The Thomas More College football team was picked to capture the 2012 football championship in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), according to the preseason poll released on Thursday (August 2, 2012) at the 2012 PAC Football Media Day held at the Sis and Herman Dupre Science Pavilion on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The Saints led by sixth-year head coach Jim Hilvert return 46 lettermen, including 17 starters from last season's 9-2 squad. Thomas More earned 23 of 25 total first-place votes and 223 points in the conference poll to top second place Washington & Jefferson College (188), followed by Waynesburg University (165), Bethany College (117), Saint Vincent (114), Geneva College (105), Westminster College (101), Grove City College (79) and Thiel College (32).

"It is a privilege and a honor to be preseason No. 1, said Hilvert". It is a credit to our past and present players and coaches hard work to get the Thomas More football program to this point. I am a firm believer that preseason polls do not mean anything. It is about the championship intensity that we have to have every day to achieve the lofty goals that the football team has set in 2012."

Thomas More opens the season ranked No. 19 in Lindy’s and Preseason Poll. The Saints open the 2012 season on Saturday, September 1 when they travel to Rochester, N.Y., to play No. 9 St. John Fisher College. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

2012 PAC Preseason Football Poll

 

Team
Points
2011 Record 1. Thomas More (23) 223 9-2 (7-1) 2. Washington & Jefferson 188 6-4 (5-3) 3. Waynesburg (2) 165 5-5 (5-3) 4. Bethany 117 5-5 (3-5) 4. Saint Vincent 114 6-5 (5-3) 6. Geneva 105 4-6 (4-4) 7. Westminster 101 5-5 (4-4) 8. Grove City 79 3-7 (3-5) 9. Thiel 32 0-10 (0-8)

Note: First-place votes in parentheses