College Football: Wittenberg ranked in preseason Top 25

Wittenberg players celebrate a victory against Wabash on Sept. 24, 2016, at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. David Jablonski/Staff

Wittenberg players celebrate a victory against Wabash on Sept. 24, 2016, at Edwards-Maurer Field in Springfield. David Jablonski/Staff

The Wittenberg Tigers were were ranked 16th in the country in the D3football.com preseason poll released Monday. The Tigers received 204 points in the poll, six behind No. 15 UW-Platteville, and nine ahead of No. 17 Frostburg State.

»RELATED: Witt recruiting class is Tigers’ biggest ever

Defending national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor is No. 1.

The Tigers finished 10-2 last season, including their 14th North Coast Athletic Conference title. Witt defeated Thomas More (Ky.) in four overtimes in the first round of the NCAA playoffs before bowing out the following week to No. 2 Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The Tigers return several key players on both sides of the ball from last season and welcome coach Joe Fincham’s biggest ever recruiting class (89 players). Fincham is 191-43 at Witt and has led the Tigers to the playoffs in 12 of those 21 seasons.

The Tigers open the season on the road at Westminster (Pa.) on Sept. 2. Witt’s home opener is Sept. 16 vs. Oberlin.

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