An OutKick article looks at the 2026 preseason college football AP Poll and highlights teams sitting just outside the ranked top 25, in the "received votes" category, that the author expects to break into the rankings by season's end. The piece plays on the fact that most preseason discussion focuses on which teams cracked the top 25, while overlooking sides positioned just below that threshold who often end up making a mark once the season unfolds.

The AP Poll includes a "received votes" section listing teams narrowly missing the top 25 at the season's outset. The article argues that, historically, several top-ten preseason teams fall out of the rankings entirely while some unranked or fringe teams surge in, and it sets out to identify three such teams likely to do so in 2026, though the specific teams are not detailed in the available text.