CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The No. 9-ranked Wartburg College football team has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) championship for the fifth consecutive season, the conference announced today.

The Knights received 49 points in the preseason coaches' poll, earning all seven first-place votes.

Wartburg will look to make A-R-C history in 2026, as a fifth consecutive conference championship would make the Knights just the second program to accomplish the feat. Central College was the last team to win five straight league titles, doing so from 1983-87.

The Knights enter the season riding a 34-game A-R-C winning streak, with their last conference loss coming during the 2021 season.
 
From A-R-C:
Chris Winter enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Knights and he has compiled a 53-8 record during his first five seasons. Wartburg returns eight offensive starters and six defensive starters. Jake Walker, Conner McDonald, Dawson Rud, Cole Hotz, Sam Heither, Dylan Swanstrom, Jason O'Boyce, Braden Plotz, Cole Mahnke, Tyler Gayer, Drew Streb, and Austin Souhrada return this year to the field as 2025 all-conference performers.

"Our team is excited for the opportunity to get back on the field this fall. Our goal for the 2026 season is to be in a position to compete for an American Rivers Conference football championship. We have a hungry group ready to lead us through another difficult American Rivers Conference schedule, and we are looking forward to the challenge."
 
A-R-C Football Preseason Poll
1. Wartburg College - 49 (7)
2. Coe College - 42
3. Central College - 38
4. University of Dubuque - 29
5. Simpson College - 27
6. Loras College - 20
7. Nebraska Wesleyan University - 10
8.  Buena Vista University - 9
 
No. 9 Wartburg opens its 2026 season on the road against (RV) Monmouth College at 7 p.m., on Saturday, September 5 at April Zorn Stadium in Monmouth, Illinois.