MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Saint John's University football team was picked to repeat as conference champions in the 2019 MIAC Preseason Coaches' poll released Thursday, Aug. 22.

The Johnnies earned seven of the nine first-place votes and 63 total points to finish first in the poll. St. Thomas received the other two first-place votes and 56 total points to finish second, four points ahead of third-place Bethel.  

SJU (12-1, 8-0 MIAC) won its MIAC-record 33rd conference title and made its 29th postseason appearance (25th in Division III) in 2018 and ended the season ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by D3football.com. The Johnnies advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, where they fell by a 21-18 score to the eventual national champion, Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas).

The Johnnies return seven starters on each side of the ball, including the 2018 Gagliardi Trophy recipient and D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.), and two-time All-American guard Dan Greenheck (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) in 2019. Both were consensus preseason All-Americans this summer.

Third-ranked SJU begins its 109th football season Sept. 7 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. The Johnnies' first of five regular-season home games is also Family Weekend and the conference opener, Sept. 21 vs. Gustavus Adolphus. SJU hosts back-to-back games to begin October – Oct. 5 vs. Augsburg for Homecoming and Oct. 12 vs. Bethel for the annual Tackle Cancer game – and round out the regular season with home contests against Concordia Nov. 2 and Rose-Hulman (Ind.) Nov. 16. The Johnnie-Tommie game is slated for Oct. 19 at Allianz Field, home of Major League Soccer's Minnesota United FC, in St. Paul.

2019 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, seven 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. Saint John's (7), 63
2. St. Thomas (2), 56
3. Bethel, 52
4. Concordia, 43
5. Gustavus, 36
6. St. Olaf, 29
7. Carleton, 19
8. Augsburg, 17
9. Hamline, 9