COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines is the favorite heading into the 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football season, the league announced Wednesday in its preseason poll release. The RMAC Football Coaches Preseason Poll is voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own program.
Mines leads the way with nine first-place votes and 81 points after a historic season in 2022 where they made a berth in the NCAA Division II Championship. The Orediggers will be led into action behind first-year head coach Pete Sterbick, who looks to lead another Mines program that has consistently produced success in recent years.
Colorado State University Pueblo checks in at No. 2 in RMAC preseason voting with 71 points behind first-year head coach Philip Vigil. The ThunderWolves earned a postseason berth in 2022 and reloaded ahead of the 2023 campaign with plenty of offensive and defensive weapons. Western Colorado rounds out the top-three positions with 62 points and one first-place vote. The Mountaineers are seasoned and poised to make another run at a conference title after earning a share in 2021.
South Dakota Mines occupies fourth place in the poll after earning 53 points in preseason voting, while Black Hills State sits fifth place with 49 points. Colorado Mesa checks in at sixth place with 48, meanwhile, Chadron State resides in seventh place with 33 points.
New Mexico Highlands was selected eighth in preseason voting with 23 points, followed by Adams State with 21 points and Fort Lewis with nine points.
The 2023 season kicks off on opening weekend for nine of the RMAC’s 10 football institutions. On Thursday, Aug. 31, Chadron State will hit the road against Quincy University, while Colorado School of Mines will host Grand Valley State. South Dakota Mines is slated to host NAIA opponent Valley City State on Friday, Sept. 1.
On Saturday, Sept. 2, six more RMAC football programs will be in action, including Black Hills State at University of St. Thomas, Fort Lewis at William Jewell College, Colorado Mesa at home against Texas A&M Kingsville, Western Colorado at home against West Texas A&M, Adams State at home against Lincoln University and CSU Pueblo hosting Midwestern State.
Each game that is hosted by a RMAC institution will be broadcast on the RMAC Network throughout the 2023 campaign.
2023 RMAC Football Preseason Poll
| School (First-place votes) | Points | ||
| 1. Colorado School of Mines (9) | 81 | ||
| 2. CSU Pueblo | 71 | ||
| 3. Western Colorado (1) | 62 | ||
| 4. South Dakota Mines | 53 | ||
| 5. Black Hills State | 49 | ||
| 6. Colorado Mesa | 48 | ||
| 7. Chadron State | 33 | ||
| 8. New Mexico Highlands | 23 | ||
| 9. Adams State | 21 | ||
| 10. Fort Lewis | 9 |