A CHAMPION AT NO. 12: INSIDE THE 2026 ITH PRESEASON TOP 40 The "In the (D3FB) Huddle" #D3FB Top 40 opens 2026 with a poll that refuses to rubber-stamp last January. North Central (Ill.) drew 20 of 25 first-place votes to claim the top spot, the reigning national champion fell eleven places, and the opening weekend now features nine ranked-versus-ranked games — three of them top-10 collisions. Here's how the poll was built, what moved, and what it means for the season's first Saturday. ——— THE MECHANICS The @D3FBHuddle Top 40 is decided by a 27-member panel, including two alternates — and every single one of them was handpicked by us. This is not an open sign-up, a fan vote, or a self-selecting group. We built this panel one voter at a time, personally recruiting people whose Division III knowledge we know and trust: head coaches, assistant coaches, current and former players, administrators, media members, broadcasters, and bowl-game representatives from every region of the country. That deliberate construction is the poll's foundation — the ballots carry weight because we know exactly who is casting them and why they earned a seat. Twenty-five ballots were cast in this cycle. Each voter ranks 40 teams. A first-place vote is worth 40 points, a 40th-place vote is worth one, and a unanimous sweep would total 1,000 points. The poll is in its second year, and the electorate has grown substantially: 15 voters cast ballots in year one, and 25 did this time. One mechanical footnote worth knowing: first-place votes break ties. UW-River Falls and Trinity (Texas) finished with identical 684-point totals, and the Falcons' lone first-place vote separated them at No. 12 and No. 13. Three other ties stood as ties — Susquehanna and Coe at No. 20, Washington & Jefferson and Alma at No. 32, and Monmouth and Grove City at No. 36. ——— THE HEADLINE: THE CHAMPION IS NO. 12 UW-River Falls won the national championship and opens the season ranked 12th. That is not a slight, and it is not an accident. It is the panel doing exactly what a preseason poll is supposed to do — evaluating 2026 rosters instead of re-filing the 2025 final poll. The Falcons return roughly seven percent of their passing production. Their record-setting quarterback is gone. Their leading receiver left for Duke, their running back entered the portal, and an offensive line starter landed at James Madison. The head-coaching change took staff continuity with it, with Jake Wissing — a Falcons assistant since 2011 — promoted to keep the culture intact. What's left is real: an elite defense headlined by defensive back Taylor Sussner, ITH's 2025 Newcomer of the Year as a true freshman. And the panel was deeply, genuinely split on them. UW-River Falls appeared as high as first on one ballot and as low as 34th on another — a 33-spot spread, and easily the widest disagreement in the poll. That division ran straight through the WIAC: UW-Platteville drew votes ranging from fifth to 35th, and UW-Whitewater from sixth to 22nd, with one voter leaving the Warhawks off entirely. Compare that to North Central, which never appeared lower than third on any ballot. We'll publish the full vote distribution shortly — it is the most divided this panel has been on a bloc of teams, and the WIAC is the fault line. North Central (Ill.) is the beneficiary, and dominantly so. The Cardinals collected 993 of a possible 1,000 points, appearing on every ballot and never falling below third. They return Garret Wilson and the bulk of an offense that carried them to the title game. Behind them, Mount Union jumped to No. 2 on the strength of the thing the teams around them lack: continuity. Bethel is third, and on paper is the most intact contender in the country. Johns Hopkins, John Carroll, and Wheaton (Ill.) each slid a single spot, packed within 48 points of one another. ——— WHAT MOVED BIGGEST RISERS: Mary Hardin-Baylor (+9, from 38th to 29th) leads the way despite missing the 2025 bracket — a clear bet on a bounce-back. Cortland climbed seven spots to 28th. St. John's (+5, to 8th), Mount Union (+5, to 2nd), Coe (+5, to 20th), and UW-Whitewater (+5, to 15th) all made five-spot moves. BIGGEST FALLERS: UW-River Falls (-11) is the obvious story, but Alma's ten-spot slide to 32nd is close behind — and that one has a name attached. The graduation of phenom quarterback Carter St. John is a significant part of why an 8-3 playoff team fell from 22nd. Berry dropped six to 14th, and