Football receives votes in first weekly D3football.com poll
By Tim Glon
ADA – The Ohio Northern football team received votes in the first weekly D3football.com poll.
The Polar Bears (0-0 overall) received seven points in the voting.
Defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater is ranked first with 618 points and 19 of the 25 first place votes, Mount Union is second with 600 points and the four first place votes and Linfield (Ore.) is third with 560 points and the final two place votes.
Ohio Northern welcomes back 41 lettermen and 11 starters from last year's squad that went 7-3 and finished fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 6-3 mark under 12th-year head coach Dean Paul.
The Polar Bears have now been mentioned in the D3football.com poll in 14 of the last 17 years.
ONU will open its 2015 season on Saturday at Noon against Utica (N.Y.) at Dial-Roberson Stadium.
D3football.com Poll - Week 1
Sept. 7, 2015
| Total | 2015 | Previous | ||
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points | Record | Week |
| 1. | Wisconsin-Whitewater (19) |
618 | 0-0 | 1 |
| 2. | Mount Union (4) |
600 | 1-0 | 2 |
| 3. | Linfield (Ore.) (2) |
560 | 0-0 | 3 |
| 4. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) |
543 | 1-0 | 4 |
| 5. | Wesley (Conn.) |
517 | 0-0 | 5 |
| 6. | Wartburg (Iowa) |
495 | 1-0 | 6 |
| 7. | Wheaton (Ill.) |
456 | 1-0 | 7 |
| 8. | Saint John's (Minn.) |
418 | 1-0 | 9 |
| 9. | Wabash (Ind.) |
399 | 1-0 | 00 |
| 10. | John Carroll |
395 | 1-0 | 8 |
| 11. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) |
351 | 1-0 | 13 |
| 12. | Saint Thomas (Minn.) |
333 | 1-0 | 14 |
| 13. | North Central (Ill.) |
328 | 0-0 | 11 |
| 14. | Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) |
305 | 1-0 | 15 |
| 15. | Hobart (N.Y.) |
270 | 1-0 | 16 |
| 16. | Thomas More (Ky.) |
226 | 1-0 | 23 |
| 17. | Wittenberg | 211 | 1-0 | 17 |
| 18. | Texas Lutheran | 162 | 1-0 | 21 |
| 19. | Bethal (Minn.) |
158 | 1-0 | 20 |
| 20. | Rowan (N.J.) |
148 | 1-0 | NR |
| 21. | Centre (Ky.) |
122 | 1-0 | 22 |
| 22. | Chapman (Calif.) |
111 | 0-0 | 24 |
| 23. | Muhlenberg (Pa.) |
78 | 1-0 | 25 |
| 24. |
Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 60 | 0-1 | 18 |
| 25. |
Wisconsin-Platteville | 37 | 1-0 | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Christopher Newport 28; Ithaca 27; Widener 25; Delaware Valley 23; Guilford 21; Hardin-Simmons 13; Cortland State 13; Pacific Lutheran 13; Franklin 12; St. John Fisher 10; Ohio Northern 7; Framingham State 7; Illinois Wesleyan 6; Morrisville State 5; Chicago 4; Concordia-Moorhead 3; Amherst 2.