FOREST, Va. - The Gallaudet University football team was picked ninth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) preseason coaches poll released on Wednesday.
Gallaudet posted a 5-4 overall record last season and went 2-1 in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) play, the final year of the league that disbanded after the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Three-time defending conference champion Randolph-Macon College was picked as the top team as the Yellow Jackets garnered eight first-place votes to finish with a max 64 points in the nine-team preseason poll. Randolph-Macon is ranked No. 21 nationally in the D3football.com Top 25 preseason poll after a 10-2 campaign in 2024 that ended in the third round of the NCAA championship.
Washington and Lee University checks in at No. 2 with 53 points followed by Shenandoah University in third as the Hornets received the other first-place vote to tally 49 points.
Gallaudet joined the ODAC last spring as an associate member while Roanoke College debuts its varsity football team this fall after a successful club campaign last year.
The Bison will host Albright College on Friday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. at Hotchkiss Field in the season opener.
2025 ODAC Football Preseason Poll
1. Randolph-Macon (8)
2. Washington & Lee
3. Shenandoah (1)
4. Bridgewater (Va.)
5. Hampden-Sydney
6. Roanoke
7. Averett
Guilford
9. GALLAUDET
( ) = First-place votes
Also see:
The preseason poll rankings were conducted by the ODAC football coaches, with each coach ranking out all teams but their own using a staggered points system (8 points for a first-place vote, 7 points for second, etc.). No self-voting was allowed.
