Football team ranked No. 10/11 in Preseason polls; Zach Schmerge named Preseason All-America
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team is ranked No. 10 in the 2016 Sporting News College Football magazine preseason poll and is No. 11 in the Lindy's Sports College Football preview magazine preseason poll.
ONU junior linebacker Zach Schmerge was also named a Preseason All-American by the Sporting News.
Schmerge was named Third Team All-North Region and First team All-Ohio Athletic Conference as a sophomore last season.
He led Ohio Northern and was second in the OAC with 112 tackles in his first season as a starter.
This marks the 11th time in the last 13 seasons that the Polar Bears have been ranked in a national poll.
Northern finished the season ranked No. 19 in the final D3football.com poll.
The Polar Bears went 9-3 overall, tied for second in the OAC with a 7-2 mark and advanced to the second round of the NCAA III Playoffs in 2015 under 12th-year head coach Dean Paul.
Sporting News Poll
| Rank | School | 2015 Record |
| 1. | Linfield (Ore.) |
12-1 |
| 2. | Mount Union |
15-0 |
| 3. |
Wisconsin-Whitewater |
12-2 |
| 4. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) |
10-2 |
| 5. | Saint Thomas (Minn.) |
14-1 |
| 6. | Wesley (Conn.) |
11-2 |
| 7. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 11-2 |
| 8. | Wheaton (Ill.) |
11-1 |
| 9. | Saint John's (Minn.) |
10-2 |
| 10. | Ohio Northern |
9-3 |
| 11. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 9-2 |
| 12. | Albright (Pa.) | 10-2 |
| 13. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 11-1 |
| 14. | Texas Lutheran | 8-2 |
| 15. | Whitworth (Wash.) | 9-2 |
| 16. | Thomas More (Ky.) | 11-1 |
| 17. | Washington & Lee (Va.) | 10-1 |
| 18. | Cortland State (N.Y.) | 9-3 |
| 19. | Saint Lawrence (N.Y.) | 8-3 |
| 20. | Trinity (Tex.) | 8-2 |
| 21. | John Carroll | 8-2 |
| 22. | Wisconsin-Platteville | 8-2 |
| 23. | North Central (Ill.) | 7-3 |
| 24. | Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) | 8-2 |
| 25. | Adrian (Mich.) | 7-3 |
Lindy's Poll
| Rank | School | 2015 Record |
| 1. | Mount Union |
15-0 |
| 2. | Wisconsin-Whitewater |
12-2 |
| 3. |
Saint Thomas (Minn.) |
14-1 |
| 4. | Wesley (Conn.) |
11-2 |
| 5. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) |
10-2 |
| 6. | Linfield (Ore.) |
12-1 |
| 7. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 11-2 |
| 8. | Wabash (Ind.) |
12-1 |
| 9. | Washington & Lee (Va.) |
10-1 |
| 10. | John Carroll |
8-2 |
| 11. | Ohio Northern | 9-3 |
| 12. | Wheaton (Ill.) | 11-1 |
| 13. | Delaware Valley (Pa.) | 9-2 |
| 14. | Franklin (Ind.) | 8-3 |
| 15. | Texas Lutheran | 8-2 |
| 16. | North Central (Ill.) | 7-3 |
| 17. | Hendrix (Ark.) | 8-3 |
| 18. | Westminster (Pa.) | 9-2 |
| 19. | Monmouth (Ill.) | 8-2 |
| 20. | Guilford (N.C.) | 9-1 |
| 21. | Berry (Ga.) | 7-3 |
| 22. | Dubuque (Iowa) | 8-3 |
| 23. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 9-2 |
| 24. | Saint John's (Minn.) | 10-2 |
| 25. | Trine (Ind.) | 6-4 |