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TAMPA, Fla. — Keiser opens the 2026 Sun Conference men's soccer season as the preseason favorite, earning 64 points and eight first-place votes in the annual poll of the league's nine head coaches.

The Seahawks enter 2026 after a 16-1-2 season in which they went unbeaten in conference play with a 7-0-1 record. Keiser claimed its second consecutive Sun Conference Regular Season title before capturing the 2025 Sun Conference Tournament Championship and advancing to the Second Round of the NAIA Men's Soccer Championship. The Seahawks concluded the season ranked No. 16 nationally.

St. Thomas is voted second in this year's poll with 57 points and the final first-place vote. The Bobcats finished as runners-up to Keiser in both the regular season standings and Sun Conference Tournament a season ago, posting an 11-6-1 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play. St. Thomas, which previously claimed the regular season title in 2023, enters 2026 looking to return to the top of the conference standings.

SCAD Savannah earned 46 points to place third after finishing third in the regular season and advancing to the Sun Conference Tournament semifinals in 2025. The Bees finished the year 7-7-4 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play.

Southeastern earned 40 points to place fourth. The Fire, who captured the 2024 Sun Conference Tournament title, finished last season 6-7-3 overall and 4-3-1 in conference play.

New College of Florida sits just one point behind Southeastern with 39 points to place fifth. The Mighty Banyans continued to make strides in their second season, improving from a 1-8-1 conference record in 2024 to 5-3 in 2025 while advancing to the Sun Conference Tournament semifinals.

Florida Memorial earned 32 points to place sixth, followed by Webber International with 18 points and Ave Maria with 17 points.

Warner earned 11 points to complete the preseason rankings.