Morningside College was tabbed the favorite in both the 2018 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Pre-Season Football Coaches’ Poll and the GPAC Pre-Season Football Media Poll at the 19th annual GPAC Football Media Day held Tuesday, July 31, at the Delta Hotels South Sioux City Riverfront Conference Center in South Sioux City, Neb.

Morningside College was tabbed the favorite in both the 2018 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Pre-Season Football Coaches’ Poll and the GPAC Pre-Season Football Media Poll at the 19th annual GPAC Football Media Day held Tuesday, July 31, at the Delta Hotels South Sioux City Riverfront Conference Center in South Sioux City, Neb.

The seven-time reigning GPAC champions received a unanimous 12 first place votes in the media poll and nine of the 10 first place votes from the league’s head coaches. Head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams. The Mustangs scored 120 points in the media poll for a 12-point margin over runner-up Northwestern College and had 81 points for an eight-point margin over runner-up Northwestern in the GPAC Coaches Poll.

The Mustangs had a banner 2017 season where they posted a 13-1 record for their 14th consecutive winning season during the Steve Ryan coaching era. The Mustangs rolled to a seventh consecutive Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championship with a perfect 8-0 league record and made their 14th consecutive post-season appearance in the NAIA Football Championship Series for the nation’s longest active streak.

The Mustangs are one of the nation’s most successful football teams since the start of the 2004 season with a record of 147-28 for an .840 winning percentage. Morningside has advanced past the opening round of the NAIA Championship series 12 times in the last 14 years and has advanced to at least the semifinals five times in the last six years, including an appearance in the 2012 Russell Athletics-NAIA Football National Championship Game.

Morningside will open the 2018 season with a 1 p.m. home game against William Penn University on Saturday, Aug. 25.