LANCASTER, Pa. – Coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Franklin & Marshall football team will begin the 2026 season just outside of the top 25 and receiving votes in the D3football.com national rankings. The Diplomats garnered 47 voting points to rank 26th among all Division III teams.

The Diplomats are returning from a record-breaking 9-2 campaign during the 2025 season where they went a perfect 7-0 in Centennial Conference play to capture the outright conference championship and advanced to the aforementioned NCAA Tournament. F&M capped its perfect conference record with a thrilling 29-28 overtime victory against then-No. 3 Johns Hopkins on a two-point conversion.

Franklin & Marshall returns nine of its offensive starters and seven of its defensive starters from the NCAA Tournament game against Eastern. However, those replacement will be big roles to fill as offensively the Diplomats replace four-year starting quarterback Ty Tremba and Gagliardi Trophy finalist Gary Lewis. The Diplomats also had at least one senior at each level of the defense. Nevertheless, F&M has plenty of experience as it returns 11 All-Centennial Conference selections along with the conference's coaching staff of the year: Louis Paris (RB), Aidan Toomey (OL), Chris Logue (OL), Austin Hadley (DE), Chris Albero (LB), Kyle Checchio (LB), Connor Hille (LB), Oscar Marx (DB), Michael Fleming (K), Ivan Harlamov (P), Will Galligan (LS).

Four Centennial Conference teams find themselves mentioned in the preseason poll. Johns Hopkins is ranked No. 4 in the national release, with Muhlenberg and Carnegie Mellon joining the Diplomats amongst teams that are currently receiving votes.

Football opens the 2026 at home on Friday, September 4 against Lebanon Valley under the lights of Shadek Stadium at 7 p.m.