MONMOUTH, Ill. – If the Midwest Conference football coaches’ prognostication hold true, it will be perennial league powers Monmouth College and St. Norbert College battling for the league title and the automatic NCAA playoff berth that goes with it during the MWC’s Championship Week on Nov. 11.
Divisional play returns to the Midwest Conference this year with the addition of the University of Chicago joining the league’s North Division teams, making for two, six team divisions.
The Preseason Coaches’ Poll released today gave the defending league champion Fighting Scots the nod to win the South with 10 of the 12 first place votes and 65 points overall, finishing ahead of Lake Forest, predicted to be the No. 2 team in the division with 57 points. In the North, St. Norbert matched Monmouth’s totals with 10 first place votes and 65 points. Newcomer Chicago earned one first place vote and 55 points as the runner up in the poll. Macalester nabbed the remaining first place vote to garner 48 points, seeding them third in the division.
Championship Week on Nov. 11 will pit the winners of each division battling for the league crown. The remaining teams will meet their divisional equals to determine the remainder of the Midwest Conference standings.
Below are the full rankings from the 2017 Midwest Conference Coaches’ Preseason Poll:
Team (1st place votes) Total Points
North
1. St. Norbert (10) 65
2. U. of Chicago (1) 55
3. Macalester (1) 48
4. Ripon 29
5. Lawrence 26
6. Beloit 23
South
1. Monmouth (10) 65
2. Lake Forest (2) 57
3. Illinois College 44
4. Cornell 38
5. Knox 26
6. Grinnell 16
