2019 UMAC Football Coaches Preseason Poll

It's that time of year again.

*inhales deeply*

Ahhh. The smell of freshly cut grass and sweaty equipment. That's right folks, it's football season again. And while we've all been waiting for the beginning of the NFL regular season and potentially some D1 football action, there is another season on the cusp of new life - the DIII football regular season. And more specifically, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference football season; what everyone that actually reads this blog has been waiting all year for.

As you may or may not have seen, the 2019 Coaches Poll has been out for a few weeks now. And there are quite a few interesting twists on this list. Let's dive straight in to the list:

1. Martin Luther -- 61 points (6 First Place Votes)
2. Northwestern – 54 points (2 First Place Votes)
3. MacMurray – 49 points 
4. St. Scholastica – 47 points (1 First Place Votes)
5. Westminster – 35 points
6. Greenville – 29 points
7. Minnesota Morris – 22 points
8. Iowa Wesleyan – 17 points
9. Crown – 10 points

Okay, here are my initial thoughts:

As expected, Martin Luther takes first place in the poll after a dominant season where they went undefeated in the conference and nearly beat a decent MIAC team.The Knights return UMAC Offensive MVP Austin DeNoyer, who will surely hope to repeat a campaign in which he ran for over 1,000 yards and 16 TDs. I'd say Martin Luther has the edge on the conference until proven otherwise this season. 

Northwestern hopes to break back into the top 3 in the UMAC again this season, after slinking to a disappointing 4th in the conference in 2018. They are getting All-American safety Nick Swore back after losing almost all of 2018 to injury, and return some experienced starters on offense as well.

MacMurray interestingly enough did not receive any first place votes, but remained in the top 3 in the poll, revealing that they are still pretty well respected by the UMAC coaches. After earning 2nd place in the conference in 2018, they hope to repeat or better their performance from last year, but face a tall task in taking down defending champ Martin Luther, not to mention any of the other threatening teams this year.

St. Scholastica finishes 4th in the poll, which I can only imagine is an insult to them. Perennially ranked 1 or 2 in the coaches poll, I had to do some digging. I found that the last time the Saints were picked outside of the top two was 2010, in which they were picked to finish 6th after a 4-6 finish in their 2nd season in existence. Woof. They did however receive a first place vote, which is more than we can say for 3rd place picked MacMurray. Zach Edwards will be back slinging the rock, which gives St. Scholastica much more than a little competitive edge. They will have to adjust to their third coach in three years, as coach Mike Heffernan takes the reigns in 2019. 

Westminster has been on the cusp of busting in to the top half of the conference for a long time, and it seems they are destined to stay there. They took a big hit in seniors graduating last year, so it'll be tough for them to break the pattern this year.

Greenville seemed to be on the uptick a few years ago, but hit a little bump along the way, going 3-7 last year. They don't seem to return many starters, so we'll see if they are able to scratch their way out of the UMAC basement. 

Minnesota Morris was one of my picks for potentially finishing last in 2018, but they were able to scrape out a few victories to end 3-7. They will hope to continue the growth in coach Marty Hoffmann's second season on the back of QB Justin Masloski and LB Drew Shipley. 

Iowa Wesleyan played several close games last year, but were only able to pull out a victory against Crown. They return RB duo Stafford Lewis and Akenyon Bagley, who they hope can grind out some yards and TDs for them to win a few more games this year.

Crown is a sad story. 0-20 over the last two seasons, they hope to break their 23-game losing streak at some point. Hopefully sooner than later. Unfortunately, the Storm don't return too many players that make me think that will change. Please prove me wrong Crown. 

Here are my picks for the 2019 season:

1. Martin Luther
2. MacMurray
3. St. Scholastica
4. Northwestern
5. Westminster
6. Minnesota Morris
7. Greenville
8. Iowa Wesleyan
9. Crown

Let me know your picks or thoughts on Twitter or Facebook!

Another season, another dollar. Or something like that. In six days time (see schedule here), the UMAC season will begin with the team's non-conference opponents! Stay tuned for a Week One Preview if I can get around to it!