Memphis football was unranked in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll, but the Tigers did receive some votes.
Memphis received nine voting points and was essentially No. 43 in the poll. No Group of Six team cracked the initial Top 25.
Still, there were several Group of Six schools that received votes.
- Boise State (24 points, essentially No. 36)
- UNLV (17 points, essentially No. 38)
- Memphis (nine points, essentially No. 43)
- James Madison (six points, essentially No. 46)
- New Mexico (four points, essentially No. 47)
- Navy (three points, essentially tied for No. 49)
- Western Michigan (three points, essentially tied for No. 49)
- San Diego State (two points, essentially No. 51)
- Hawaii (one point, essentially tied for No. 52)
- Jacksonville State (one point, essentially tied for No. 52)
Memphis did slot in as the American Conference team with the most voting points in the poll. And the Tigers will face the two Group of Six teams that received more votes — Boise State and UNLV — on the road this season.
Ohio State earned the No. 1 spot, and the Buckeyes were followed by Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame.
Memphis coach Charles Huff is a voter for the 2026 season.
The Tigers kick off their 2026 season at UNLV on Aug. 29.
College football rankings to start 2026 season
US LBM Coaches Poll
- Ohio State (12-2)
- Oregon (13-2)
- Georgia (12-2)
- Texas (10-3)
- Notre Dame (10-2)
- Indiana (16-0)
- Miami (13-3)
- Texas A&M (11-2)
- Oklahoma (10-3)
- Ole Miss (13-2)
- Alabama (11-4)
- Texas Tech (12-2)
- LSU (7-6)
- Southern Cal (9-4)
- BYU (12-2)
- Michigan (9-4)
- Penn State (7-6)
- Tennessee (8-5)
- Washington (9-4)
- SMU (9-4)
- Utah (11-2)
- Iowa (9-4)
- Clemson (7-6)
- Houston (10-3)
- Missouri (8-5)
Dropped out from
final 2025 poll: No. 15 Vanderbilt (10-3); No. 16 Virginia (11-3); No. 18 Tulane (11-3); No. 20 James Madison (12-2); No. 23 Navy (11-2); No. 24 Georgia Tech (9-4); No. 25 Illinois (9-4).
Others receiving: Louisville (9-4) 153; Florida (4-8) 147; TCU (9-4) 63; Illinois (9-4) 62; Arizona (9-4) 50; South Carolina (4-8) 50; Virginia (11-3) 40; Vanderbilt (10-3) 37; Auburn (5-7) 29; Georgia Tech (9-4) 26; Boise State (9-5) 24; Oklahoma State (1-11) 22; UNLV (10-4) 17; Florida State (5-7) 13; North Carolina State (8-5) 13; Nebraska (7-6) 12; Virginia Tech (3-9) 12; Memphis (8-5) 9; Arizona State (8-5) 8; Duke (9-5) 6; James Madison (12-2) 6; New Mexico (9-4) 4; Pittsburgh (8-5) 4; Navy (11-2) 3; Western Michigan (10-4) 3; San Diego State (9-4) 2; California (7-6) 1; Hawaii (9-4) 1; Jacksonville State (9-5) 1; Kansas State (6-6) 1.
List of voters: The US LBM Board of Coaches for the 2026 season: Tim Albin, Charlotte; Blake Anderson, Southern Mississippi; Dave Aranda, Baylor; David Braun, Northwestern; Jeff Brohm, Louisville; Fran Brown, Syracuse; Neal Brown, North Texas; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Jamey Chadwell, Liberty; Curt Cignetti, Indiana; Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech; Spencer Danielson, Boise State; Ryan Day, Ohio State; Kalen DeBoer, Alabama; Manny Diaz, Duke; Jake Dickert, Wake Forest; Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri; Sonny Dykes, TCU; Jason Eck, New Mexico; Mike Elko, Texas A&M; Tony Elliott, Virginia; Matt Entz, Fresno State; Jedd Fisch, Washington; James Franklin, Virginia Tech; Willie Fritz, Houston; Scott Frost, Central Florida; Tony Gibson, Marshall; Alex Golesh, Auburn; Will Hall, Tulane; Blake Harrell, East Carolina; John Hauser, Ohio; Clay Helton, Georgia Southern; Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky; Charles Huff, Memphis; Butch Jones, Arkansas State; KC Keeler, Temple; Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State; Brent Key, Georgia Tech; Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic; Collin Klein, Kansas State; Tre Lamb, Tulsa; Rhett Lashlee, SMU; Clark Lea, Vanderbilt; Lance Leipold, Kansas; Pete Lembo, Buffalo; Sean Lewis, San Diego State; Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State; Joey McGuire, Texas Tech; Jeff Monken, Army; Kirby Moore, Washington State; Eric Morris, Oklahoma State; Dan Mullen, UNLV; Billy Napier, James Madison; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Brian Newberry, Navy; Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State; Barry Odom, Purdue; Tim Polasek, North Dakota State; Tavita Pritchard, Stanford; Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion; Matt Rhule, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Morgan Scalley, Utah; JaMarcus Shephard, Oregon State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Will Stein, Kentucky; Jon Sumrall, Florida; Lance Taylor, Western Michigan; Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio; Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso; Kyle Whittingham, Michigan; Casey Woods, Missouri State.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Where Memphis football landed in preseason coaches poll
