The Midwest Conference released its 2017 Football Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was listed second in the South Division in the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head football coaches. Each coach votes for the other five schools in the same division, as well as the six programs in the other half of the league. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (six points for first, five for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
After four non-conference games, including three against teams from the MWC North Division, the 2017 Foresters will open league play against visiting Knox College on October 7. It will also be Lake Forest's Homecoming game. The team will also host Grinnell College and Monmouth College and travel to Cornell College and Illinois College to complete the conference scheule. On November 11 the Foresters will close out the year at home during MWC Championship Week against the team that finishes in the same place in the North standings.
Lake Forest finished in a tie for third place in the league with a 6-2 conference record in 2016, a year in which the MWC was not divided into separate divisions.
Running back Joey Valdivia and safety/special teams player R.J. Pompey earned All-American honors a season ago and are among the 52 Foresters returning from last year's team. They are joined by offensive lineman Andrew Johnson and cornerback Chase Slagboom as returning all-conference selections. Seven starters return on each side of the ball in Jim Catanzaro's ninth season as head coach.
| PLACE | SOUTH TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Monmouth College (10) | 65 |
| 2 | Lake Forest College (2) | 57 |
| 3 | Illinois College | 44 |
| 4 | Cornell College | 38 |
| 5 | Knox College | 26 |
| 6 | Grinnell College | 16 |
| PLACE | NORTH TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | St. Norbert College (10) | 65 |
| 2 | University of Chicago (1) | 55 |
| 3 | Macalester College (1) | 48 |
| 4 | Ripon College | 29 |
| 5 | Lawrence University | 26 |
| 6 | Beloit College | 23 |
