MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University football team was picked to finish second out of nine teams in the 2017 MIAC Preseason Coaches' poll released Thursday, Aug. 24.

St. Thomas earned seven of the nine first-place votes and 63 total points to finish atop the poll. The Johnnies, who are ranked 10th nationally by D3football.com, received the other two first-place votes and 58 total points to finish second, eight points ahead of third-place Concordia.  

The Johnnies advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs for the third consecutive season in 2016 and finished with a 10-2 overall record, including a 7-1 mark in MIAC play. SJU is one of only six Division III programs that have reached the second round of the playoffs each of the past three seasons (Linfield, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Mount Union, Wesley and Wheaton, Ill.).

Conference play opens on Sept. 16 and runs for eight weeks. The Johnnies begin the conference schedule with a trip to St. Olaf. SJU takes on St. Thomas Sept. 23 at Target Field, hosts Bethel Sept. 30 for Family Weekend and its Tackle Cancer game, and Augsburg Oct. 7 for Homecoming. The Johnnies end the regular season at home against Concordia-Moorhead Nov. 11.

SJU begins its 107th football season Sept. 2, the first of six home games this fall, against St. Scholastica. The non-conference game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.

2017 MIAC Football Preseason Coaches' Poll
MIAC head football coaches voted for every team in the conference except their own. Points were assigned for each vote (eight for a first-place vote, nine for second, etc.). Teams are ranked in order of highest point total to lowest, with vote totals listed and first-place votes shown in parentheses.

1. St. Thomas (7), 63
2. Saint John's (2), 58
3. Concordia, 50
4. Bethel, 43
5. Gustavus, 34
6. Hamline, 27
7. Augsburg, 21
8. St. Olaf, 18
9. Carleton, 10