BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Cumberland University (Tenn.) has been picked to finish third in the 2026 Mid-South Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll, conference officials announced Friday.

The Phoenix received 24 voting points from the conference's head coaches, including one first-place vote. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team. 

Cumberland hopes to improve on a successful 2025 season in which the Phoenix finished third in the MSC Championship with 85 points. As a result, Cumberland trailed conference runner-up Bethel (Tenn.) by just one point.

After winning the championship the previous season with a perfect score of 15, Cumberlands (Ky.) was chosen as the preseason favorite with 36 points and six first-place votes. Cumberland completed the top three with 24 points, while Bethel came in second with 26 points.

With 22 points, Campbellsville (Ky.) was ranked fourth, followed by Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) with 20, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) with 10 points for sixth place, and Georgetown (Ky.) with nine points for seventh.

The Phoenix are among the conference's best candidates according to the preseason poll, so Cumberland will try to build on its third-place result from the previous season to win the championship in 2026.

Late August marks the start of the 2026 MSC men's cross country season. The conference championship is set for Friday, November 6, at Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The Phoenix open the 2026 season next Saturday at the Freed Speed, hosted by Freed-Hardeman University in Pinson, Tenn.