The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) should be com­pet­i­tive this foot­ball sea­son as the top seven teams from last sea­son boasted win­ning records.

Grand Valley State was selected to fin­ish first accord­ing to the GLIAC Football Preseason Poll. Understandably, since Grand Valley has not lost a con­fer­ence game since the 2004 sea­son and has won two national titles since.

Each coach in the GLIAC selected the order in which they believe the teams will fin­ish the 2009 sea­son. The coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

It is inter­est­ing that the GLIAC 2008 final stand­ings and the 2009 Preseason Coaches’ Poll look nearly iden­ti­cal. The top eight teams are “sup­posed” to fin­ish in the exact same order as they did last year. Findlay moved up two spots from 11^th to ninth, while Northern Michigan and Northwood each moved down one spot.

Both Grand Valley and Ashland are ranked in the top 25 in the nation accord­ing to the America Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Grand Valley is ranked as the num­ber one team in the nation, while Ashland is ranked 15^th.

Ferris was sev­enth in the pre­sea­son poll, namely because that is where they fin­ished in the 2008 season.

In order for the Bulldogs to be com­pet­i­tive in the GLIAC this sea­son, the defense will have to become a strong unit very quickly. It is never easy to replace seven starters, eight with the injury to Chad Wilson, but that is what Ferris must do in order to have a chance this season.

The defense ranked third over­all in point allowed a sea­son ago, but the team will not be able to lean on them this year. The offense should be much improved from a unit that ranked last in points scored in the GLIAC in 2008.

The long and short of it is Ferris will have to pull off more than one upset to win the con­fer­ence this sea­son. To say that is impos­si­ble and can­not be done would be a lie. The Bulldogs do have a chance, but it is a long shot.

Both the Grand Valley and Ashland games are at Top Taggart Field, while the game against Michigan Tech is at Fifth Third Ballpark. Playing the top three teams in the con­fer­ence at home, or on a neu­tral site, gives the Bulldogs an advan­tage over other teams.

Grand Valley.

Since every GLIAC team has lost to the Lakers each of the past four sea­sons, the pre­sea­son coaches’ poll has become mun­dane and unin­for­ma­tive. Thanks for telling us GVSU is pre­dicted to win the con­fer­ence. If other teams in the con­fer­ence spent mil­lions of dol­lars on their foot­ball pro­grams, maybe the dis­cus­sion would be dif­fer­ent and the pre­sea­son coaches’ poll would mean something.

2009 GLIAC Football Preseason Coaches’ Poll

1. Grand Valley State
2. Ashland
3. Michigan Tech
4. Wayne State
5. Saginaw Valley State
6. Hillsdale
7. Ferris State
8. Indianapolis
9. Findlay
10. Northern Michigan
11. Northwood
12. Tiffin