CBS Sports projection points to a Big Ten surge at the top of the 2026 preseason AP Top 25

College football’s preseason positioning season reaches a new checkpoint Monday when the AP Top 25 poll for 2026 is scheduled to be released around noon ET. Ahead of that official reveal, CBS Sports published a projected version of the ranking, framing it as an “tomorrow’s top 25 today” exercise that blends earlier preseason forecasting with a league-by-league hierarchy meant to approximate what voters could do once the season’s formal track begins.

The most notable theme in the projection is a “Big Ten takeover” in the upper tier of the poll, with the conference expected to claim several slots near the very top of the rankings. If voters follow that projected path, it would underscore how widely the league is viewed as a roster-and-experience heavyweight heading into the 2026 season.

CBS Sports’ approach is presented as a projection rather than the AP’s actual voters’ work. The publication’s framing matters because preseason rankings are notoriously sensitive to voter interpretation, returning production, quarterback outlooks, and perceived continuity. In other words, a projection can highlight expectations, but it cannot confirm what the AP will ultimately publish.

The CBS Sports piece places this preseason poll in the context of a broader run of offseason ranking takes, from conference predictions to FBS-wide outlooks. That matters because it suggests the projected top five is not being formed in a vacuum. Instead, it is shaped to align with the prevailing offseason consensus that has built through earlier college football previews and “pecking order” discussions.

The practical implication for teams and fans is that a top-five preseason placement sets a tone before kickoff. Higher placement generally raises early national expectations, can influence how media narratives attach to early nonconference tests, and sets the stakes for the first weeks of games in which rankings can shift quickly.

There are also clear caveats. A preseason top-five projection can be overtaken by offseason surprises, emerging roster stories, or a late shift in perceived strength once the AP poll is actually voted on. Without the AP results itself, the only safe conclusion is about what a major national outlet thinks voters could do.

What to watch next is straightforward: when the AP Top 25 is released Monday around noon ET, the first question will be whether the Big Ten’s projected presence near the top holds up, and the second will be which conference, outside of the Big Ten, ends up positioned immediately behind the leaders. Those two details will shape the early national storyline of the 2026 season as the first official scoreboard in the rankings era begins.