ST. LOUIS – For a second consecutive season, the University of San Diego is the preseason favorite in the Pioneer Football League’s 2026 Preseason Coaches’ Poll, released Monday.
Each of the league’s 11 head coaches voted in the PFL Preseason Coaches’ Poll and were not able to vote for their own teams. The league will present its 2026 Preseason All-PFL Team on Tuesday.
Pioneer Football League
2026 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
|
| Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
Points |
| 1. |
San Diego |
5 |
2 |
1 |
90 |
| 2. |
Drake |
5 |
1 |
2 |
88 |
| 3. |
St. Thomas |
1 |
5 |
4 |
87 |
| 4. |
Dayton |
|
1 |
|
69 |
| 5. |
Butler |
|
1 |
3 |
67 |
| 6. |
Marist |
|
|
1 |
52 |
| 7. |
Presbyterian |
|
|
|
47 |
| 8. |
Morehead St. |
|
|
|
38 |
| 9. |
Davidson |
|
1 |
|
33 |
| 10. |
Stetson |
|
|
|
22 |
| 11. |
Valparaiso |
|
|
|
12 |
- First-place votes in parentheses.
- 10 points awarded for a first-place vote, with one point less for each succeeding place. (Maximum score = 100)
- Coaches were not allowed to vote for their team.
|
The Toreros claimed the top spot in what the league’s coaches see as an extremely tight race for the league’s 34th championship, with only three points separating the Top 3 teams in the poll. San Diego claimed five first-place votes while amassing 90 points. The Toreros are seeking their first PFL title since sharing the 2021 championship.
Drake University, the PFL’s three-time defending champion and now under the leadership of head coach Matt Walker, also claimed five first-place votes and scored 88 points from the league’s coaches. The University of St. Thomas was the lone team in the Top 3 to receive all its votes in one of the top three positions, including one first-place vote, and finished with 87 points.
The University of Dayton is the coaches’ pick to finish fourth with 69 points, just ahead of Butler University, which received 67 points. Marist University sits in the sixth position in the poll with 52 points.
Presbyterian College, the surprise of the 2025 season with a best-ever second-place finish, is picked seventh to start the 2026 campaign under new head coach Matt Rahl after scoring 47 points in the poll. Morehead State (38 points) is eighth in the poll, followed by Davidson College in ninth with 33 points, Stetson University in 10th with 22 points, and Valparaiso University in 11th with 12 points.
The upcoming 2026 season marks the 34th season of the Pioneer Football League. The league will feature 11 teams, each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Championship. Nine teams playing during Week Zero, beginning with four games on Thursday, August 27. The race for the 2026 PFL Championship begins on September 26 with four games, including Drake’s conference-opener at Davidson.
About the Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is the only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The PFL is a truly national conference with members on each coast and throughout the nation’s heartland. Butler University, the University of Dayton, Drake University, and Valparaiso University were among the league’s founding members in 1993, with Davidson College, Marist University, Morehead State University, Presbyterian College, the University of San Diego, the University of St. Thomas, and Stetson University joining to form the current 11-team league.
- PFL -