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Augustana College
WACO, Texas -- The Augustana Vikings football team is receiving votes in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches Preseason Poll, the organization announced Monday.
Augustana checks in with seven points in the receiving votes category to open the 2026 season. The Vikings were picked to finish third in the CCIW Coaches' Preseason Poll last week after posting a 7-3 overall record and a 6-3 mark in conference play in 2025, with two of the team's three losses coming against ranked opponents. Head coach [Steve Bell](https://athletics.augustana.edu/sports/football/roster/coaches/steve-bell/1869) returns 17 starters, including three all-conference selections from a season ago, as he enters his 11th season at the helm of the Vikings.
2026 AFCA Division III Coaches' Preseason Poll
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2026 American Football Coaches Association Division III Coaches' Poll - Preseason
1. North Central (50), 14-1, 1322 points, 2025 rank: 2, first game: Sept. 5 vs. No. 2 Bethel (Minn.)
2. Bethel (Minn.), 12-1, 1228 points, 2025 rank: 5, first game: Sept. 5 at No. 1 North Central
3. Mount Union, 11-1, 1202 points, 2025 rank: 6, first game: Sept. 5 at No. 5 Wheaton
4. Johns Hopkins, 12-2, 1162 points, 2025 rank: 4, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Ithaca
5. Wheaton, 11-3, 1030 points, 2025 rank: 7, first game: Sept. 5 vs. No. 3 Mount Union
6. UW-Platteville, 9-3, 1025 points, 2025 rank: 11, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Aurora
7. UW-River Falls (3), 14-1, 961 points, 2025 rank: 1, first game: Sept. 3 vs. Southern Virginia
8. John Carroll, 12-2, 930 points, 2025 rank: 3, first game: Sept. 5 at Carnegie Mellon
9. Wartburg, 10-1, 904 points, 2025 rank: 14, first game: Sept. 5 at Monmouth (Ill.)
10. UW-La Crosse, 8-3, 836 points, 2025 rank: 10, first game: Sept. 5 at No. 11 St. John's (Minn.)
11. St. John's (Minn.), 10-2, 835 points, 2025 rank: 8, first game: Sept. 5 vs. No. 10 UW-La Crosse
12. UW-Whitewater, 8-3, 666 points, 2025 rank: 20, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Carleton
13. DePauw, 10-2, 627 points, 2025 rank: 13, first game: Sept. 5 at Rose-Hulman
14. Trinity (Tex.), 10-2, 617 points, 2025 rank: 16, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Texas Lutheran
15. Berry, 11-2, 567 points, 2025 rank: 9, first game: Sept. 5 at Huntingdon
16. Hardin-Simmons, 9-2, 563 points, 2025 rank: 19, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Chapman
17. Salisbury, 10-2, 482 points, 2025 rank: 12, first game: Sept. 12 vs. McDaniel
18. Christopher Newport, 10-1, 382 points, 2025 rank: 18, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Newport News
19. Hope, 9-2, 351 points, 2025 rank: 17, first game: Sept. 5 at Denison
20. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 7-3, 305 points, 2025 rank: NR, first game: Sept. 4 at Rowan
21. Susquehanna, 11-3, 272 points, 2025 rank: 15, first game: Sept. 5 at Union (N.Y.)
22. Coe, 9-3, 177 points, 2025 rank: NR, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Cornell (Iowa)
23. Randolph-Macon, 9-2, 137 points, 2025 rank: 21, first game: Sept. 4 at Dickinson
24. Endicott, 9-2, 119 points, 2025 rank: 24, first game: Sept. 5 vs. Eastern (Pa.)
25. Cortland, 8-3, 112 points, 2025 rank: NR, first game: Sept. 5 at Grove City