July 23rd, 2026 3:00pm
Central Washington is predicted to win the 2026 Lone Star Conference football championship according to the LSC Football Preseason Poll, which was announced on Thursday (July 23) at LSC Football Media Day at McKinney ISD Stadium’s Community Event Center in McKinney, Texas.
CWU totaled 276 points and collected 16 of the possible 30 first-place votes. The Wildcats, who are led by first-year head coach Scott Power, won their first LSC championship in 2025 with a perfect 9-0 league record. CWU (10-2 overall) reached the NCAA playoffs for the third straight year.
Western Oregon is picked as the conference runner-up with 247 points and nine first-place votes. The Wolves went 8-3 overall last season and tied for the conference runner-up spot with a 7-2 mark. They won six of their final seven games.
West Texas A&M is the third-place selection with 217 points and one first-place vote. The Buffs (8-4, 7-2 LSC) ended last season on a four-game winning streak, including capturing the Heritage Bowl title.
Angelo State is predicted to finish fourth with 215 points and picked up one first-place vote. The Rams have won two of the last four LSC titles (2024 and 2022).
UT Permian Basin is the fifth-place selection with 203 points and two first-place votes. The Falcons, who won their first LSC crown in 2023, reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season.
Texas A&M-Kingsville (162 points) was picked sixth, followed by Eastern New Mexico (125 points), Midwestern State (112 points), Western New Mexico (58 points) and Sul Ross State (35 points). ENMU picked up the final first-place vote.
The preseason poll is voted on by LSC head coaches, sports information directors and media members.
The LSC regular season will begin as early as Thursday, Aug. 27 with ASU, ENMU, WT and WNMU kicking off that day. MSU, SRSU, TAMUK, UTPB and WOU will start Saturday, Aug. 29, while CWU gets going Saturday, Sept. 5. All 10 league teams will play nine conference games to determine the conference champion.