Lone Star Conference to hold 2026 football media day in McKinney

McKinney ISD Stadium will host the Lone Star Conference’s 2026 Football Media Day on Thursday, July 23, bringing Division II programs from Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma to a 12,000-seat venue at 4201 S. Hardin Blvd. in south McKinney. The one-day event will put coaches, players and media inside the same facility that has become a regular stop for the league’s biggest football dates.

Check-in begins at 11 a.m. CT, lunch follows at 11:30 a.m., and the program starts at noon with remarks from LSC Commissioner Jay Poerner. The conference will unveil its preseason players-to-watch list, preseason poll and preseason players of the year, then move into a question-and-answer session with each school’s head coach and two student-athlete representatives. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Managing Editor Greg Tepper will emcee for the fourth consecutive year, and the media will get an open interview session from 1:30 to 2 p.m.

The media day adds another layer to McKinney’s role in the Lone Star Conference’s postseason and showcase calendar. The LSC and McKinney ISD will co-host the NCAA Division II football national championship game for the eighth time since 2018, and the next two title games in McKinney are already scheduled for Dec. 19, 2026 and Dec. 18, 2027. McKinney ISD Stadium, built in 2017 at a cost of $70 million, has become the conference’s fixed North Texas base for football’s most visible gatherings.

That steady return matters for the city’s visitor economy because the event draws more than a local crowd. In 2025, all 10 LSC football teams were represented at media day, including Angelo State, Central Washington, Eastern New Mexico, Midwestern State, Sul Ross State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT Permian Basin, West Texas A&M, Western New Mexico and Western Oregon. That mix puts programs from across multiple states, along with coaches, student-athletes and regional media, into McKinney for a full day of scheduled activity around the stadium.

The conference has held its football media day in McKinney since 2018, a run that now sits alongside the championship game and keeps Collin County at the center of the league’s public-facing football calendar.