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[July 31, 2007] MAGNOLIA, Ark. – North Alabama has been picked to defend its 2006 Gulf South Conference football championship, gaining the top spot from the league’s coaches in the annual GSC Pre-Season football poll released today (Tuesday).It’s the second consecutive year that the Lions received top billing from the league’s coaches, garnering 95 total points behind six first-place votes. UNA placed ahead of Valdosta State (89) with three first-place nods, and Delta State (84) and Henderson State (75) with one each. Only two points separates the next three schools with Harding getting 56 for fifth place, Arkansas Tech 55 in sixth, and West Alabama seventh with 54. Southern Arkansas received five votes for seventh, three for eighth, and two for ninth to total 33 points for eighth place in the poll. West Georgia (30) is ninth, Ouachita Baptist (19) 10th, and Arkansas-Monticello (15) 11th. In national publications, North Alabama is ranked fourth in Street & Smith’s and 16th in Lindy’s magazine. Street & Smith’s places Delta State eighth and Valdosta State 22nd, and Lindy’s has DSU seventh, VSU eighth, Arkansas Tech 21st, and Henderson State 23rd. As with the pre-season poll, the GSC football coaches also select the conference pre-season team, which includes 15 players named to last year’s All-Conference First Team and 10 from the Second Team. Delta State leads the way with eight honorees, Valdosta State has seven, North Alabama five, and Henderson State has three which rounds out the schools with multiple honorees. The Muleriders had no players listed on the Pre-Season All-GSC team, but had three athletes mentioned among the 2007 Top Newcomers, freshman defensive back Myron Caraway from Dallas (Molina HS) Texas; junior linebacker Steven Dauenhauer of Bay St. Louis, La., and Pearl River (Miss.) College; and junior defensive back Clarence Wright from Olive Branch, Miss., and Northeast Mississippi College. #SAU# |
