AUS football coaches' rankings released as 2025 season kicks off

Gaiters, X-Men top AUS preseason coaches' poll

(HALIFAX, N.S.) With the 2025 season set to kick off tonight, Atlantic University Sport has released the results of its annual preseason football coaches' poll.

Topping the poll are the defending champion Bishop's Gaiters and the STFX X-Men, three-peat champions from 2021 to 2023.

Close behind are the 2024 finalist Saint Mary's Huskies, who gave the Gaiters a run for their money in last year's AUS Loney Bowl—pushing the game into triple overtime before being narrowly defeated 25–22.

The Acadia Axemen and Mount Allison Mounties rounded out this year's poll in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

The Axemen look to improve on last season's 2–6 record as they kick off their 2025 campaign on the road tonight against Saint Mary's in Halifax. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. AT.

The Mounties, under the new leadership of head coach Scott Brady, aim to prove this season's poll results wrong. Their home opener is set for tomorrow at 3 p.m. AT, when they will host the defending champion Gaiters.

Coach Brady returns to Mount Allison after seven years with the McMaster Marauders. He previously spent eight seasons on the Mounties' coaching staff, leading the team to four consecutive Loney Bowl appearances from 2013 to 2016, and back-to-back conference titles in 2013 and 2014.