The Butler football team was picked to finish fifth in the Pioneer Football League standings this year. The PFL communications office released the 2026 Preseason Coaches' Poll on Monday afternoon with San Diego, Drake, St. Thomas, Dayton and Butler rounding out the top five teams. The Toreros topped the preseason poll for the second-consecutive season.
The PFL will announce its 2026 Preseason All-PFL Team on Tuesday.
San Diego picked up five first-place votes from the league's head coaches to earn the poll's top spot with 90 points. Drake, the back-to-back PFL champions, were first on five ballots to earn second place with 88 points, just narrowly behind San Diego and St. Thomas finished just behind Drake with 87 points.
A mere two points separated Dayton and Butler for the fourth and fifth spot. The Bulldogs did not receive any first-place votes but had one second-place vote to go with three third-place votes, earning BU 67 points. Dayton earned one second-place vote, which earned the Flyers 69 total points in the poll.
Marist, Presbyterian and Morehead State filled in the next three slots in the poll. The Red Foxes earned 52 points while the Blue Hose earned 47. Morehead State rounded out the group with 38 total points.
Davidson earned one second-place vote and finished ninth overall with 33 points. Stetson and Valparaiso rounded out the PFL Preseason Coaches' Poll, taking 10th and 11th, respectively.
The upcoming 2026 season marks the 34th year of the Pioneer Football League. The league features 11 teams, each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Championship.
The 2026 schedule gets underway Thursday, August 27, with Davidson, Presbyterian, St. Thomas and Drake set to kick off on opening night. Marist opens its season on Friday, August 28, followed by the league's remaining four teams on Saturday, August 29.
Butler will play four non-league games to prep for their PFL opener at Valparaiso on Sept. 26. The season opener will see Butler host Georgetown College (Ky.) on August 29 before BU travels to Montana State to take on the reigning national champions. The Bulldogs will then host Franklin (Sept. 12) and Chicago State (Sept. 19) to wrap up non-conference action.
Butler hosts San Diego, Dayton, St. Thomas and Morehead State at the Sellick Bowl in 2026 and will travel to Valparaiso, Drake, Presbyterian and Marist.
About the Pioneer Football League
The Pioneer Football League is the only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The PFL is a truly national conference with members on each coast and throughout the nation's heartland. Butler University, the University of Dayton, Drake University, and Valparaiso University were among the league's founding members in 1993, with Davidson College, Marist University, Morehead State University, Presbyterian College, the University of San Diego, the University of St. Thomas, and Stetson University joining to form the current 11-team league.
2026 PFL Preseason Coaches' Poll
1) San Diego (5) – 90 Points
2) Drake (5) – 88 Points
3) St. Thomas (1) – 87 Points
4) Dayton – 69 Points
5) Butler– 67 Points
6) Marist – 52 Points
7) Presbyterian – 47 Points
8) Morehead State – 38 Points
9) Davidson – 33 Points
10) Stetson – 22 Points
11) Valparaiso – 12 Points
First-place votes in parentheses… Coaches not allowed to vote for own team.
