJ, I want to go to you here. I know you're very keen on talking about them because they very quietly, as quietly as you could possibly do, had a 10-win season. They have a really experienced quarterback coming back and a really good one waiting in the wings. Yeah, well, here's the thing about Houston

is one, they bring back Connor Wegman, the quarterback you were referring to, Zubin. And I just feel like the last four or five games of the season when he was healthy, Conno Wickman was really hard to stop. And I mean, his ability to push the ball down the field, he was accurate, he was poised, but also his ability,

to run the football really makes that second dimension of this offensive game really hard to beat. And then you think about the fact that Willie Fritz has been there, the coachers is set. McCah Hughes is now a Houston Cougar guys. And the last time I saw Mike Hughes running the football at a high clip was when he was playing for Coach Fritz at Tulane, 1,400 yards in 2024, 1300 yards in 2023. He had some injuries last year. So with all the pieces they have coming back offensively, I wouldn't be shocked that Houston is the team out of the Big 12 that makes it into the CFP. And we know Coach Fritz has been.

Basically, one, as you mentioned, E.J., more or less everywhere he's been at every stop along the way. He's just a winner. Sam, you know, one of the great things about having you guys in and going to all these practices is you really know the Clemson program. I know you've personally going to visit Coach Sweeney. So this will be really interesting to get your perspective. As you see on your screen, they are not ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 2011. Need I remind our viewers, there was a time where Alabama and Clemson ran the sport. Things have changed a little bit.

What do you make of the Tigers with all the talent they brought through? draft says something that they are not in the top 25. They're sitting at 26 first team out. I think Davo Sweeney loves it. He loves being the other dog. I got a chance to a year or two, probably two years ago to go and speak to the team. And he got a chance to go in Davo's office.

And he showed me a magazine for when he first got, or not even a magazine newspaper article for when he first got signed about people were saying, this is the worst hire ever. And he was like, well, look at us now, right? Even recently people have been saying, man, you know, Davo hasn't caught up with the transfer portal. yet look they had two guys going the first round, two guys in the second round. I understand that this last season was somewhat of a struggle, but the talent is still there.

It feels like they keep on sock piling that talent. And so, yes, it might look on the outside like, man, like what is going on? I think they should be ranked, to be totally honest, should be in the top 25, absolutely. But I think it's exactly where Clemson wants to be. They want to be seen as the underdog, little old Clemson, and goes to surprise people, maybe even week one versus LSU. Yeah, Sam, this is the bulletin-borne material. that Dabble was kind of looking for in the dark days of training camp.

But you think about the fact that, one, you don't know who the quarterback is. You got Tate Reynolds, who is a young, flashy. I know quarterback, who a lot of these coaches are excited about at Clemson, but then also Christopher Vazina, who has had opportunities. He played a little bit last year when he got a chance against SMU through for over 300 yards. So I think Clemson will be really, really good this year, and probably maybe a dark course, maybe to win the ACC, which sounds crazy. But T.J. Moore, Brian Westcoe, those kind of guys are back-a-receiver.

Going into their third year, they played a lot of football. The Clemson Tigers understand they're not ranked right now. About seasons in, they'll be in the top of team. It's a great point, and I'll leave you with this on the way out the door. Sometimes you've got to go old school again. They bring back Chad Morris as their offensive coordinator, and he was the guy calling him plays when Clemson really had it going and hit the accelerator. So maybe this year, a blast from the past.

We'll see tomorrow. More college football live and more preseason poll talk.