DENVER, Colo. (July 22, 2026) - After capturing back-to-back Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships, the Colorado State University Pueblo football team has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the 2026 RMAC title, the conference announced Wednesday during the RMAC Football Media Day event held at the CAVEA Theater on the MSU Denver campus.

The ThunderWolves, who have claimed consecutive perfect 9-0 seasons in the league and NCAA Division II Playoff appearances under head coach Philip Vigil, earned eight of a possible nine first-place votes and totaled 80 of a possible 81 points in the 2026 RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The coaches weren't allowed to vote for their own teams in the poll.

Since the beginning of the 2024 season, the Pack football program has posted a 20-4 overall record and an unbeaten 18-0 mark in the RMAC and enters the 2026 season currently riding an NCAA Division II best 25-game conference win streak and an NCAA Division II best 15-game road win streak. The Pack's last loss in RMAC play came on Sept. 23, 2023 as Colorado School of Mines earned a 55-14 win over the Pack in the ThunderBowl. Since that loss to the Orediggers, the Pack finished the 2023 season winning its final seven RMAC games and has gone 9-0 in league play the past two seasons. Vigil, who is entering his fourth season with Pack, has posted a 28-7 overall record and 25-2 in RMAC games.

Western Colorado (10-3 overall, 7-2 RMAC), who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs last season, was tabbed to finish second in the Preseason poll as the Mountaineers earned 69 points and one first place vote, five second place votes and two third place votes.

Colorado School of Mines (7-4 overall, 5-4 RMAC) was picked third as the Orediggers earned 62 points as they received two votes for second and four votes for third, while Chadron State (8-4 overall, 8-1 RMAC), who advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs and were the RMAC runners-up last season, was tabbed fourth as they earned 60 points, including the final first place vote, and also earned one vote for second and three votes for third.

Colorado Mesa (6-5 overall, 5-4 RMAC) was tabbed to finish fifth as the Mavericks earned 52 points (1 vote for second and one vote for third) in the preseason poll.

The second half of the 10-team poll is led by New Mexico Highlands (6-5 overall, 4-5 RMAC) with 38 points at No. 6, while the Cowboys are followed by South Dakota Mines (3-8 overall, 3-6 RMAC) with 34 points, Black Hills State (3-8 overall, 3-6 RMAC) with 29 points, Fort Lewis College (2-9 overall, 1-8 RMAC) with 16 points and Adams State (0-11 overall, 0-9 RMAC) with 10 points.

Vigil's fourth Pack team welcomes back 42 lettermen, including 10 starters from last season's team that finished ranked No. 11 in the final AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll and ended the regular season winning eight straight games and posting its second straight undefeated season in RMAC play. The 2026 Pack returns two starters on offense, four starters on defense and four starters on special teams.

Along with releasing the RMAC Preseason poll, the league also announced its Preseason All-RMAC Team. The RMAC's preseason team is determined by placing returning players in order of the head coaches' voting from the league's 2025 All-RMAC Teams.

The Pack had three players named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team as junior receiver Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (Aurora, Colo./Eastern Washington) was named on offense, while senior safety Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview) was named on defense and senior kicker Jackson Smith (Centennial, Calif./Santa Barbara City College) was named on special teams.

Honeycutt, Jr., earns Preseason All-RMAC recognition after collecting Second-Team All-RMAC honors in 2025. In 2025, he caught 29 passes for 564 yards and averaged a team-best 19.4 yards per reception and 47.0 yards per game. He was third on the team with six touchdown receptions and tallied 13 plays of 20 or more yards, including catching an 88-yard pass for a touchdown at Western Colorado. That 88-yard pass reception was the Pack's longest offensive play of the season and fifth-longest in school history.

Rullo earns Preseason All-RMAC honors after earning Honorable Mention All-RMAC honors in 2025. In 2025, Rullo was third on the team in tackles with 60, including 39 solo stops and also tallied 6.0 tackles for a loss and two sacks, along with leading the team and was tied for second in the RMAX in forced fumbles with three and had had a team-best seven pass break-ups.

Smith earns his Preseason All-RMAC nod at placekicker after earning Second-Team All-RMAC honors and Don Hansen's Division II Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2025. In 2025, Smith led the league in field goal percentage (76.2 percent) and field goals per game (1.6) and was second in kicking points per game (9.4). He tallied 94 points and was 46-for-46 on extra points and was 16-for-21 on field goals, including making a school-record 60-yard field goal at New Mexico Highlands. Those 16 field goals were fourth-most in a season in school history and he also was a three-time RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week.

CSU Pueblo, who begins preseason practice Monday, Aug. 3, opens the 2026 season on Thursday, Aug. 27 hosting Central Missouri under the lights at the ThunderBowl on Red Night. Kickoff for the 2026 season opener is scheduled for 6 p.m.