​After a disappointing campaign and a fresh hire at the helm, Florida A&M is striving to climb back into prominence on the HBCU football stage. In the inaugural Black College Football preseason poll, released Thursday, July 9, the Rattlers were positioned at No. 10 in a top-10 slate that includes teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference of NCAA Division I’s Football Championship Subdivision. The poll is supported by the SWAC and MEAC, and it includes a separate Division II voting block for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
In the spotlight game to watch, defending Celebration Bowl and Black College Football national champions South Carolina State earned the top spot with 185 points and 36 first-place votes. Florida A&M will get a chance to test itself against the Bulldogs on September 6 in the Orange Blossom Classic at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Prairie View A&M, the 2025 SWAC champions, sits at No. 2, followed by Jackson State, Alabama State, North Carolina Central, Delaware State, Grambling State, Bethune-Cookman, Texas Southern, and Florida A&M rounding out the top 10 in that order. The Rattlers themselves received 32 points in the Black College Football poll, which is determined by a panel of select media members and HBCU football experts.
The poll was released just a day after Florida A&M became the lone SWAC program not to have a player named to the preseason All-SWAC first or second team. Florida A&M’s head coach, Quinn Fordham Gray Sr., stands at the helm after being introduced on December 23, 2025. Gray, a former Rattlers quarterback and a member of the MEAC and FAMU halls of fame, is entering his first season as head coach after previously leading the Albany State Golden Rams. Under Gray, the Rattlers are aiming to rebound from a 5-7 mark in 2025, a season coached by James Colzie III that marked the program’s first losing record since 2017.
Florida A&M will be represented at the SWAC Media Day on Wednesday, July 15, in Birmingham, with Gray, quarterback Isaiah Knowles, and defensive end Antonio Camon Jr. slated to attend on behalf of the team. The Rattlers open the 2026 season at home against the Albany State Golden Rams on August 29, at Ken Riley Field on Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will be streamed on SWAC TV. Due to an NCAA Academic Progress Rate-related postseason ban, FAMU’s season will conclude on November 21, at the Florida Classic in Orlando against their heated rivals, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
South Carolina State leads the MEAC with a 10-3 overall mark and a 5-0 conference record, earning 185 points and 36 first-place votes. Prairie View A&M follows in the SWAC with a 10-4 overall record and 7-1 conference slate, totaling 165 points with two first-place votes. The rest of the early top-10, including FAMU, reflects a landscape of competitive programs ready to challenge for conference supremacy and a shot at postseason recognition.