Photo by: John Williamson
Wildcats in top 6 in two polls
8/17/2009 11:45:14 PM | Football
ABILENE – Next Thursday's season-opener between ACU and Northwest Missouri State will officially be a battle of top-five teams after the American Football Coaches' Association pre-season poll was released Monday.
The Bearcats – who reached their fourth straight NCAA Division II national championship game last year – are ranked No. 2 in the nation, while the Wildcats are ranked No. 5 in the country. Grand Valley State (Mich.) will begin the season ranked No. 1 in the nation for the sixth time in its history.
The Wildcats and Bearcats met twice last year with both teams ranked in the top 10 at the time of each game. On Aug. 30, No. 8 ACU went to Maryville, Mo., and rallied to beat then-No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, 44-27.
But on Nov. 29, the No. 3 Bearcats made their way down to Abilene and knocked off No. 2 ACU, 45-36, in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Wildcats and Bearcats will get the 2009 season started Thursday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. when ACU hosts Northwest at Shotwell Stadium in a game that will be nationally televised on CBS College Sports. KRBC will also pick up the feed locally for those fans in Abilene and the surrounding area who don't have CBS College Sports.
The Lakers of Grand Valley State – who finished 11-1 in 2008, but return a bevy of offensive stars – received 12 first-place votes and 601 total points, while the Bearcats received four first-place votes and 575 points for the No. 2 spot in the poll.
Defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth opens the season at No. 3 in the nation after receiving eight first-place votes and 552 total points. Gulf South Conference champion Delta State (Miss.) is No. 4 in the pre-season poll with 538 points, while ACU is fifth with one first-place vote and 495 total points. North Alabama – under the direction of new head coach Terry Bodwen – opens the season at No. 6 in the nation.
West Texas A&M and Central Oklahoma were the only other Lone Star Conference schools in the AFCA pre-season poll, checking in at No. 11 and No. 16, respectively. Just like ACU, both of those teams will take on top-10 in their first games of the season. On Aug. 29, the Buffaloes will host No. 1 Grand Valley State in Canyon, while the Bronchos will be in Pittsburg, Kan., to take on No. 7 Pittsburg State.
In the d2football.com poll, Northwest Missouri State is ranked No. 2 in the nation behind Grand Valley State with ACU checking in at No. 6 in the nation and West Texas A&M at No. 12.
Senior offensive tackle Tony Washington was selected a first team pre-season all-America by d2football.com, while junior offensive tackle Trevis Turner was selected to the second team. Two other LSC players were named to the pre-season all-America team: West Texas A&M offensive tackle J'Marcus Webb (first team) and Texas A&M-Kingsville defensive lineman Jimmy Saddler-McQueen (second team).
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Sunday, September 27
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