LAS VEGAS– Grand Canyon and San José State have been voted as the 2026 preseason favorites to capture the inaugural Mountain West men’s soccer regular-season title as voted on by the league’s six head coaches.
 
Both programs earned 22 points each with GCU claiming four first-place votes and SJSU earning two first-place votes. The Lopes enter the 2026 season under the direction of first-year head coach Jamie Davies and ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Spartans are coming off a WAC championship match appearance in 2025 and earned 12 wins for the first time since 2003.
 
UC Davis was selected to finish the upcoming season in third place with 15 points, while UNLV was picked fourth with 14 points. Rounding out the poll is Air Force in fifth with 10 points and Utah Tech in sixth with seven points.
 
 
The Mountain West also announced the 2026 MW Men’s Soccer Watch List, as selected by the Conference’s head coaches, featuring three student-athletes from each program.
 
 
The 2026 season kicks off on Thursday, Aug. 20. Catch all the action on the pitch on MW+, the official streaming destination for Mountain West men’s soccer. Stream every match live all season long on the web, the MW+ mobile app for iPhone and Android, or your connected TV, including Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Subscribe today at watch.themw.com.