We begin our season previews with the team picked by the coaches to win the conference in 2012. In the closest pre-season poll in recent years, Greenville got the nod over St. Scholastica by a mere 1 point and edged out Westminster by only 3. The Panthers achieved the well-deserved top spot after finishing their 2011 campaign with 7 straight victories including a 27 point 4th quarter comeback against the Eagles of Northwestern College. The question for Greenville entering the 2012 season is will they be able to make the leap from a good team to a great team and emerge as the winner from a conference with no clear cut favorite.
The Panthers offense boasts one of the most prolific rushing attacks in all of DIII. Last year's team averaged over 500 yards per game with 342 of them coming on the ground. With starting quarterback Brendan Chambers returning for his junior season alongside veteran running backs Bobby Hughley and Manny Gamble the sky seems to be the limit on this offense. They will certainly miss first team all-conference players Demontrez Simongton and Jeremy Burrows, however they should be able to reload with young talent at those positions. The biggest question mark on this team will be on the defensive end. The Panthers only return 5 starters from a defense that was average at best. With head coach Ordell Walker taking control of the defense once again Greenville hopes to shore up what could be the one potential chink in their armor.
Prediction - Will the Panthers be able to avoid the slow start they had last year and hit the ground running as they play arguably their most important game of the season in only week 3 on the road against St. Scholastica? If Greenville can pull out a tough road win against Scholastica in week 3 they look primed to roll to a conference title. However, Greenville does face what looks to be one of the toughest schedules in the conference. They have to begin conference play with two long road trips to Scholastica and Morris. Their schedule lightens up significantly in the middle before they finish with two more tough road games at Westminster and at Northwestern - two other teams that look to compete for the conference title. Overall, it is unlikely that Greenville emerges from conference play undefeated. Their schedule appears too tough for that. However, an 8-1 conference record will probably be good enough to win a very evenly matched conference and that certainly seems to be a possibility for this team. Look for the Panthers to be atop the UMAC standings at the end of the season once again.
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