It's a long road back to football after the playoffs, but with each day we come closer to the beginning of the 2026 D3 football season. It's for that reason that we're going to throw out our best shot at way-too-early rankings.
Every offseason brings coaching turnover, player transfers, school closings and football programs folding, but among the elite of D3 football, it's mostly business as usual. These rankings start with last season's results, wins, scoring margin, road wins and playoff performance, then account for the offseason movement that could shape 2026.
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North Central opens at No. 1 because this is a projection, not a final poll, and the Cardinals still had the strongest full-season profile in our model with 14 wins, a 500-plus-point margin of victory and another trip to the Stagg Bowl.
Bethel gets the No. 2 spot after going 12-1 with a massive scoring margin, five road wins and a lone loss to North Central.
UW-River Falls is the defending national champion and beat North Central when it mattered most, so give the Falcons their flowers. Still, they enter 2026 with real transition after losing head coach Matt Walker and quarterback Kaleb Blaha.
Johns Hopkins comes in at No. 4 after reaching the semifinals and pushing UW-River Falls, while John Carroll rounds out the top five after a 13-win season that included wins over Mount Union and Berry.
See the full Top 25 below.
Way-Too-Early D3 Football Rankings For 2026 Season
- North Central
- Bethel
- UW-River Falls
- Johns Hopkins
- John Carroll
- Mount Union
- Wheaton
- Saint John’s
- Berry
- UW-La Crosse
- UW-Platteville
- Wartburg
- DePauw
- Salisbury
- Susquehanna
- Christopher Newport
- Trinity
- Hope
- Monmouth
- Hardin-Simmons
- Endicott
- Coe
- Randolph-Macon
- UW-Whitewater
- Cortland
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