The Midwest Conference released its 2022 Football Preseason Coaches Poll on Monday and Lake Forest College, the league's defending champion, was atop the rankings.
Voting is done by the MWC head football coaches. Each coach votes for the other nine schools in the league in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (nine points for first, eight for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
The Foresters received seven of the 10 first-place votes and finished with 79 points. The other three first-place votes went to Monmouth College, which was second with 74. University of Chicago's 65 points were good for third on the list while Ripon College was fourth with 52.
Lake Forest posted a perfect 9-0 record in conference play and advanced to the NCAA Division III Playoffs last season. Seven of this year's Foresters earned all-conference honors in 2021, including current seniors Dante Esposito and Tre Stewart, the MWC Defensive Skill MVP and Newcomer of the Year, respectively. Esposito also earned Second Team All-American honors from D3football.com while classmate A.J. Jackson was a First Team selection as a kick returner for the third consecutive season. Both players were named First Team Preseason All-Americans earlier this month.
2021 MWC Coach of the Year Jim Catanzaro's 14th year at the helm of the program will begin at home against Wisconsin Lutheran College this Saturday and Lake Forest will open league play the following week with a night game at Lawrence University. Homecoming is set for October 8 against Illinois College and will begin a stretch of four consecutive home contests, culminating with Senior Day and Parents Day against Monmouth on October 29. The final regular season game will be played at Chicago on November 12.
The league champion will earn a bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament while the runner-up will take on a member of the Northeran Athletics Collegiate Conference in the inaugural Cousins Subs Lakefront Bowl on November 19.
| PLACE | TEAM (First Place Votes) | POINTS |
| 1 | Lake Forest College (7) | 79 |
| 2 | Monmouth College (3) | 74 |
| 3 | University of Chicago | 65 |
| 4 | Ripon College | 52 |
| 5 | Illinois College | 46 |
| 6 | Cornell College | 43 |
| 7 | Knox College | 35 |
| 8 | Lawrence University | 21 |
| 9 | Grinnell College | 20 |
| 10 | Beloit College | 15 |
