East Texas Baptist was voted the No. 1 team in the 2021 NFCA Division III Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll. The Tigers collected all eight first-place votes to start the season atop the rankings. ETBU also finished the 2020 season at No. 1 with a 15-0 record before the pandemic ended the season.
| Rank | Team | 2020 Record | Points |
| 1 | East Texas Baptist (8) | 15-0 | 200 |
| 2 | Texas Lutheran | 19-1 | 192 |
| 3 | Christopher Newport | 12-1 | 184 |
| 4 | Virginia Wesleyan | 11-1 | 176 |
| 5 | Salisbury | 17-3 | 168 |
| 6 | Linfield | 12-2 | 160 |
| 7 | Central (Iowa) | 6-1 | 152 |
| 8 | Kean | 9-1 | 144 |
| 9 | DePauw | 6-3 | 136 |
| 10 | Berry | 12-2 | 128 |
| 11 | St. John Fisher | 7-3 | 100 |
| 12 | Transylvania | 9-1 | 96 |
| 13 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 12-3 | 87 |
| 14 | St. Olaf | 7-1 | 79 |
| 15 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 9-1 | 77 |
| 16 | Eastern Connecticut State | 2-0 | 69 |
| 17 | Carthage | 10-2 | 61 |
| 18 | Birmingham-Southern | 14-4 | 55 |
| 19 | Moravian | 9-1 | 52 |
| 20 | Geneseo | 4-1 | 44 |
| 21 | Wisconsin-La Crosse | 2-2 | 42 |
| 22 | Trine | 7-3 | 40 |
| 23 | Randolph-Macon | 8-3-1 | 29 |
| 24 | Tufts | 0-0 | 23 |
| 25 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 12-0 | 21 |
Others receiving votes: Maryville (Tenn.) 19, Illinois Wesleyan 17, Ferrum 12, Williams 11, St. Catherine 8, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 7, Manhattanville 6, Mount Union 3, Averett 2.