NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference’s men’s soccer head coaches have voted West Virginia as the favorite in the 2026 Preseason Coaches Poll, as the league also announced its preseason all-conference teams and individual honors.
Selected as the preseason favorite for the first time since 2022, West Virginia received a league-leading four first-place votes and 94 points in a poll of the conference’s 10 head coaches. Marshall was picked second with three first-place nods and 87 points, followed closely by reigning tournament champion UCF in third with one first-place vote and 81 points.
Reigning regular season champion Kentucky was picked fourth with two first-place votes and 76 points, before Georgia Southern rounded out the top five with 55 points in the poll.
An All-Sun Belt First Team honoree last season, West Virginia forward Pablo Pozos is the Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and returns to the Mountaineers after scoring 25 points with 11 goals and three assists in 2025. His point total ranked among the top 25 players nationally, as he also garnered United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second Team honors.
An All-Sun Belt honoree each of the last two seasons at Marshall and a third-round selection by Orlando City in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft, UCF defender Takahiro Fujita is the Sun Belt Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after transferring to the Knights. Fujita scored three goals and added one assist last season while leading a defensive unit that limited opponents to two or fewer goals - including five shutouts - in 12 of his 13 matches.
Entering his first season at UCF, goalkeeper Matisse Hébert is the Sun Belt Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year following two seasons at Wisconsin. Hébert was a three-time Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week honoree with the Badgers and posted a 1.20 goals-against average and 10 shutouts in nearly 2,400 minutes across 28 appearances.
UCF, Kentucky and West Virginia led the way with three Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference Team honorees, while Marshall and Old Dominion earned one apiece.
UCF won its first Sun Belt tournament crown last season to lead four Sun Belt men’s soccer programs earning bids to the 2025 NCAA Tournament along with at-large selections Kentucky, Marshall and West Virginia. The Sun Belt has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids in three-consecutive seasons and 11 total selections during that span.
The 2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Championship will take place November 8-15 at campus sites.
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Awards
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year:
Pablo Pozos, West Virginia (4th Yr., F, Madrid, Spain)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year:
Takahiro Fujita, UCF (4th Yr., D, Kawai, Japan)
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year:
Matisse Hébert, UCF (3rd Yr., GK, Quebec, Canada)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
F – Pablo Pozos, West Virginia (4th Yr., F, Madrid, Spain)
F – Carl Romberg, Marshall (4th Yr., F, Werl, Germany)
F – Lewis Rourke, Old Dominion (4th Yr., F, Nottingham, England)
M – Agustin Lopez, Kentucky (3rd Yr., M, Santa Fe, Argentina)
M – Nacho Martinez, West Virginia (3rd Yr., M, Posadas, Argentina)
M – Isaac Scheer, West Virginia (3rd Yr., M, Charlotte, N.C.)
D – Takahiro Fujita, UCF (4th Yr., D, Kawai, Japan)
D - Jem Hewlett, UCF (2nd Yr., D, Bristol, England)
D – Max Miller, Kentucky (5th Yr., D, Lexington, Ky.)
D – Sinan Solmaz, Kentucky (4th Yr., D, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany)
GK – Matisse Hébert, UCF (3rd Yr., GK, Quebec, Canada)
2026 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll
1. West Virginia (4) - 94
2. Marshall (3) - 87
3. UCF (1) - 81
4. Kentucky (2) - 76
5. Georgia Southern - 55
6. South Carolina - 41
7. Old Dominion - 38
8. James Madison - 29
9. Coastal Carolina - 25
10. Georgia State - 24
(Parentheses indicate first-place votes)