Colorado high school football preseason rankings for 2026 season

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Colorado high school football preseason rankings are here.

While they're not officially from CHSAA with a coaches' poll as in years past, they still carry significant weight.

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That's because CHSAA is moving to a MaxPreps-only rankings formula in the 2026-27 school year, eliminating RPI ratings as a factor for rankings and playoff seeding.

MaxPreps has its preseason rankings out ahead of the Week Zero kickoff to the season on Aug. 21.

Four of the five defending 11-man Colorado state champions start the season at No. 1 in their respective classifications, with only Class 3A having a differing top team.

Here are the 2026 Colorado high school CHSAA football preseason rankings for the 2026 season, with the top 20 teams by class:

Colorado 5A football rankings

  1. Cherry Creek
  2. Valor Christian
  3. Ralston Valley
  4. Legend
  5. Mountain Vista
  6. Pine Creek
  7. Arapahoe
  8. Regis Jesuit
  9. Grandview
  10. Heritage
  11. Fairview
  12. Arvada West
  13. Mullen
  14. Erie
  15. Eaglecrest
  16. Cherokee Trail
  17. ThunderRidge
  18. Legacy
  19. Fountain Fort-Carson
  20. Riverdale Ridge

(Note: Fort Collins is No. 21, Rocky Mountain is No. 27 and Fossil Ridge is No. 29)

Colorado 4A football rankings

  1. Dakota Ridge
  2. Montrose
  3. Columbine
  4. Durango
  5. Broomfield
  6. Roosevelt
  7. Pueblo West
  8. Mesa Ridge
  9. Lutheran
  10. Ponderosa
  11. Monarch
  12. Fruita Monument
  13. Vista Ridge
  14. Frederick
  15. Golden
  16. Loveland
  17. Douglas County
  18. Cheyenne Mountain
  19. Sand Creek
  20. Bear Creek

(Note: Poudre is No. 25)

Colorado 3A football rankings

  1. Palmer Ridge
  2. Pomona
  3. Windsor
  4. Palisade
  5. Mead
  6. Holy Family
  7. Thompson Valley
  8. Conifer
  9. Kent Denver
  10. Pueblo East
  11. Severance
  12. Pueblo County
  13. Pueblo South
  14. Green Mountain
  15. Eagle Valley
  16. Berthoud
  17. Timnath
  18. Discovery Canyon
  19. Lewis-Palmer
  20. Evergreen

Colorado 2A football rankings

  1. Wellington
  2. The Classical Academy
  3. Strasburg
  4. Resurrection Christian
  5. Elizabeth
  6. Brush
  7. Eaton
  8. Delta
  9. Basalt
  10. Forge Christian
  11. La Junta
  12. University
  13. Denver West
  14. Alamosa
  15. Pagosa Springs
  16. Florence
  17. Lamar
  18. Weld Central
  19. Coal Ridge
  20. Montezuma-Cortez

Colorado 1A football rankings

  1. Limon
  2. Buena Vista
  3. Wray
  4. Centauri
  5. Burlington
  6. Monte Vista
  7. Meeker
  8. Colorado Springs Christian
  9. Platte Valley
  10. Highland
  11. Holyoke
  12. North Fork
  13. Yuma
  14. Cedaredge
  15. Wiggins
  16. Flatirons Academy
  17. Denver Christian
  18. Rye
  19. Ellicott
  20. Peyton

Colorado 8-man football rankings

  1. Del Norte
  2. Estes Park
  3. Center
  4. Sanford
  5. Holly
  6. Walsenburg
  7. Akron
  8. Sierra Grande
  9. St. Mary's
  10. Springfield
  11. Haxtun
  12. Hoehne
  13. Dolores
  14. Soroco
  15. Elbert
  16. Justice
  17. Norwood
  18. Gilpin County
  19. Monument Academy
  20. Plateau Valley

Colorado 6-man football rankings

None available yet. MaxPreps has all 6-man teams rated the same in its preseason rankings.

Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado high school football preseason rankings for 2026 season

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