Western Michigan didn't just win the MAC title last December, it's now the consensus pick to defend it. The league's preseason coaches poll dropped and the Broncos grabbed 9 of a possible first-place votes, putting them well clear of the pack before a single snap of the 2026 season.
Brett McMurphy posted the full preseason coaches poll, with Western Michigan sitting at No. 1 ahead of Miami, Toledo and Ohio.
MAC preseason coaches poll 1. Western Michigan (9 1st place votes) 2. Miami (4) 3. Toledo 4. Ohio 5. Central Michigan 6. Buffalo 7. Eastern Michigan 8. Kent State 9. Bowling Green 10. Akron 11. Ball State 12. Sacramento State 13. UMass
That vote of confidence tracks with how last season actually ended. Western Michigan opened 2025 an ugly 0-3, then ripped off 9 wins in its next 10 games, capped by a 23-13 win over Miami in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field. It was the program's first conference title since 2016, so this isn't some random preseason hunch, it's coaches rewarding a team that just proved it could get through a whole league schedule and beat Miami when it mattered most.
Miami, fittingly, is the team snapping at Western Michigan's heels in the poll, picking up 4 first-place votes after that championship-game loss. The RedHawks have been a steady MAC power for years and clearly aren't viewed as a one-year fluke just because they came up short in December. Toledo lands third, with Ohio right behind at No. 4, giving the conference a legitimate four-team knot at the top even with Western Michigan holding the clear preseason edge.
Preseason polls are obviously just educated guesses from the league's own coaches, not gospel. But in a conference as competitive top-to-bottom as the MAC, where the difference between a New Year's Six-adjacent run and a middling season can be one or two close games, this poll sets the betting market and the storylines for the fall. Western Michigan will carry a target as the favorite from Week 1, and every game against Miami, Toledo or Ohio is going to get treated like a de facto MACtion title eliminator.
The gap between the contenders and the rest of the league is also worth noting. Central Michigan, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan round out the middle tier, while Sacramento State and UMass, both newer additions to the league's football membership, sit at the bottom of the poll as the conference continues to reshape its footprint. For now, though, all eyes are on the top of the standings, where Western Michigan opens the season with a bullseye on its back and a real shot to prove last year's title run was the start of something, not a one-off.