Southeastern Oklahoma has been picked as North Division favorite and Abilene Christian was selected as South Division frontrunner, according to the 2007 Lone Star Conference preseason polls announced Monday.

      The league's preseason polls reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.

      The 2007 football season kicks off in late August, and the LSC has 13 teams set to compete.  Each team will play a total of nine countable conference games. Divisional champions will be determined by only those games against division opponents, while the overall league champion will be determined by the overall nine-game conference record, which will include division games plus designated crossover contests.

NORTH DIVISION

      Southeastern Oklahoma has been selected as the favorite to win its third straight Lone Star Conference North Division title, according to the annual preseason poll.

      SOSU, which has claimed at least a share of the past three LSC North titles, received first-place votes on 10 of the 17 ballots cast by LSC coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives.

      The Savage Storm, which has a 36-15 overall record in the past five seasons, tallied 88 total points in the poll to finish in front of rival Southwestern Oklahoma.

      SWOSU, 6-5 overall and 3-2 in divisional play last year, garnered five first-place votes along with five second-place tallies to finish with 79 points.  Texas A&M-Commerce (62), Northeastern State (54), Central Oklahoma (53) and East Central (21) rounded out the poll.

SOUTH DIVISION

      Abilene Christian, coming off an 8-3 season in 2006 that included the program's first trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs, has been selected as the Lone Star Conference South Division favorite for 2007, according to the annual preseason poll released Monday by league officials.

      ACU, which started the 2006 campaign with seven straight wins, was the voters' choice despite dropping three of four games to finish the season including a 30-27 overtime decision to West Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

      The Wildcats had the most first-place (12) and second-place (6) votes in the poll, finishing with 128 points to top a competitive South Division field in the balloting of LSC head coaches, sports information directors and various media representatives.

      Midwestern State, which went 10-3 last year, earned two first-place votes and finished with 106 points to end up second in the poll.  Tarleton State was third with 104 points, while reigning LSC South Division and LSC overall champion WTAMU was fourth with 100 points.  Texas A&M-Kingsville was fifth with 49 points, followed by Angelo State 42 and Eastern New Mexico 31. 

 

South Division	1st	TOTAL
1.       Abilene Christian	12	128
2.       Midwestern State	2	106
3.       Tarleton State	4	104
4.       West Texas A&M	2	100
5.       Texas A&M-Kingsville		49
6.       Angelo State		42
7.       Eastern New Mexico		31

 

North Division		1st	TOTAL
1.  Southeastern Oklahoma		10	88
2.  Southwestern Oklahoma		5	79
3.  Texas A&M-Commerce		1	62
4.  Northeastern State		1	54
5.  Central Oklahoma			53
6.  East Central			21