LEBANON, Ill. – For the fifth time in as many seasons, the University of Indianapolis football team topped the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. The announcement was made in conjunction with the annual GLVC Football Kickoff, held Friday on the campus of McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.
 
The poll featured the league's nine football-playing schools, with UIndy receiving the maximum eight first-place votes and 64 points (no coach could vote for his own team).  The Greyhounds return 15 starters – seven  offensive, seven defensive – from a 2015 squad that finished 10-2 on the way to a fourth straight GLVC championship and NCAA Division playoff berth.
 
McKendree collected 56 points and the lone remaining first-place voted to secure second place in the preseason poll. Missouri S&T (44 pts) and Truman (43) finished just one point apart in third and fourth place, respectively.
 
Associate-member Southwest Baptist collected 39 points to take fifth, followed by Quincy (26), Saint Joseph's (25), William Jewell (19) and Lincoln (8).
 
Last season, UIndy continued its stranglehold on the GLVC crown after a perfect 8-0 run through last year's league slate. The Greyhounds, led by head coach Bob Bartolomeo, is the only team to win the GLVC championship since the league began sponsoring football in 2012.
 
UIndy opens its 2016 campaign on the road with a key in-region meeting at Hillsdale Sept. 3. The home opener comes seven days later with the second-ever "Monumental Matchup" versus crosstown Marian.


2016 GLVC PRESEASON COACHES POLL

RK	SCHOOL (1st-place votes)*	PTS
1.	UIndy (8)	64
2.	McKendree (1)	56
3.	Missouri S&T	44
4.	Truman	43
5.	Southwest Baptist	39
6.	Quincy	26
7.	Saint Joseph's	25
8.	William Jewell	19
9.	Lincoln	8

^{* Conference bylaws do not permit a school to vote for itself}