CBS Sports has released their post-Spring CBS Sports 138 rankings.

Check them out for yourself.

I have concerns about Ohio State at #1. They lost too much on defense. I know they lost a lot on defense the year before and were even better, but I still expect some fallout. Also, while I expect their offense to be great, there are concerns there. They lost some key players from their stacked receiver room to other schools and the NFL, and I'm no longer sure who the #2 receiver is alongside Jeremiah Smith. And who is the 3rd down safety blanket receiver? Is that Smith also? Usually, it's a Tight End. But they're thin there too.

I'm also not confident in Texas at #2. I know Arch improved down the stretch last season, and they had a great portal class, but the O-line needs to really step up from last season. I believe that Texas can be one of the top teams in the country next year, but I'm not yet convinced they will be one. I'm in more of a "I'll believe it when I see it" mood on this one.

Still, the Buckeyes and the Longhorns play in week 2, so we will learn something about both teams then.

Texas Tech at #9 seems a little high since they'll be without QB Brendan Sorsby, but they're still probably the class of the Big 12.

Other issues? Penn State at #18. Color me skeptical on the Matt Campbell era in Happy Valley. A few years ago, I was quite the Matt Campbell fan, but he never managed to take Iowa State to the next level. I feel like the bloom is off that rose. He'll have better resources at Penn State and will be able to recruit better, so it's possible he succeeds there, but much like Texas this year, I need to see it to believe it. I would have been much more excited for the Nittany Lions if they'd nabbed Kalani Sitake from BYU.

Since I brought up Penn State, it's fair to bring up Virginia Tech at #37 next. James Franklin's new stomping ground. I do think it was time for Penn State and Franklin to part ways, but overall I think Franklin's a better coach than Campbell. And Franklin is taking his talent with him to VT while Campbell brought his Iowa State talent to PSU. I think at season's end, Virginia Tech will be ranked higher than Penn State.

Finally, North Dakota State at #109 is a complete insult to the Bison. The computer has their preseason ranking at #24, which may be a bit high, but is probably in the right neighborhood. I would be surprised if they finish this season outside the top 40. I know it's their first year in the FBS, but this is an amazingly strong FCS program. I would not be surprised at all if the Bison are the best Group of 6 team this year and force the NCAA to suspend their postseason eligibility requirements and allow them into the playoff. I don't expect that to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. North Dakota State is that good. They're the reason I have wanted to add FCS teams to the rankings for quite some time. Ironically, I finally get that done just as they move to the FBS.

Schedules for the 2026-2027 season for the NFL have been loaded along with preseason projections for every game.

Good luck to all of your teams.

As I have said before, I am including FCS football in my rankings for 2026. This has nearly doubled the number of teams from 136 to 266. But there are other noteworthy changes which will affect the rankings. This is another big year for conference realignment.

FCS teams have been added to NCAA Football, effective with the 2025 season. 2026 schedules are still being updated, and there is something squirrelly with the 2025 Sanders ratings page. I'll work on getting both of these things updated.

The various ratings pages have been updated to show whether the teams are in the FBS or FCS and you can filter out either subdivision should you wish it.

The preseason schedules and projections for the 2026 season of NCAA FBS football are now available. I am still working on adding FCS teams to the mix. That will happen over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, you can find the 2026 schedule here.

Enjoy the season and good luck to your teams!

CJB Ratings, AKA Sports Ratings III, is a data-driven analytics platform designed to evaluate teams, project future performance, and provide transparent, reproducible rating systems across multiple sports. We currently do three sports:

• NCAA FBS College Football
• NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball
• NFL football

Watch this space for more information about what's available and what's coming!