NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – Hardin-Simmons has been picked to win its fourth straight American Southwest Conference title in the preseason poll of American Southwest Conference coaches and sports information directors.
Senior linebacker
Kaiden Roden was named the preseason defensive player of the year and senior kicker
Pedro Altamirano was named the preseason special teams player of the year. Roden is the returning defensive player of the year and both were first-team All-ASC last season. Both were also named to the D3football.com preseason All-American team.
Altamirano,
Wes Douglas and Roden were also named to the preseason players to watch list.
The Cowboys went 9-2 last season and won the automatic qualifier from the American Southwest Conference last season. They return 12 starters from a year ago.
HSU had seven first-place votes and 66 points, Mary Hardin-Baylor was second with 64 points and four first-place votes. McMurry was picked third, followed by East Texas Baptist, Howard Payne and Schreiner.
The Cowboys open the season on Sept. 5 at noon at home against Chapman University. All HSU home games will be on FloCollege this season. You can get your Flo Subscription
here.
2026 Preseason Poll
1. Hardin-Simmons, 66 (7)
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 64 (4)
3. McMurry, 39 (1)
4. East Texas Baptist, 35
5. Howard Payne, 34
6. Schreiner, 14
2026 ASC Preseason Players of the Year
Offensive: BJ Stewart, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Defensive:
Kaiden Roden, Hardin-Simmons
Special Teams:
Pedro Altamirano, Hardin-Simmons
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