BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins football team has earned its first preseason ranking of the 2026 season as the Blue Jays are ranked sixth in Lindy's preseason top 10.  Lindy's listed a top 25 in years prior to 2025, but for the second consecutive season only a top 10 was listed ahead of the 2026 season.
 
The Blue Jays, who were ranked fourth in the final AFCA Poll and third in the final D3football.com Poll of the 2025 season, will open the 2026 season on Saturday, September 5 against Ithaca.  Johns Hopkins then travels to Randolph-Macon before closing the non-conference portion of the 2026 season at home against Susquehanna.  The Blue Jays knocked off Susquehanna in the NCAA Quarterfinals last season, while Randolph-Macon also advanced to the NCAA Playoffs.  The Blue Jays' three non-conference opponents combined to post a 28-7 (.750) record in 2025 with three of those seven losses coming against Johns Hopkins (Ithaca, Susquehanna (twice)).
 
In addition to games against Ithaca, Randolph-Macon and Susquehanna, the seven-game Centennial Conference schedule includes home games against 2025 NCAA participants Muhlenberg and Franklin & Marshall, which gives the Blue Jays four games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Playoffs last season on the 2026 schedule.
 
Johns Hopkins posted a 12-2 record and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals for the second consecutive year last season.  The Blue Jays fell to eventual national champion Wisconsin-River Falls, 48-41, in the semifinals.
 
Lindy's Preseason Top 10
1-North Central, 2-Mount Union, 3-Bethel, 4-Wartburg, 5-John Carroll, 6-Johns Hopkins, 7-Wisconsin-Platteville, 8-Wheaton (IL), 9-St. John's (MN), 10-Wisconsin-La Crosse