BAY CITY, Mich. – The 2014 GLIAC Football season is on the horizon and conference coaches have voted Grand Valley State the favorite in the North Division, while Ohio Dominican has been tabbed the team to beat in the South Division.
On the heels of their 9-0 regular season, Ohio Dominican is picked to win the South Division, garnering six first-place votes and 36 points. Not too far behind is Findlay, who claimed the last first-place vote and 30 points. With 27 points, Ashland was picked to finish third, followed by Lake Erie with 16 points. Rounding out the top-five was Walsh with 16 points, while Tiffin and Malone closed out the preseason ballot with 14 and eight points, respectively. Ties were broken using 2013 order of finish.
The North Division will be a tight race in 2014, with seven points or less standing between the top-five teams. Grand Valley State, national semifinalists from a year ago, led the way with 49 points and seven first-place votes in this year's preseason poll. Ferris State picked up 42 points to finish second, while Saginaw Valley State claimed the last first-place vote, but only tallied 35 points to finish third. Michigan Tech (30 points) and Hillsdale (26) finished fourth and fifth respectively to round out the top-five. Wayne State was not too far behind the Chargers, earning 21 points to finish sixth in the voting. Northern Michigan (12) and Northwood (9) completed the ballot in the North.
The 2014 Division II football season opens for four GLIAC members on Thursday, Sept. 4, with the rest of the league starting play two days later on Saturday, Sept. 6.
The GLIAC Football Preseason Coaches' Poll results are below. First place votes are in parentheses.
Both video and written team previews are available by clicking on the team logos to the right.
