Marlborough, Mass. - August 17, 2026 - Springfield College earned seven of eight first place votes and has been projected to win its sixth consecutive conference title as the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) released the 2026 Football Preseason Poll on Monday morning.
Springfield College, under the direction 11th-year head coach Mike Cerasuolo, will return ten All-Conference selections from a season ago including All-American and 2025 NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Year Tyler Sordillo. The Pride enter the campaign as the five-time defending conference champions after going 9-3 overall and 7-0 in NEWMAC play in 2025 which included a 21-7 win over Cortland in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. In fact, since joining the NEWMAC in 2017, Springfield is 50-4 in league games and hasn’t lost a conference tilt since November 16, 2018.
Slots two, three and four in this year’s poll were separated by just two points as Salve Regina University finished second with 38 points, Merchant Marine finished third with 37 points and Coast Guard finished fourth with 36 points and one first place vote. A season ago, Salve Regina went 3-4 in NEWMAC play, while Merchant Marine and Coast Guard both sported identical 5-2 records in conference games. Merchant Marine went on to win the Fusion Bowl over Conference of New England (CNE) rival Curry College and defeat Coast Guard in the 2025 edition of the Secretaries Cup at Fenway Park.
Coast Guard’s Harrison Henley returns to New London for his senior season after picking up NEWMAC Offensive Player the Year accolades in 2025, while Salve Regina welcomes back the defensive trio of James Minotti, Marcues Jean-Jacques and Javon Fisher as well as offensive lineman Jake Moore as All-Conference selections from a season ago. Caleb McClure and Freddy Barber will take on their sophomore campaigns at the Coast Guard Academy as a returning First Team All-Conference picks a year ago and be coached once again by C.C. Grant, who was named as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region I Coach of the Year.
As for the Mariners of Merchant Marine, junior quarterback Bubba Mustain, a NEWMAC First Teamer in 2025, will lead the offensive unit, while senior linebacker Aidan Graham, also a first team selection last year, and classmate Zatyk Holub, a second team honoree a season ago, will power the defense for USMMA as head coach Jameson Croall will begin his sixth season at Kings Point.
Defending NEWMAC Rookie of the Year and Engineers linebacker Joshua Tang will suit up for MIT in 2026 and will be joined by four other 2025 All-Conference selections including offensive lineman Jack Paris, tight end Michael Dennison, linebacker Dominic Hess and running back Andrew Kulhan. Cambridge’s Engineers recorded its most wins since 2019 last year and picked up 22 votes in this year’s poll as they look to win its second outright NEWMAC crown in program history this fall with Brian Bubna at the charge.
Maritime, WPI and Norwich University round out the 2026 NEWMAC Football Preseason Poll combining for 42 points. Maritime will be under the direction of first-year head coach Andrew Dresner, who was welcomed to Throggs Neck after coordinator positions at both Division I Holy Cross and Maine. The All-Conference First Team tandem of graduate student Will Pickett and Joshua Rogers will look to lead Maritime back into the postseason after an appearance in last year’s Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) James Lynah Bowl.
WPI will be led defensively by rising senior Carter Learned, a NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team honoree in 2025, while Connor McFarland of Norwich University pulled in a pair of touchdowns for the Cadets last season and will surely be one of the top wideouts for Norwich this fall.
2026 NEWMAC Football Preseason Coaches Poll
Team, Points (First-Place Votes)
1 - Springfield, 49 (7)
2 - Salve Regina, 38
3 - Merchant Marine, 37
4 - Coast Guard, 36 (1)
5 - MIT, 22
6 - Maritime, 19
7 - WPI, 16
8 - Norwich, 7
A Look at the NEWMAC Football Head Coaches
Springfield - Mike Cerasuolo - 11th Season - 75-26 Record
Salve Regina - Kevin Gilmartin - 14th Season - 82-41 Record
Merchant Marine - Jameson Croall - 5th Season - 26-12 Record
Coast Guard - C.C. Grant - 7th Season - 22-29 Record
MIT - Brian Bubna - 9th Season - 37-29 Record
Maritime - Andrew Dresner - 1st Season - 0-0 Record
WPI - Chris Robertson - 21st Season - 81-108 Record
Norwich - Bill Russell - 3rd Season - 1-19 Record
*The NCAA Does Not Include The 2020 COVID Cancelled Season As Years of Service
The first game of the 2026 season features Merchant Marine and Montclair State University on Thursday, September 3, while NEWMAC play kicks off on Saturday, September 26 with a slate of four conference tilts. A conference champion will be crowned on Saturday, November 14 with that team receiving the league’s automatic berth to the 2026 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The runner-up, if not selected for an at-large berth to the national tournament, will represent the NEWMAC in the Fusion Bowl against a team from the CNE.
Next week, the NEWMAC will release a top-10 list of players to watch this season.
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About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with seven Associate Members: New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 21 sports.