Lutes Favored to Regain Football Crown in 2000
| NWC Football Coaches' Pre-Season Poll: |
1999 records |
| School |
(1st) |
Pts. |
All |
NWC |
| 1. Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) |
(5) |
39 |
13-1 |
4-1 |
| 2. Willamette (Ore.) |
(1) |
29 |
7-4 |
5-0 |
| 3. Linfield (Ore.) |
|
28 |
6-3 |
3-2 |
| 4. Whitworth (Wash.) |
|
17 |
5-5 |
2-3 |
| 5. Puget Sound (Wash.) |
|
13 |
1-8 |
1-4 |
| 6. Lewis & Clark (Ore.) |
|
6 |
0-9 |
0-5 |
(First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 7-5-4-3-2-1 basis).
Defending NCAA III champion Pacific Lutheran University is favored to win the only title it didn't take home in 1999, according to a pre-season poll of Northwest Conference football coaches.
On their way to a 13-1 record and eventual national title, the Lutes finished second in the NWC behind Willamette University. The Bearcats handed PLU a 29-20 loss in the teams' regular season meeting in Salem. PLU won the rematch, 28-24, in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. The Lutes received five first place votes and a total of 39 points.
Willamette is second in the poll, gaining the other first place vote and 29 total points. The Bearcats have won three of the last four NWC titles.
Linfield College is third in the poll, only one point behind Willamette. The Wildcats actually picked up more second place votes (3-2), but are a single vote behind based on the Bearcat's first place vote.
Whitworth College, the University of Puget Sound, and Lewis & Clark College round out the final three places in the poll, which mirrors the teams' NWC finishes last season.
This will be the fifth season since the Northwest Conference readopted football as a conference sport. From 1985 through 1995 the Northwest Conference schools played football as part of the Columbia Football Association and the NAIA. In 1995 the Northwest Conference began the process of joining the NCAA and withdrew from membership in the CFA.