The Wildcat football team is ranked No. 10 in the country in the latest American Football Coaches’ Association pre-season poll released on Monday.
The Wildcats were picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference this season. The team received 367 points in the poll, good enough to finish in the top 10. They are just behind No. 9 Winston-Salem State, N.C. which had 386 points and ahead of No.11 California, Pa. (347 points).
The defending national champion Pittsburg State University (Kan.) Gorillas earned the No. 1 spot in the AFCA poll with 21 of a possible 30 first-place votes. Pittsburg had 720 total points. The University of Minnesota-Duluth is No. 2 in the poll with five first-place votes and 661 total points.
Midwestern State University, the defending LSC champion, is No. 4 in the poll and is this year’s favorite to win the conference. Northwest Missouri State University is No. 3 and 2011 national runner-up Wayne State University (Mich.) is No. 5.
The only other LSC team ranked in the pre-season poll is rival West Texas A&M University at No. 24 in the country. Texas A&M University-Kingsville and Tarleton State University however, did receive votes.
The ‘Cats begin their season at home on Saturday, Sept. 1 against McMurry University, who was just accepted into the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). The War Hawks will compete on the NCCAA’s Division I level. The game is at 6 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 16 in the usacollegefootball.com pre-season poll, also released on Monday. Pittsburg State is No. 1 in that poll followed by Winston-Salem at No. 2, Wayne State at No. 3 and Minnesota-Duluth in the fourth spot. Midwestern is No. 6 and West Texas A&M is ranked No. 19.
The same website announced its pre-season all-America team. It includes senior quarterback Mitchell Gale and senior placekicker Morgan Lineberry both on the first team.
ACU’s first full pad practice is Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. Two-a-days start on Wednesday with another 8:30 a.m. practice followed by a 4 p.m. workout.
