🏆 Coaches Poll: Ohio State 1 With 50 Firsts — Oregon Drops to 6, LSU Jumps to 8, Michigan to 24

The coaches did not wait on the writers.

US LBM Coaches Poll, published Tuesday, Sept. 8, first regular-season ballot of 2026:

1 Ohio State (1-0) 1,801 points, 50 first-place votes. 2 Georgia (up 1). 3 Texas (up 1). 4 Notre Dame (up 1). 5 Indiana (up 1, 11 firsts). 6 Oregon — down four from 2 after the Boise State escape. 7 Miami. 8 LSU — up five from 13 after 51–10 over Clemson. Then A&M, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Alabama, Texas Tech.

USC holds at 14, now 2-0. SMU to 17, up three from 20 after 27–24 at Florida State in the blackout. Washington 19. Utah 20. Iowa 21. Houston 22. Missouri 23.

Michigan to 24, down eight from 16 after 13–12 over Western Michigan. Virginia and Florida tied at 25 at 157 points — both unranked last week. Clemson dropped out.

Others receiving votes, the ones that matter in the hallway: Louisville 125. Illinois, Boise State, Arizona, South Carolina further back. Clemson has 3 leftover points. That is a tombstone, not a ranking.

Saturday, Sept. 12: Ohio State at Texas, 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC. The coaches already put those two 1 and 3. AP Top 25 is still due around 2 p.m. ET. Different room. We will not invent it.

What this means for you

If you needed a ranking for SMU, the coaches say 17. If you needed Oregon, they are 6, not 2. If you needed Michigan, they are hanging on by a finger. If you bet a board, this is the coaches, not the writers.

Bottom line: 50 firsts in Columbus. Oregon slid. LSU jumped. Michigan got the bill. Clemson is out.

GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.