Five takeaways from the first college football Coaches Poll

The 2025 college football season is less than three weeks away. On Monday, the first edition of the US LBM Coaches Poll was released.

Soon, the AP Poll will come out, which is just another sign that the season is approaching. Preseason polls and their relevance have become more of a hot topic in recent years, but they are a fun discussion point either way.

Texas opens the season at No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame in the top five. 

Nine SEC teams cracked the top 25. Six from the Big Ten were ranked, along with five from the Big 12 and three from the ACC. 

Here are five takeaways from the Preseason edition of the Coaches Poll.

Pressure is on Texas, Penn State 

The Longhorns have felt like the preseason favorite throughout the offseason. Texas is the only team in college football to have reached the national semifinals two years in a row. 

Arch Manning is taking over as the starting quarterback and enters the season as the Heisman favorite, like his uncle once was. Peyton’s team never won the national title, and he didn’t win the Heisman.

We’ll see what Arch can do in what could be his only season as the starter, although a return for the 2026 season is certainly possible.

In 2025, though, anything less than a national title will be considered a failure for Texas. 

The same can be said about Penn State. The Nittany Lions got 14 first-place votes and might have the best combination of talent and an experienced quarterback in Drew Allar. 

It’s truly national championship or bust. 

A huge opening weekend for college football

The first full Saturday of the college football season is Aug. 30, and that weekend will be loaded with incredible matchups, highlighted by No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State.

No. 6 Clemson will also host No. 9 LSU in a battle of top-10 teams, while No. 5 Notre Dame will play No. 10 Miami on Aug. 31 in another top-10 matchup.

These games will shape the season and give us an early clue about the College Football Playoff race. 

SEC superiority still exists among coaches

Despite the Big Ten winning the last two national championships, it’s clear that coaches still view the SEC as the better conference.

Texas is ranked ahead of Ohio State. Nine SEC teams are ranked in the top 21, along with four of the top nine and six of the top 15. 

The Big Ten isn’t far behind, especially if a program like Nebraska can get back into the top 25 consistently. That league has five of the top 14 teams, according to the Coaches Poll, so the gap has narrowed.

However, the SEC, top to bottom, still gets more respect. 

Big 12 has quantity, not quality 

The Big 12 likes to think of itself as the deepest conference in college football. It’s not. The Big Ten and SEC are, but after that, the league might have an argument with five teams ranked in the top 25. 

What it doesn’t have is a national title contender. Arizona State is ranked 11th. After that, Kansas State is next at No. 20. 

The Big 12 season should be exciting. Multiple teams could make the College Football Playoff, but there isn’t a national title contender in the conference unless something crazy happens. 

Murky at the top 

Five different teams received No. 1 votes in the Coaches Poll (Texas, Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia and Clemson). Texas got 41 percent of the votes, but there isn’t a clear national title favorite heading into the season. 

The first Coaches’ Poll reflected that.