Among the shared expectations in college football for the 2026 season were that Oregon would have an experienced national championship contender, LSU might take a couple of weeks to find its footing under Lane Kiffin amidst the chaos, and the Michigan Wolverines were set for a big improvement with the arrival of Kyle Whittingham.
Then the actual football happened, and all those preseason expectations were thrown out the window.
Oregon could still win the national championship, LSU might find the chaos disruptive eventually and Michigan will have plenty of opportunities to show better form. But preseason expectations have been shattered just one week into the season.
It's a jarring experience as a college football expert to see your expectations go up in smoke in early September. Here at CBS Sports, we ask our experts to rank teams every week for the CBS Sports 138, a comprehensive ranking of every FBS team, and our preseason rankings were released back on Aug. 12 in advance of the 2026 season.
Those rankings were the result of an entire summer of research and reporting, with media days tidbits and some fall camp observations. But since then we've gotten a full fall camp in the books, starting quarterbacks were named, and yes, finally some actual football to inform our analysis.
So when ballots are distributed and returned after Week 1, we find some dramatic changes to the rankings. Oregon did fall from No. 2 down to No. 8, dropping to the bottom of a defined top tier of eight teams that our voters have in various orders. That group was a top seven but now is a top eight because of LSU's rise from No. 10 to No. 6, with the Tigers carrying an average ballot rating of 5.2 and sitting closer to Notre Dame at No. 5 than they are to Indiana at No. 7.
And of course there's Michigan, which predictably no longer sits inside the top 20 or even the top 30 in the CBS Sports 138. You can find out where the Wolverines rank after the 13-12 win against Western Michigan in our Mover's Report in this story, which can be found below the top 25 table.
College football experts from CBS Sports and 247Sports contribute ballots each week, which are averaged together for our rankings. You can see the top 25 below and 26-138 on our rankings page.
RankTeamRecordPrevious1Ohio State1-012Texas1-043Miami1-074Georgia1-055Notre Dame1-036LSU1-0107Indiana 1-068Oregon1-029Oklahoma1-0910USC1-01411Alabama1-01312Ole Miss1-01213Texas A&M1-01114Texas Tech1-0815BYU 1-01616Penn State1-01817Tennessee1-01718SMU1-02019Iowa1-02120Florida 1-02221Washington1-01922Utah1-02423Missouri1-02324Louisville1-02525Virginia1-037Biggest movers
- No. 46 Memphis (+26): The departure of Ryan Silverfield at Memphis prompted a strong "wait-and-see" position from our voters, leading the Tigers to start the year firmly in the middle pack of the 138-team FBS rankings down at No. 72. That's some respect for Charles Huff and his work at Marshall and Southern Miss, assuming that as a top-75 team the Tigers are among the handful of contenders in their conference, but also some hesitation when stacking this group against the entire national landscape. Well, after a strong 2-0 start, the doubt has eroded and the rankings rise has been swift, with Memphis now sitting as the highest-ranked team from the American and second-highest ranked team among all of the Group of Six, trailing only Boise State.
- No. 25 Virginia (+12): Tony Elliott had a breakthrough season in 2025 with double-digit wins and a runner-up finish in the ACC. The influx of transfer portal talent all hit, and the Wahoos enjoyed some validation for their decision to invest in football at a new level. Voters were not ready to assume it was repeatable, though, but quickly changed their minds after a total dismantling of NC State in Week 0. Even though the quarterback, skill positions and several other spots have turned over, the standard has not. With Beau Pribula leading a new-look offense, Virginia is absolutely in the thick of the ACC title race again.
- No. 31 Boise State (+12): It's not often we see teams move up a dozen spots in the wake of a loss, but the CBS Sports 138 strives to balance a respect of results while rewarding quality. The Broncos objectively exceeded expectations in a 34-27 loss at Oregon on Saturday, and the performance backed up the idea that Spencer Danielson's squad will be a contender for the Group of Six spot in the College Football Playoff as they make their move to a new league in the Pac-12.
- No. 28 Virginia Tech (+11): We will chalk this move up to sticker shock for now, or maybe a James Franklin effect, as the Hokies' season opener did get a bit more attention with its high-profile head coaching hire. Virginia Tech beat VMI 73-3 in front of a raucous crowd that was celebrating not just the game itself but the revitalization of a proud program that's hoping to return to the top of the ACC. Tougher games in the coming weeks will test the Hokies' top-30 worthiness, but for now our voters are monitoring the situation in Blacksburg.
- No. 37 Michigan (-22): There's no way to carry the same rating or ranking for Michigan from Week 1 to Week 2 after watching that offensive performance from the Wolverines against Western Michigan. The drama and controversy surrounding the extra second on the clock and the mulligan Hail Mary attempt may have actually overshadowed how distressing the Wolverines' performance was in the context of hoping to see a Big Ten dark horse or College Football Playoff contender. Michigan is a good team, but four quarters of football did not show much evidence of being a great team. Those good-but-not-great teams usually wind up here, somewhere between No. 30 and No. 50, until they prove otherwise on the field. Luckily for Michigan, there's a great opportunity ahead in Week 2 with Oklahoma coming to the Big House.
- No. 51 Clemson (-24): Is LSU that much better than we expected or Clemson that much worse? Clearly, our voters are taking a two-way approach in reacting to the 51-10 blowout in Baton Rouge with a tier jump for LSU up closer to the top five and a spike down for Dabo Swinney's crew. This is the fourth straight year our CBS Sports voters have moved Clemson down after a Week 1 loss, and perhaps that repeated disappointment has led to a more aggressive move on the ballots. Where Clemson falls among teams in the 40s or 50s is worth some debate, but there's no argument for the Tigers to remain a top-30 team in our rankings after checking in at No. 27 in the preseason.
- No. 68 TCU (-37): The Horned Frogs have yet to take the field again after a sloppy and rain-soaked 15-10 loss to North Carolina in Dublin in Week 0. A game with numerous mental errors was ultimately ended by a defensive offsides penalty on TCU, providing a fitting end to a frustrating trip abroad. The performance (as a betting favorite of more than a touchdown) did nothing to confirm the excitement about new quarterback Jaden Craig or the new-look offense after a coordinator change. No, TCU looked fairly average and out of sorts in the loss, and so our voters have bumped them down close to the FBS average in our rankings.
Check out the rest of the CBS Sports 138: Teams ranked 26-138
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