Five defending CIAC football champions are in GameTimeCT’s preseason top 10 football poll in voting by state sportswriters and broadcasters. Defending Class L champion New Canaan (13-0) is the unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in the state. The 2026 season begins on Thursday, Sept. 10.
Local teams in action on Thursday will be Farmington at Wethersfield; NW Catholic at Avon/St. Paul and Simsbury at Middletown. On Friday, Ellington will visit Granby/Canton and Lewis Mills/Wolcott Tech will host Plainville.
| GameTimeCT’s top 10 high school football poll as voted by state sportswriters. First-place votes in parentheses and points compiled on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis. |
| Preseason, Sept. 4, 2026 |
| Team |
Rec. |
Pts |
LY |
Class |
Last year |
| 1. New Canaan (21) |
13-0 |
630 |
1 |
L |
Class L champ |
| 2. Greenwich |
11-2 |
560 |
3 |
LL |
Class LL champ |
| 3. Southington |
9-4 |
460 |
7 |
LL |
2nd in Class LL |
| 4. St. Joseph |
9-3 |
448 |
nr |
MM |
Class M semfinalist |
| 5. Hand |
12-1 |
440 |
2 |
SS |
Class SS champ |
| 6. Windsor |
12-1 |
369 |
4 |
MM |
Class MM champ |
| 7. Bunnell |
10-3 |
321 |
10 |
M |
2nd in Class MM |
| 8. Fairfield Prep |
9-3 |
281 |
8 |
LL |
Class LL semifinalist |
| 9. Berlin |
13-0 |
232 |
5 |
SS |
Class M champ |
| 10. New Britain |
8-2 |
229 |
nr |
LL |
LL quarterfinals |
| Others receiving votes: Cheshire (9-4), 222; Wilton (10-2), 130; Sheehan (11-2), 113; Newtown (8-3), 109; Fairfield Ludlowe (7-4), 108; Glastonbury (7-4), 98; NFA (7-5), 92; Darien (6-5), 82; Killingly (12-1), 81; Ledyard (8-4), 54; Ansonia (8-4), 48; West Haven (5-5), 43; Staples (5-6), 38; Ridgefield (8-4), 27; Holy Cross (8-4), 23; Brookfield (10-3), 22; Jonathan Law (8-3), 21; Seymour (9-2), 20; New London (3-7), 20; Danbury (6-5), 9; Masuk (5-5), 9; Maloney (6-4), 8; North Haven (5-5), 8. |
| Voting this week: Will Aldam, GametimeCT; Sean Patrick Bowley, GametimeCT; Bryant Carpenter, GametimeCT; Andy Close, Bristol Press; Gerry deSimas Jr., Collinsville Press; Mike DiMauro, The Day of New London; Erik Dobratz, WTNH-8; Scott Ericson, GametimeCT; Vickie Fulkerson, The Day of New London; Ned Griffen, The Day of New London; Rob Gullo, New Britain Herald; Mike Madera, Walter Camp Football Foundation; Joe Morelli, GametimeCT; Pete Paguaga, GametimeCT; Lori Riley, Hartford Courant; Kevin Roberts, GametimeCT; Dave Ruden, The Ruden Report; Dave Stewart, GametimeCT; Matt Sottile, NBC CT; Johnny Uricchio, Wilimantic Chronicle; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin. Did note vote: Joe Zone, WFSB-3. |
2025 Connecticut High School Football Standings
2025 CIAC football tournaments
Area football previews 2026
Simsbury
Granby/Canton
Lewis Mills
Farmington
Avon/St. Paul
Avon Old Farms
