Franklin, Ind. - The Franklin College football team will enter the 2016 season as the favorite to win the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) championship, garnering six first-place votes in a preseason poll of league coaches.

The Grizzlies, coached by Mike Leonard, have captured six consecutive HCAC titles and represented the conference in the NCAA Division III playoffs during eight of the past nine seasons. The team posted an 8-0 league record last season.

For this fall, Franklin returns 14 starters, including 2015 HCAC Offensive Most Valuable Player Chase Burton (Corydon, Ind./Corydon Central), a junior quarterback; and first-team offensive players Ty'Ronte Files (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard), a senior running back; and Lee Wroblewski (Salem, Ind./Paoli), a junior wingback. First-team all-conference returnees on defense are Devante Ash (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian), a senior lineman, and Taylor Christensen (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), a senior defensive back.

The Grizzlies received six of the nine first-place votes to top the poll with 78 points. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology recorded 68 points and one first-place vote, followed closely behind by Mount St. Joseph University, with 66 points and one first-place vote. Bluffton University received the other first-place vote and was chosen fourth with 56 points.

Manchester University (40 poll points), Defiance College (31), Hanover College (30), Anderson University (25), and Earlham College (11) rounded out the preseason poll.

Franklin opens the fall season with a home non-conference game against No. 11-ranked Thomas More College on September 3, starting at 6 p.m., from Faught Stadium. The matchup features two schools from last season's 32-team Division III playoff field.

2016 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Football Preseason Poll

School (first place votes)                               Points

Franklin College (6)                                        78

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1)                   68

Mount St. Joseph University (1)                                 66

Bluffton University (1)                                                56

Manchester University                                               40

Defiance College                                                        31

Hanover College                                                         30

Anderson University                                                  25

Earlham College                                                          11