KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two-time defending national champion Grand View (Iowa) will start 2026 where the Vikings left things in 2025, as the top-ranked team in the preseason edition of the 2026 STADIONIC-NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll.
The preseason poll is the first of seven coaches polls in 2026, followed by three national selection committee polls, a final ARC rating Nov. 15, and a postseason poll Jan. 4. The 2026 NAIA football season culminates with the NAIA National Championship Game in Fort Worth, Texas, Dec. 19 at Crowley ISD Multipurpose Stadium, live on the NAIA family of broadcast networks at www.naia.org/watch.
The Vikings, who were 14-0 in 2025, are No. 1 for a 13th-consecutive time, dating back to the postseason poll in 2024. GVU claimed all 13 first-place votes, and the Vikings are picked to repeat as Heart of America Athletic Conference North Division champions. Dalten Van Pelt, who was the MVP of the 2025 championship game, returns to lead an offense that almost quietly averaged 39.1 points per game last season. The Vikings also return experience to a defense that was second in the NAIA in opponent’s scoring, allowing 12.7 points per game and just 82 rushing yards per contest, also second-best in the association. The Vikings’ key loss from 2025 will be NAIA Player of the Year, quarterback Jackson Waring.
The Seahawks are back at No. 2 after spending 12 weeks at No. 1 prior to the 2025 season, looking to defend their title from 2025 in The Sun Conference, as well as a fifth trip, all-time, to the NAIA championship game. Keiser will be tough to score on in 2026, with a secondary that returns intact, and the offense looks to pick up where they left off in 2025, averaging 39.3 points per game. A new Seahawk quarterback will need to replace standout Shea Spencer, but should benefit from a talented returning receiving corps, led by Dallas Desouza, who hauled in six TDs and averaged 82.4 yards per game a year ago.
The Ravens are coming off of an NAIA Semifinal Round appearance in 2025 and will need to replace several parts in a prolific offense, one that was averaging nearly 70 points in a multi-game stretch during the 2025 season, but the BC defense was also a story in 2025, and seven starters return to that side of the ball, where the Ravens were stingy. Benedictine allowed less than 17 points per game and held opposing offenses to 159.6 yards through the air, seventh best in the NAIA and eye-opening, considering how many opponents had to play Benedictine while trailing late. The Ravens also intercepted 20 passes, tied for second in the NAIA in 2025, bringing back that same defensive secondary in 2026.
The Yotes were steady in 2025 and return 16 of 22 starters, combined, including quarterback Caden Young and Frontier West first-team rusher Rylie Byington. C of I claimed the 2025 Frontier West title and did it with a defense that collected 17 interceptions in the secondary while allowing opponents only 82 yards per game on the ground. That recipe for defensive success returns, largely, in the form of nine starters back for the 2026 season, including defensive back Tanner Steele, who had an INT to go with a team-best 82 tackles. French Tucker is also back, up front, after five sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss in 2025.
Montana Tech is another Frontier team returning its quarterback from a year ago, this time in the East, where Frontier East Offensive Player of the Year Jarrett Wilson is back. Wilson will have his favorite target from last season, as well, in wideout Levi Torgerson, who led the NAIA with 1,370 yards on an NAIA-best 103 receptions, adding the fifth-best scoring total from a receiver, hauling in 14 touchdowns. Torgerson also tacked on more than a thousand yards in returns, piling up an NAIA-best 2,446 all-purpose yards last season. His 444 yards on punt returns also led the association.
| RANK | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | 2025 RECORD |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand View (Iowa) [13] | 14-0 |
| 2 | Keiser (Fla.) | 12-1 |
| 3 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 12-2 |
| 4 | College of Idaho | 11-2 |
| 5 | Montana Tech | 12-1 |
| 6 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 10-2 |
| 7 | Morningside (Iowa) | 9-3 |
| 8 | Dordt (Iowa) | 10-1 |
| T-9 | Friends (Kan.) | 12-1 |
| T-9 | Indiana Wesleyan | 9-3 |
| 11 | Carroll (Mont.) | 9-3 |
| 12 | Marian (Ind.) | 8-4 |
| 13 | William Penn (Iowa) | 11-2 |
| 14 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 8-3 |
| 15 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 9-3 |
| 16 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 7-4 |
| 17 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 10-3 |
| 18 | Montana Western | 7-3 |
| 19 | Evangel (Mo.) | 9-3 |
| 20 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 7-3 |
| 21 | McPherson (Kan.) | 9-2 |
| 22 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 8-3 |
| 23 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 7-4 |
| 24 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 6-4 |
| 25 | Dakota State (S.D.) | 8-2 |
Receiving Votes: Baker (Kan.), Bethel (Tenn.), Concordia (Neb.), Cumberland (Tenn.), Dickinson State (N.D.), Kansas Wesleyan, Louisiana Christian, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), OUAZ (Ariz.), Pikeville (Ky.), Saint Xavier (Ill.), St. Francis (Ill.), Taylor (Ind.), Texas Wesleyan.
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