Villanova football enters its first Patriot League season as the team to beat.
Coaches voted the Wildcats the conference's preseason favorite on Wednesday, giving them 79 points and seven of 10 first-place votes in the annual poll. Lehigh, the defending Patriot League champion, finished second with 75 points. Five Villanova players earned spots on the Preseason All-Patriot League team, according to the university's athletics department.
The announcement came during the Patriot League Football Preview Show in Bethlehem, Pa., which featured an interview with Wildcats head coach Mark Ferrante, now in his 10th season with a 69-36 career record.
Junior running back Ja'briel Mace headlines the group. The Somers Point, N.J., native was named to the preseason team at two positions, running back and return specialist, and carries a Stats Perform First Team Preseason All-American honor and a spot on the Walter Payton Award watch list into the fall. In 2025, Mace ranked fifth nationally with 1,882 all-purpose yards, rushed for 946 yards on 7.4 yards per carry with 11 touchdowns, and became the first FCS player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in a single season.
The other four honorees: junior offensive lineman Chris McCullers (Round Hill, Va.), who has started 14 games at guard in each of the past two seasons; sophomore wide receiver Braden Reed (Pottstown, Pa.), who caught 34 passes for more than 500 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman and threw for another score on a trick play in the NCAA quarterfinals; sophomore linebacker Omari Bursey (Broomfield, Colo.), who posted 50 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and an interception against Penn State in 2025; and senior defensive lineman Capri Martin (Harlem, N.Y.), who recorded 3.5 sacks and blocked a kick in the regular-season finale against Sacred Heart.
Villanova went 12-3 last season, winning seven straight conference games in its final CAA campaign before falling in the FCS semifinals. The Wildcats beat Lehigh in the second round of the playoffs. Now the two programs share a conference, with Lehigh picked just behind Villanova and former CAA rivals Richmond and William & Mary tied for third at 57 points apiece.
