Four GLIAC Schools Ranked By D2Football.com Poll
View entire D2Football.com Top 25 Poll
BAY CITY, Mich. - Four Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football teams were recognized in the first D2Football.com Top 25 Poll of the 2014 season.
The national semifinalists from 2013, Grand Valley State Lakers, look continue their momentum from a year ago and appear at No. 2 in the D2Football rankings. GVSU is also in the second position in the previously unveiled AFCA poll. The Lakers are favored to win the GLIAC North crown according to this year's coaches' poll.
The Ohio Dominican Panthers are the reigning champions of the GLIAC South Division and land at No. 10 in the poll just one year after amassing a perfect regular season performance. ODU has been a consensus preseason top-15 team by outlets including Sporting News (No. 13), USA Today (No. 8), Lindy's (No. 12) and the AFCA (No. 13).
Sitting in the the 20th position in the D2Football.com balloting are the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals. SVSU went 9-1 a year ago to claim their third straight GLIAC North title and will look to their strong defensive unit to win games in 2014. The Ferris State Bulldogs follow close behind SVSU at No. 21 and look forward to another big year from QB Jason Vander Laan. The junior signal caller enters his third year as the starter, and is coming off a campaign that saw him set the Division II single-season record for rushing yards by a QB with 1,607.
The 2014 campaign begins in just nine days with four GLIAC schools beginning their seasons on Thursday, Sept. 4. Michigan Tech travels to Detroit to battle Wayne State at 6 p.m. to kickoff the GLIAC Football schedule, while Ferris State travels to McKendree for an 8 p.m. non-conference tilt. The final matchup of the night features Grand Valley State traveling to Azusa Pacific and will be seen live on CBS Sports Network starting at 9 p.m.
