St. Scholastica is the unanimous favorite to win the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference title according to the preseason conference coaches' poll released Monday.
The Saints, winners of every UMAC regular-season championship since 1997, received 49 points, including seven first-place votes. St. Scholastica returns nine starters from a team that went 37-7 and advancing to the NCAA Division III regional final for the second time in four seasons.
Bethany Lutheran, which went 18-2 in conference play last season, received 43 points and the remaining first-place vote to finish second, followed by Northwestern (36 points), Presentation (28), Minnesota-Morris (26), Northland (16), Martin Luther (16) and Crown (7).
