FOREST, Va. – The Randolph-Macon football team was picked first in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Preseason Poll for the eighth straight season, in voting by the league's head coaches and released by the conference office.
 
The Yellow Jackets received eight first-place votes and 49 points to take the top spot in the poll. Hampden-Sydney and Washington and Lee were both placed in the second spot with 38 points each. The Tigers would get the final first place vote over the Generals. Shenandoah sits in fourth place in the poll with 33 points, as Bridgewater and Roanoke both sit in the fifth spot tied with 23 points. Guilford received 12 points for seventh place and Averett rounded out the group in eighth with the final eight points.  
 
Randolph-Macon comes into the 2026 season winning the last four conference titles and has taken home the trophy seven times in the last 10 years. The Lemon and Black started last season splitting two non-conference games, before rattling off eight straight wins in conference play and ended the regular season with a 9-1 record. Randolph-Macon received a first round bye in the NCAA playoffs, before concluding the season at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. The Yellow Jackets won the ODAC title with a 8-0 conference mark, having won their last 33 league games that dates back to the 2021 season. Randolph-Macon has captured 16 ODAC championships, the most in conference history.
 
RMC has a 51-3 ODAC record since 2018 (.944) and owns a 57-7 overall record since 2020 (.890). Over the past 10 seasons, the Yellow Jackets are 91-17 (.843) overall and 61-6 (.910) in conference contests. 
 
Head Coach Pedro Arruza enters his 23rd season as head coach at Randolph-Macon College. The Yellow Jackets open the 2026 campaign on Friday, Sept. 4, with a 6 p.m. contest against Dickinson College on the road.