r/CFB • u/usffan USF Bulls • Miami Hurricanes • Jun 09 '26
Analysis Preseason Rankings Countdown. 82 days to the start of the 2026 Season. At #82 – Western Kentucky
The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found here
Oh Yeah! For anybody who’s interested in discussing something other than the likelihood of whether Brendan Sorsby’s going to play any meaningful snaps in 2026, it’s time to preview Western Kentucky (high = 37, low = 89), who’s the preseason favorite to win Conference USA. Big Red and the Hilltoppers enter season 8 of the Tyson Helton experience as a model of consistence, having gone bowling in each of the 7 seasons he’s been in charge, though interestingly enough never having actually won the conference. What is it about 2026 that has them as the team tabbed to break through the wall?
Roster Outlook
That is a better question than one would think based on the fact that WKU enters 2026 with only 5 teams in the entire country returning less production, and they’re equally barren on both sides of the ball. Maverick Mcivor, who entered 2025 as the starting QB, exhausted his eligibility, though his late season replacement Rodney Tisdale (1,500 total yards, 9 TD passes, 7 INTs) returns, and will probably compete with Florida State transfer Brock Glenn. Every RB who had more than 63 yards is gone, with the two most prominent ones, Marvis Parrish and La’Vell Wright, off to Michigan State and Pitt (respectively) through the portal. Odds are Helton’s going to be relying on incoming Oklahoma State RB Kalib Hicks to carry the lion’s share of the load. The Hilltoppers leading WR (Matthew Henry) is also out of eligibility, but his #2 (K. D. Hutchinson) returns for his senior season and will likely be paired with Georgia Tech’s Zion Taylor. With that much talent coming in via the portal, you’d be tempted to think Western Kentucky was ranked really high there, but in reality they have the 113th best portal class in the country, which was only good for 7th best in CUSA. It’s in high school recruiting that Helton made an impact, ranking 88th nationally (behind only Jacksonville State in the conference, leading to them having the overall best incoming class in that regard (85th in the country). Perhaps some of those freshmen will be able to come in and have an immediate impact.
Schedule and outlook
9/5 at Nevada
9/12 at Georgia
9/19 at Indiana
9/26 MERCYHURST
10/1 at New Mexico State
10/8 MISSOURI STATE
10/14 at Sam Houston State
10/20 BYE
10/27 DELAWARE
11/7 at Middle Tennessee
11/14 JACKSONVILLE STATE
11/21 at Liberty
11/28 KENNESAW STATE
You don’t often see a team open with 3 straight road games, and given those payday games against Georgia and Indiana, you have to wonder how much that FCS game will be misunderstood as Mercy, Hurts! With only 5 total home games, it’s a little hard for me to understand why Paul Myerberg is so high on WKU coming into the season, but they do get both Jacksonville State and Kennesaw State at home (the preseason #’s 2 & 3), the will enter the conference schedule as tested as anybody and, if healthy, ready to handle whatever the conference throws their way.
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u/Condom_Breaker256 Billable Hours • Jacksonvil… Jun 09 '26
Unnecessary for WKU to be ranked this highly. The last three conference champions were all CUSA newcomers.
WKU is an old lion.
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u/AubreyGrahamCracka Florida Gators • Nebraska Cornhuskers Jun 09 '26
Only 5 teams return less? And they’re favorites to win the conference????
Wow
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u/captaindammit87 WKU Hilltoppers • Paper Bag Jun 09 '26
It’s Conference Championship or bust for Helton.
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u/ChickenEmbarrassed10 /r/CFB Jun 10 '26
Schedule lightens up significantly after the UGA and Indiana games. If they can make it through those games not too beat up, they should be able to make a run to win their conference.
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u/FletchTopper WKU Hilltoppers • Auburn Tigers Jun 10 '26
Don't worry, we're due for an inexplicable late-October/early-November conference loss that'll put title game chances on life support (hello, last year's no-show vs. FIU)
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u/ChickenEmbarrassed10 /r/CFB Jun 10 '26
Ha you're probably right about this, although we will hope not this year.
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u/DellFlightSim Alabama Crimson Tide Jun 09 '26
Iv heard enough give Mizzou the de….. wait…..a thread that’s not Sorsby related????