The Muhlenberg football team is expected to remain strong when it returns to competition in 2021.

The Mules were picked first in the Centennial Conference preseason poll and ranked 13th in the D3football.com preseason poll. 

Muhlenberg went 13-1 in 2019, capturing the CC championship, setting a school record for wins and reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time ever. 

2021 Centennial Conference Football Preseason Poll

Rank | Institution (First-Place Votes)	Points
1. Muhlenberg (10)	151
2. Johns Hopkins (5)	144
3. Susquehanna (5)	143
4. Franklin & Marshall	109
5. Dickinson	90
6. Ursinus	86
7. Moravian	73
8. McDaniel	45
9. Juniata	30
10. Gettysburg	29

This is only the third time Muhlenberg has finished atop the CC preseason poll. The other two were 2008 and 2003, and the Mules ended in first place both years. In fact, the CC preseason poll correctly predicted the league champion 24 times in its first 30 years. The preseason poll accurately picked the CC champion 11 straight years from 2008 to 2018, a streak snapped when preseason favorite Johns Hopkins finished third in 2019.

The Mules, who tied Hopkins for the CC title in 2018, will be going for their third straight crown and their 12th in the history of the league. Of the two teams expected to be their closest contenders, the Mules host Johns Hopkins in a Friday night game coming off their bye week on October 15 and travel to Susquehanna, with whom they've gone to overtime each of the last two meetings, on November 6.

The D3football preseason ranking is the second straight for the Mules, who were eighth in the 2019 preseason poll. Muhlenberg has received votes in the D3football.com preseason poll six times in the last seven years, and its No. 13 preseason ranking was topped only in 2019 and 2008 (eighth both times).

Of the 25 teams in the poll, 12 played games during the Covid-altered 2020-21 school year; Muhlenberg did not. Mary Hardin-Baylor tops the D3football.com preseason poll, while the two teams who knocked the Mules out of the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, Mount Union and defending national champion North Central, are second and third, respectively. Two teams Muhlenberg defeated on the road on its last two NCAA runs are ranked higher - Salisbury at No. 8 and Delaware Valley at No. 12, while Johns Hopkins (41) and Susquehanna (22) received votes.

Muhlenberg is scheduled to open its season with a home game against The College of New Jersey on Saturday, September 4.