The Southwest Junior College Football Conference unveiled its preseason coaches and media polls Thursday during the conference's media day in Bullard, Texas. Snow College landed fourth in the coaches' poll and third in the media poll as it begins its first season within the SWJCFC.
 
Tyler Junior College topped both the coaches' and media polls, receiving 11 of the 19 potential first-place votes, including six of eight votes in the coaches' poll and five of the 11 in the media poll. Trinity Valley Community College fell second in both polls and received three first-place votes in the media poll.
 
The similarities stopped at third as Navarro was predicted to finish here in the coaches' poll while Snow College came third in the media poll, receiving a pair of first-place votes. The Badgers came in at fourth in the coaches' poll, with one first-place vote, while Kilgore College filled that slot in the media poll.
 
Kilgore was picked to finish fifth in the coaches' poll as Cisco College, New Mexico Military Institute and Blinn College rounded out the bottom half. Navarro came fifth in the media poll ahead of Blinn, Cisco, and NMMI.
 
Tyler is the favorite to top the conference for the second consecutive season after finishing 2025 with an 11-1 overall record and a perfect 7-0 mark within conference play. They won the SWJCFC for the first time since the 1992 season. That year was also their second consecutive conference championship after claiming the crown in 1991 as well.
 
After winning the conference, Tyler was one of the four teams selected to participate in the NJCAA National Tournament and drew a semifinal matchup against No. 2 Iowa Western Community College. They were defeated by the Reivers 41-29.
 
Since the inception of the NJCAA Football Playoff in 2021, the winner of the SWJCFC has made the four-team playoff in four of the five seasons, with NMMI winning the 2021 National Championship.
 
"I firmly believe that this is the best conference in junior college football," Head Coach Zac Erekson said during media day Thursday. "We are super excited to be able to play a quality opponent every week. We are very much looking forward to the opportunity to play quality opponents week in and week out and elevate our program because of that."
 
The 2026 season kicks off in less than a month as the Badgers host Garden City Community College Saturday at 12:00 p.m. inside Terry Foote Stadium.

                    
-() Indicates first-place votes