Susquehanna fell five to 20th, the latter another roster-and-staff attrition case: three playoff wins in 2025, significant turnover since. NEW TO THE POLL: Linfield (31st), Rowan (34th), and UW-Oshkosh (38th). DROPPED OUT: LaGrange, UW-Stout, and Adrian. ——— THREE TRENDS 1) ATTRITION BECAME THE ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE This poll priced departures — stars, quarterbacks, and especially head coaches who take entire staffs with them. UW-River Falls, Susquehanna, and Alma all fell despite strong 2025 results. Mount Union, Bethel, and UW-Platteville rose partly because their buildings stayed intact. Whether the panel has over-corrected is the question the season will answer. 2) THE WIAC IS STACKED — AND THE PANEL CAN'T AGREE ON IT Five WIAC teams are ranked: UW-La Crosse (7), UW-Platteville (9), UW-River Falls (12), UW-Whitewater (15), and UW-Oshkosh (38), with UW-Stout just outside after dropping out. No conference has more representation. No conference produced wider disagreement, either. 3) UW-OSHKOSH IS THE POLL'S MOST INTERESTING OUTLIER The Titans went 5-5 in 2025 and are ranked 38th — the only team in the poll without a winning record. The panel is betting on returning talent over last year's result, which is the same logic that pushed the champions down eleven spots. Consistency, at least. Worth noting alongside those: the East is deep but top-heavy, with Johns Hopkins at 4th and then a dense cluster — Salisbury, Christopher Newport, Susquehanna, Franklin & Marshall, Endicott, Randolph-Macon, Springfield, Muhlenberg, Eastern, and Cortland all packed between 16th and 28th. ——— OPENING WEEKEND IS ABSURD The schedule did the poll a favor. Nine games across the opening weekend feature two ranked teams, and three of them are top-10 collisions. Note that the weekend spans three days — the season actually starts on Thursday. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 • No. 12 UW-River Falls vs. Southern Virginia, 7:00 PM — the defending champions get the season's opening stage to themselves. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 • No. 29 Mary Hardin-Baylor at No. 34 Rowan, 6:00 PM — the weekend's first ranked matchup, between two teams that took very different roads here. • No. 22 Franklin & Marshall vs. Lebanon Valley, 7:00 PM • No. 24 Randolph-Macon at Dickinson, 6:00 PM • No. 25 Springfield vs. Western New England, 7:00 PM SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 — THE MARQUEE THREE • No. 3 Bethel at No. 1 North Central (Ill.), 1:00 PM — a rematch of the 2025 quarterfinal North Central won 35-21. The top two teams by point total, in Week 1. • No. 2 Mount Union at No. 6 Wheaton (Ill.), 2:00 PM — two of the sport's signature programs, opening against each other. • No. 7 UW-La Crosse at No. 8 St. John's, 2:00 PM — a straight 7-versus-8 with real WIAC/MIAC pride attached. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 — THE REST OF THE RANKED SLATE • No. 27 Eastern at No. 23 Endicott, 12:00 PM • No. 28 Cortland at No. 36 Grove City, 12:00 PM • No. 39 Chapman at No. 18 Hardin-Simmons, 1:00 PM • No. 31 Linfield at No. 38 UW-Oshkosh, 2:00 PM — both newcomers to the poll, meeting immediately. • No. 10 Wartburg at No. 36 Monmouth, 8:00 PM — the weekend's nightcap. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 — RANKED VS. RECEIVING VOTES Five more with real stakes: No. 4 Johns Hopkins hosts Ithaca (12:00 PM), No. 5 John Carroll travels to Carnegie Mellon (2:00 PM), No. 9 UW-Platteville hosts Aurora (2:00 PM), No. 20 Susquehanna visits Union (1:00 PM), and No. 32 Washington & Jefferson goes to Utica (12:00 PM). Two ranked teams won't play at all that weekend: No. 16 Salisbury and No. 40 Whitworth both open September 12. ——— THE BOTTOM LINE A preseason poll is a hypothesis, not a verdict. This one hypothesizes that rosters matter more than trophies, that continuity is undervalued in August, and that a 5-5 team with talent coming back is worth more than an 8-3 team that lost its core. By dinnertime on September 5 — after Bethel–North Central, Mount Union–Wheaton, and UW-La Crosse–St. John's — we'll already know quite a bit about whether the panel got it right. The ITH Top 40 is voted on by a handpicked 27-member panel including two alternates. Full results for this poll and every prior poll are available all season long at d3fbhuddle.com/results. Records reflect the 2025 season.

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