ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Drake University football team, led by first-year head coach Joe Woodley, were selected second in the 2025 Pioneer Football League Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league announced today.
 
Drake, the 2023 and 2024 PFL Champion, was first on three ballots and was picked inside the top three on six ballots to earn second in the poll with 78 points.
 
The Bulldogs trailed only San Diego, who was tapped as the preseason favorite for the first time since 2019. San Diego picked up five first-place votes and was not ranked lower than third by any of the league's head.
 
Woodley and the Bulldogs will commence their season in exactly one month when they host Upper Iowa University for a primetime Thursday contest on Aug. 28 in Drake Stadium. Drake will then visit FCS powers South Dakota State and South Dakota before diving into conference play to pursue the program's third consecutive title.
 
Butler, Dayton, and Morehead State were tightly packed in the next three spots. Butler was fourth with 66 points while Dayton was a point behind in fifth at 65 points. Morehead State nabbed a single first-place vote and was sixth in the poll with 65 points, its best preseason positioning since 2022.
 
Presbyterian and Davidson were slotted in sixth and seventh, respectively, while Marist, Valparaiso, and Stetson rounded out the PFL Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
The upcoming 2025 season marks the 33rd year of the Pioneer Football League. The league will feature 11 teams, each playing an 8-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Championship.
 
The Pioneer Football League will present its 2025 Preseason All-PFL Team on Tuesday.