The Big Three in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference may have a visitor this season.

Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg and Thomas More have dominated the top spots in the conference for several years and W&J is the favorite again this season.

But lurking not far behind those perennial powers is a school quietly building a potent roster.

Grove City College.

The Wolverines have one of the most athletic rosters in coach Chris Smith’s three decades at the helm.

“The luxury that it gives you is competition,” Smith said. “And that competition makes everyone better. It also gives you the knowledge you can absorb a couple of bumps and bruises.”

Quarterback Brian Pell absorbed his fair share of bumps and bruises last season. When he was healthy, Pell was a playmaker.

That’s something the Wolverines will need to keep pace with the Big Three.

Grove City is picked to finish fourth in the conference.

“Fourth is where I thought they would pick us,” Smith said. “That’s OK because, to be very honest, preseason picking is, one, you don’t know and, two, no one remembers.”

W&J is once again picked to win the conference title after going 7-1 and earning a share of first place with Waynesburg.

“We expect to win and we’re a confident team,” said W&J coach Mike Siriani. “With that being said, our league is so deep from top to bottom. We are very aware of how difficult it is to repeat.”

The Presidents return preseason All-American wide receiver Alex Baroffio and running back Dion Wiegand to an offense that should be very potent.

Thomas More, which finished 6-2 in PAC last season, is predicted to finish second behind a defense that is led by standout senior linebacker Alex Taylor and defensive linemen Erick Butler and Tyler Combs.

Waynesburg is picked third. Junior Carter Hill returns at quarterback and will be buoyed by an offensive line that returns standout Rob Kingerski.

Behind Grove City are a slew of teams that could also make some noise.

Thiel College went 3-7 overall and 3-5 last season, but was picked to finish eighth in the conference.

Returning on the defensive line for the Tomcats is Freeport graduate Cody McClelland.

The junior had six sacks and seven tackles for a loss last season. Strangely, he is also Thiel’s punter and kick off specialist. He averaged 36.7 yards per punt.

McClelland also completed one pass for five yards.