The Illinois College football team has been picked to finish tied atop the Midwest Conference football standings in 2012 in a preseason poll of conference coaches released on Wednesday.
The preseason ranking comes following a standout 2011 campaign in which the Blueboys went 9-1 during the regular season and made the first NCAA Division III playoff appearance in school history. They were pegged at No. 13 in Lindy's Division III College Football Preseason Preview.
Illinois College and Monmouth College finished tied for the top spot in the poll, as Monmouth received five first-place votes to Illinois College's four. St. Norbert College and Carroll University came in at third and fourth, respectively, while each received one first-place vote. Ripon College, Lake Forest College, Grinnell College, Beloit College, Cornell College, Lawrence University and Knox College rounded out the poll.
The Illinois College football team opens its season at home on Saturday, September 1 against Hanover College. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
