The Midwest Conference released the 2012 Football Preseason Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was picked to finish in the middle of the 11-team league.
| 2012 Midwest Conference Coaches Poll | ||
| Place | Team (1st Place Votes) | Points |
| 1t | Monmouth College (5) | 93 |
| 1t | Illinois College (4) | 93 |
| 3 | St. Norbert College (1) | 85 |
| 4 | Carroll University (1) | 72 |
| 5 | Ripon College | 64 |
| 6 | Lake Forest College | 50 |
| 7 | Grinnell College | 47 |
| 8 | Beloit College | 37 |
| 9 | Cornell College | 33 |
| 10 | Lawrence University | 16 |
| 11 | Knox College | 15 |
(from MWC release) Jim Catanzaro leads the Lake Forest football program into action for the fourth season and brings back an offense that was ranked as one of the best in the entire MWC. The Foresters finished the year third in the league in total offense, passing yards, and scoring and finished with at least 30 points six times. Pete Scaffidi leads the offense after throwing for 2,910 yards and 31 touchdowns while completing 62% of his passes during an outstanding junior season. Top receiver Kevin Davis (77 rec, 1,286 yards, 11 TD) was lost to graduation but Austin Sobey (55 rec, 752 yards, 11 TD) and Al Mitchell (42 rec, 229 yards, TD) return to stabilize the high profile passing attack. Mitchell carried the load in the running game with 940 yards on 201 carries and seven touchdowns in 2011. Linebacker Jordan Cruz made 68 tackles last year and had a pair of interceptions while defensive lineman Taylor Holzmeyer had seven sacks and ten tackles for loss to lead the Lake Forest defense.
