July 24, 2026
Four-time NCAA DII National Champion Ferris State football team picked to win GLIAC
Four-time NCAA Division II National Champion Ferris State University was picked to repeat in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as the league announced its 2026 GLIAC football preseason poll on Friday.
The Bulldogs, who finished first in the conference with an unbeaten 7-0 league mark a year ago, tallied 49 points and seven first-place votes in balloting by the GLIAC's member head coaches. The announcement was made in conjunction with the league's annual football media day event in Grand Rapids.
Ferris State – which has not lost since the opener of the 2014 season -- was followed in the preseason poll by rival Grand Valley State University in second place with 43 points and a single first-place mention. Michigan Tech totaled 34 points in finishing third of the eight conference member schools.
The remaining teams in the preseason rankings included Davenport University in fourth with 31, Saginaw Valley State University in fifth with 28, with Northern Michigan University sixth with 18, Roosevelt University seventh with 11 and Wayne State University eighth with 10.
Ferris State enters the 2026 season, having won four of the past five NCAA Division II National Championships, including each of the past two years. Ferris State was picked first already in the 2026 Lindy's Sports D2 Preseason National Rankings.
The Bulldogs will begin their 117th season of varsity competition this coming fall with their sights set on making a nation-leading 12th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Bulldogs have made seven national semifinal appearances along with five trips to the national championship game, highlighted by back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022 along with both 2024 and 2025 during the stretch.
Over the past five seasons of action, the Bulldogs have a 66-5 overall record and reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs for 11 consecutive years and counting.
Ferris State has also reached the NCAA Division II National Semifinals seven times in the past nine seasons of action and ranks as the country's winningest program over the past 11 full seasons in DII Football. Ferris State is 93-7 over the last seven seasons of on-field action.
Ferris State also holds the GLIAC's best mark and the best overall record of all collegiate programs in Michigan at 153-21 (.879) overall since the arrival of Tony Annese as head coach in 2012.
The Bulldogs will open the 2026 season on the road, visiting Pittsburg State in Kansas in a D2 National Showdown on Thursday, Aug. 27, in Pittsburg, Kan.
Below is the GLIAC Football Preseason Poll with total points (first-place votes):
1. Ferris State 49 (7)
2. Grand Valley State 43 (1)
3. Michigan Tech 34
4. Davenport 31
5. Saginaw Valley State 28
6. Northern Michigan 18
7. Roosevelt 11
8. Wayne State 10