Wildcats Ranked Fourth in First-Ever NAIA Flag Football Preseason Poll

NAIA Women's Flag Football Preseason Coaches' Top 10 Poll 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - After advancing to the national semifinals last year, Baker women's flag football will begin the 2026 season ranked No. 4 as the NAIA released its first-ever Preseason Coaches' Top-10 Poll.

The Wildcats were picked fourth in a top-10 field that featured five-time defending national champion Ottawa in the top-spot, followed by Keiser and Warner, who BU beat on a last-second touchdown in last year's NAIA Quarterfinals. Kansas Wesleyan was the only other KCAC team besides BU and OU to earn a national ranking, coming in at No. 6.

Heading into its third season as a program, the Wildcats have won exactly 13 games and competed in the NAIA Flag Football Finals each of the last two years, reaching the semifinals of the NAIA tournament in 2025.

BU returns all eight of its All-KCAC honorees from last season's squad that went 7-2 in conference and advanced to the KCAC Semifinals for the second straight season. The all-conference returners include Kaley Phillips (First Team), Sanija Waller (First Team), Jaylin Harris (Second Team), Mahagonay Simmons (Second Team), Gabriella Zabaletta (Second Team), Melanie Assmar (Honorable Mention), Kayla Harrison (Honorable Mention) and Destiny Martinez (Honorable Mention). Head coach Willy Perez was named the 2025 KCAC Coach of the Year.

Baker will open up the 2026 campaign in a couple of weeks, hosting a season-opening matchup against Midland on Feb. 25, at 6 p.m., inside Liston Stadium.

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