Mountaineers look to win fifth consecutive SoCon football title
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Following the lead of the league’s coaches on Monday, the media members who cover Southern Conference football have selected Appalachian State as the overwhelming favorite to capture the conference championship in 2009.
The Mountaineers (429 points) received 46-of-48 first-place votes in the balloting, placing a wide gap between themselves and second place Elon (360).
ASU is gunning for its fifth straight SoCon championship, a feat that would put the Mountaineers in rare company, as only Georgia Southern (1997-2002) has won a share of at least five straight conference titles in the league’s 89-year history.
Elon, the league’s third-place finisher in 2008 at 6-2, was selected to finish second, and the Phoenix grabbed one first-place vote.
Following Elon in third was Wofford (326), a team which has reached the FCS playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
Georgia Southern (275) received the final first-place vote and was picked to finish fourth by the media voters.
Furman (260) and Samford (194) were fifth and sixth, respectively, while The Citadel (165), Western Carolina (94) and Chattanooga (57) completed the rankings.
The 2009 Southern Conference football season begins on Thursday, Sept. 3 when Chattanooga entertains Glenville State at Finley Stadium at 7 p.m. The first SoCon game of the season is Saturday, Sept. 12 when Furman travels to face Chattanooga at 6 p.m. Western Carolina visits Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19 to kick off the SoCon Saturday broadcast package on SportSouth.
2009 SoCon Football Preseason Media Poll
Place School (First-place votes) Points
1. Appalachian State (46) 429
2. Elon (1) 360
3. Wofford 326
4. Georgia Southern (1) 275
5. Furman 260
6. Samford 194
7. The Citadel 165
8. Western Carolina 94
9. Chattanooga 57