FOREST, Va. - The Roanoke College football team is tied for fifth place in the 2026 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) pre-season poll, voted on by the league's coaches.

The Maroons finished the 2025 season, its first of varsity status since 1942, 5-4 including a 4-4 mark in the ODAC.

Defending conference champion Randolph-Macon College takes the top spot with seven of the eight first-place votes. Hampden-Sydney College earned the other first-place votes and came in second, followed by Washington & Lee and Shenandoah Universities. RC and Bridgewater College tied for fifth, and Guilford College and Averett University round out the poll.

The Maroons open the 2026 season Thursday, Sept. 3 at the Virginia University of Lynchburg at 6 p.m. in Lynchburg's City Stadium.