​Sun Belt Media Days will be held in New Orleans on July 15-16. Two days before the gathering of the 14 programs in the Big Easy, the Sun Belt revealed its preseason coaches poll, preseason award winners, and preseason all-conference teams:East DivisionRankTeamPoints (1st place votes)1James Madison94 (11)2Old Dominion73 (1)3Marshall674Georgia Southern53 (1)5Coastal Carolina45 (1)6Appalachian State437Georgia State17West DivisionRankTeamPoints (1st place votes)1Troy96 (12)2Louisiana75 (1)3Arkansas State694Louisiana Tech555Southern Miss47 (1)6South Alabama317ULM19James Madison was selected to repeat as Sun Belt East Division champions with 11 of 14 possible first-place votes. Troy was selected to repeat as Sun Belt West Division champions with 12 of 14 possible first place votes.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJames Madison defeated Troy, 31-14, in the 2025 Sun Belt Championship Game in Harrisonburg, VA. The Sun Belt has not seen a rematch in its title game since 2019, when Appalachian State and Louisiana met for the second-straight December.Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, QB, MarshallAfter pit stops at Florida and Syracuse, Del Rio-Wilson finally found a home as a starter in Huntington, WV last fall. Marshall promoted him to the starting role in Week 2, and the rest was history. In his first four starts, Del Rio-Wilson threw 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions on a 76.7 completion rate — all while doubling as an electrifying runner. He finished the season firing for 2,043 passing yards on a 66.8 percent clip and 17 touchdown passes to five interceptions. As a rusher, the Atlanta native attained 660 rushing yards and six scores.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPreseason Defensive Player of the Year: Donnie Smith, DE, TroyTroy tied for 12th in the FBS with 37 sacks last year, and Smith’s presence was a significant reason why. The 6’4”, 230 pound defensive end earned First Team All-Sun Belt honors after leading the conference with 11.0 sacks, guiding a defensive-driven Troy team to the conference championship game. Smith added 44 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble in his first season as a Trojan. Prior to Troy, he was heralded as one of the top JUCO defenders in the country.Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year: Evan Crenshaw, P, TroyCrenshaw warranted a First Team All-Sun Belt selection after ranking second in the league in punting average (45.7) and first in net punting average (42.8). The longtime Sun Belt standout, who previously suited up for Coastal Carolina, pinned 29 of his 68 punts (42.6 percent) inside the 20-yard line last season. In a Week 3 matchup vs. Memphis, he punted 530 yards on 11 attempts — the most yards by an FBS player since 2022. He ended up as one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award and earned First Team All-American honors by the FWAA and Sporting News.First TeamPositionPlayerTeamClassQBCarlos Del Rio-WilsonMarshallRS Sr.RBKenyon ClayArkans