COLORADO SPRINGS - Colorado School of Mines is the preseason football favorite in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as the annual coaches' poll was announced Wednesday. 

The four-time defending conference champions are the unanimous favorite to win a fifth straight after completing a perfect 9-0 RMAC campaign in 2022 on the way to the NCAA Division II national championship game. The Orediggers (13-3 in 2022) received all nine possible first-place votes (teams can't vote for themselves) to lead CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado in the top three. 

Under first-year head coach Pete Sterbick, Mines brings back a veteran-laden squad with 18 returning starters, including national player of the year John Matocha at quarterback, the nation's leading returning receiver in Max McLeod, all but one member of the offensive line two-deep, and eight all-RMAC starters from a defense that led all of college football in sacks last year. The Orediggers - who began preseason camp on Monday - have 17 sixth-year seniors on the roster.

Mines begins the season at home Aug. 31 against Grand Valley State; the RMAC schedule starts two weeks later on Sept. 16 as the Orediggers host Adams State.
 

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2023 RMAC Football Preseason Poll
1. Colorado School of Mines (9) - 81 points
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