Western Michigan enters 2026 as MAC's team to beat

The MAC's head coaches spoke, and it wasn't close. Western Michigan grabbed 9 of the available first-place votes in the 2026 preseason coaches poll, comfortably outpacing the field before a single snap of the season has been played.

Brett McMurphy

@Brett_McMurphy

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

Miami picked up the other 4 first-place votes and landed at No. 2, with Toledo and Ohio rounding out the top 4. That's notable company — Toledo and Miami have both had recent MAC title runs of their own, and Ohio's been a steady contender for years. But this poll wasn't a coin flip. Western Michigan finished with 138 total points to Miami's 134, per the conference's official release, and the Broncos also collected all 9 votes to repeat as MAC Championship Game winners.

The respect makes sense given what Western Michigan just did. The Broncos are the defending MAC champions, and head coach Lance Taylor has built the program into the league's clear standard-bearer in a short window. Running back Jalen Buckley is a big reason the offense projects as a problem again — he's topped 1,000 rushing yards in multiple seasons and gives Western Michigan a dangerous every-down weapon most MAC defenses simply don't have an answer for.

It's not all smooth sailing, though. The Broncos are replacing most of a defense that held opponents to just 17.4 points per game a year ago, with only 3 starters back on that side of the ball. That's the swing factor between "MAC favorite" and "team that gets caught by Miami or Toledo in November."

Preseason polls are just a vibe check, not a guarantee — coaches don't vote for their own teams, and plenty of MAC favorites have gotten knocked off before Thanksgiving. But with Buckley back, a proven staff, and a conference that watched them win it all last year, Western Michigan starts 2026 as the team everyone else in the MAC has to catch.