Rams add Australian P Jack Bouwmeester

Ohio State and Oregon were 1-2 in The Associated Press Top 25 released Monday, giving the Big Ten Conference the top two teams in the preseason rankings for the first time in 65 years and just the second time ever. The Buckeyes received 40 first-place votes and Oregon received 14 in voting by 69 media members who cover college football. Ohio State will go into a season No. 1 for the ninth time, and first since 2015. The Buckeyes are now tied with Alabama for second-most preseason No. 1 rankings behind Oklahoma's 10. Oregon has its highest preseason ranking in program history after having opened No. 3 four times. Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas round out the top five. Defending national champion Indiana starts at No. 6 and is followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Oklahoma. Notre Dame received six first-place votes, Indiana got eight and Miami one. This is the first year a conference has held down the top two spots in the preseason poll since Oklahoma and Nebraska of the Big Eight were 1-2 in 1987. The last time the Big Ten had the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the preseason was 1961, when Iowa and Ohio State topped the poll. The Hawkeyes lost four of their last five games after a 4-0 start and finished that season unranked. The Buckeyes went 8-0-1 and ended the season No. 2 behind unbeaten Alabama. The Big Ten has won three straight College Football Playoff championships (Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana) and will be going for an unprecedented fourth straight national title. This is the fourth consecutive year the Big Ten has had two of the top three teams in the preseason rankings. The Southeastern Conference leads all conferences with nine teams in the preseason Top 25, marking the third straight year it has had at least that many. Five of the top 10 teams are from the SEC for the first time since 2013. Four Big 12 teams are ranked, with conference champion Texas Tech the highest at No. 12. The Atlantic Coast Conference has three ranked teams, with the Hurricanes joined by No. 19 SMU and No. 24 Louisville. There are no Group of Six schools in the Top 25. Here are the full rankings. Also receiving votes in the preseason poll: were Clemson with 112, Florida with 51, Boise State with 43 and Arizona with 32, among those with a sizable chunk. These teams were followed by TCU with 11, Navy and South Carolina with 10, Illinois (9), Oklahoma State (8), Vanderbilt (8), Pittsburgh (7), Virginia Tech (6) and Minnesota (5). Receiving fewer than five votes were UNLV, New Mexico, Georgia Tech and Louisiana with four each, James Madison and Auburn with three votes, Memphis and California with two, and Liberty, Western Michigan, Tulane and Virginia with a single vote. 25. Missouri, SEC24. Louisville, ACC23. Houston, Big 1222. Iowa, Big Ten21. Utah, Big 1220. Tennessee, SEC19. SMU, ACC18. Penn State, Big Ten17. Washington, Big Ten16. Michigan, Big Ten15. USC, Big Ten14. BYU, Big 1213. Alabama, SEC12. Texas Tech, Big 1211. LSU, SEC10. Oklahoma, SEC9. Ole Miss, SEC8. Texas A&M, SEC7. Miami (FL), ACC6. Indiana, Big Ten5. Texas, SEC4. Notre Dame, IND,3. Georgia, SEC2. Oregon, Big Ten1. Ohio State, Big Ten Top-ranked Buckeyes The offense is loaded. Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin was the most accurate passer in the nation by a wide margin last season, Jeremiah Smith leads the nation in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns over the last two years and Bo Jackson is coming off a 1,000-yard rushing season as a freshman. There is little concern about the defense even though eight starters must be replaced for a second straight year. At least six transfers are projected to start or play major roles. Ohio State will get tested early and often. The Buckeyes visit Texas on Sept. 12 and five of their nine conference games are against preseason ranked teams, including at Indiana and against Oregon at home. The Buckeyes have ended a season No. 1 in the AP poll six times (1942, 1954, 1968, 2002, 2014, 2024). Bulldogs best of the SEC The beat goes on for Kirby Smart's Georgia Bulldogs. They're in the preseason top five for the ninth straight year. The two-time defending SEC champion Bulldogs are favored to play in a sixth straight conference title game and appear in the CFP for the sixth time in 10 years. Texas, the preseason No. 1 last year, opens in the top five for the third straight year. No. 8 Texas A&M is in the preseason top 10 for the first time since it was No. 6 in 2022, the year that marked the beginning of the end for coach Jimbo Fisher. Pete Golding's first full season as Mississippi head coach starts with the No. 9 Rebels in the preseason top 10 for the second time in three years and third time since 1970. No. 10 Oklahoma is in the preseason top 10 for the first time since 2022, when it was in the Big 12. What about the Hoosiers? Indiana is the seventh returning national champion in 40 years, and second in three years, to be ranked outside the top five in the preseason (Michigan went into the 2024 season ranked No. 9 after winning the national title). The Hoosiers became the first team in the modern era to go 16-0, and they return lots of talent and signed a top-10 transfer class. The move from Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 NFL draft pick Fernando Mendoza to TCU transfer Josh Hoover at quarterback apparently put doubts in the minds of voters. Poll nuggets — Ohio State will try to become the 12th team to start and finish No. 1 since the AP preseason poll debuted in 1950. The last team to do it was Alabama in 2017. — Notre Dame has its highest preseason ranking since it was No. 2 in 2006. The Fighting Irish, who have a Heisman candidate in quarterback CJ Carr, bring a 10-game winning streak into the season and are still smarting from being left out of the playoff. — Lane Kiffin's first LSU team is No. 11 after finishing 7-6 and unranked under Brian Kelly and Frank Wilson. — Ten of the 12 CFP teams last season are ranked. The two that aren't are James Madison and Tulane from the Group of Six. — No. 23 Houston has its first preseason ranking in four years and third since 1991. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Want live women’s college volleyball coverage? FOX Sports is your new home. Headlined by the Nebraska-Texas top-2 matchup, FOX Sports will broadcast more women’s college volleyball than any network in history, starting this season. A total of 35 matches will be featured across FOX, FS1 and FS2, with a record eight matches on FOX, per Monday's announcement. FOX Sports' slate begins with the AVCA First Serve, a nonconference showdown. Louisville will take on Wisconsin on Saturday, August 22 at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. AVCA First Serve will continue with a doubleheader of Pitt-Xavier and Texas-Marquette on Monday, August 24 on FS2. Action will continue with the inaugural Players Era Volleyball Showcase presented by Players Era and MGM Resorts, similar to the college basketball nonconference tournament meant to raise NIL that burgeoned in 2025. Four matches across Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30 will be broadcast on FOX and FS1. Nebraska faces UNLV at 8 p.m. ET on that Saturday with Texas and TCU following at 10 p.m. ET. On Sunday, the top two teams — Nebraska and Texas — will face off on FOX. FOX Sports will also present the Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge Week, which will run September 1-7. Once conference play begins, partner conferences Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East will have matchups displayed across FOX, FS1 and FS2. After watching the regular season unfold on FOX platforms, finish the Big Ten season where you started. FOX Sports will broadcast the 2026 Big Ten volleyball championship match live on Thanksgiving Eve (Wednesday, November 25 at 8 p.m. ET). The live Big Ten volleyball championship will be the first conference tournament championship aired on broadcast television. In addition to tuning into live matches across FOX’s platforms, tune into FOX social for match highlights and top moments throughout the season.