ST. PAUL, Minn. - The 2026 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference fall preseason polls and previews wrapped up Thursday morning with the release of the football poll. The University of Northwestern was picked to repeat as conference runner-up after finishing second in 2025 with a 4-3 conference mark. The Eagles were one of four teams to receive at least one first-place vote, and picked up 19 points in the poll, just four points behind defending-champion Crown.
Click here to access the full UMAC preview.
Matt Moore begins his 10th season as the head man with loads of optimism when it comes to his former side of the ball--defense. All four starters in the secondary are back on campus, led by Second Team All-UMAC selection
Austin Ahrendt (Nevis, Minn./Nevis Public). As a sophomore, Ahrendt anchored the back-end by tallying 83 tackles and an interception. His fellow safety,
Wes Schlabach (Spearfish, S.D./Rapid City Christian), is back for year two in purple after picking off three passes and recording 5.5 tackles for loss as a rookie in 2025. Starting cornerbacks
Alex Schultz (Staples, Minn./Staples-Motley) and
Clay Fee (Weyauwega, Wis./Weyauwega-Fremont) are also back in the fold this year, and will have reinforcements provided by the return of
Naketa Ellington (Richland, Ga./Chattahoochee County), who made 20 starts between 2023 and 2024, racking up five interceptions, two touchdowns and a pair of All-Conference nods. Playing in front of UNW's vaunted secondary will be
Gideon Cruver (Fayetteville, Ga./Landmark Christian), who stuffed the stat sheet as a junior in 2025 with nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a pair of interceptions, leading to a Second Team All-UMAC honor.
On the offensive side of the ball, four of the five starting offensive linemen from 2025 return, led by junior
Robbie Hussey (Bay Village, Ohio/Westside Christian Academy), who was a First Team All-Conference selection a year ago and has added 23 more pounds in the offseason. Starters
Jonah Willford (New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View),
Max Siegel (Rochester, N.Y./Maricopa) and
Elijah Riggin (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville) are also
Braeden Little (Ladysmith, Wis./Ladysmith) broke out as a Second Team All-Conference freshman last season to the tune of 454 yards and three touchdowns, and will look to continue to lead a strong wide receiver room that includes returning contributors
Trey Ulmer (West Melbourne, Fla./Heritage) and
Tate Westin (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie). In the backfield,
Keaton Sargent (Manhattan, Mont./Manhattan) was named a Second Team All-UMAC runner after taking over the lead back role late in the season and helping the Eagles finish the year strong.
Northwestern will kick off its season on the pacific coast on Saturday, September 5th with a trip to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Kickoff in California is scheduled for 1:00 PM CT (11:00 AM local time).
2026 UMAC Football Preseason Poll
| Place |
School |
Points |
| 1 |
Crown (3) |
23 |
| 2 |
Northwestern (1) |
19 |
| 3 |
Martin Luther (1) |
15 |
| 4 |
Greenville |
13 |
| 5 |
Westminster (1) |
12 |
| 6 |
Minnesota Morris |
8 |
