WACO, Texas — The Ouachita Baptist University football team is back in the national rankings to begin the 2026 season, coming in at No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 preseason poll.

The Tigers are back in the AFCA Top 25 for the first time since week one of the 2025 season and have now been included in 79 of the last 89 polls, reaching as high as No. 3 during the 2022 and 2024 seasons.

Ouachita is one of two teams from the Great American Conference to be nationally-ranked to start 2026. Harding opens the season at No. 2. Southern Arkansas and Henderson State are both receiving votes in the preseason AFCA poll.

The 2026 campaign opens Thursday, September 3 at home against East Central for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Cliff Harris Stadium.

The Tigers are picked second in the GAC preseason coaches' poll following a 7-4 finish in 2025, which was the program's 17th consecutive winning season, the longest active streak among all college football teams in the state of Arkansas.

Nine All-GAC performers return from last year's squad, and nearly 20 players are back that had starting roles at some point throughout the season.