WACO, Texas – The Ouachita Baptist University football team will start the 2025 season ranked No. 18 nationally by the American Football Coaches Association.

The AFCA D2 preseason coaches' poll was released on Monday with defending national champion Ferris State earning the top spot and 30 of the 31 first-place votes. Ouachita is one of two teams from the Great American Conference to be nationally-ranked to start the season. Harding checks in at No. 2. Southern Arkansas is receiving votes in the initial poll.

The Tigers are coming off a 10-2 season in 2024, when they won a share of the GAC championship and made the NCAA Division II playoffs. It was the league-leading seventh GAC championship for the Tigers and sixth playoff appearance.

Ouachita has now been nationally-ranked by the AFCA in 77 of the last 78 polls, reaching as high as No. 3 on two different occasions. The Tigers have posted 16 consecutive winning seasons heading into 2025, which is the longest active streak among all college football programs in the state of Arkansas.

Coming back from last year's squad are 12 starters and more than 60 letter winners, including returning All-American offensive lineman Dylan Horton, who was recently named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watchlist for the upcoming season. The Tigers have returning all-conference performers at wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, cornerback, safety, kicker, and return specialist.

The 2025 season opens on Thursday, September 4 on the road East Central. The first of six home games is set for Saturday, September 13 at 7 p.m. against Southeastern Oklahoma State. Single-game tickets are available at www.OBUtigers.com/FootballTickets.