Complete FCS Coaches Poll
Jacksonville State has been tabbed ninth and three other OVC schools are receiving votes in the preseason Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches Top 25 Poll released on Monday.
The Gamecocks, who finished last season ranked 12th nationally, were the only OVC team in the Top 25 although defending champion Southeast Missouri State (unofficially 28th with 68 points), Murray State (unofficially 31st with 50 points) and Eastern Kentucky (unofficially 33rd with 41 points) also received at least one vote in the poll which includes two head coaches from each FCS Conference.
The poll nearly mirrored the Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 which was released last Monday; that poll also had Jacksonville State ranked ninth and had Southeast Missouri, Murray State and Eastern Kentucky receiving votes (Tennessee Tech and UT Martin also received votes in the Sports Network poll but did not receive any in the coaches poll). In that poll Southeast Missouri was unofficially 28th, Murray State was 29th and Eastern Kentucky was 36th.
Jacksonville State was ranked as high as No. 2 in the national polls last season on its way to a 6-2 OVC mark (second place) and 9-3 season. The Gamecocks received an at-large berth into the FCS Playoffs and lost by three points to No. 6-ranked Wofford. This season Jax State was picked the OVC preseason favorites for the third time in the last four years. The team returns 51 letterwinners and 13 total starters including five preseason All-OVC selections. Among the team's top newcomers is former Georgia running back Washaun Ealey who rushed for 1,528 yards and 14 touchdowns in two seasons with the Bulldogs.
Southeast Missouri finished last year 9-3 overall and 7-1 in the OVC as the Redhawks won its first OVC Championship and made its first playoff appearance at any level of football in its 104-year history. The team would go on to lose at eventual national champion Eastern Washington in the second round of the FCS Playoffs and along the way head coach Tony Samuel took home the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award. This season the team returns 40 letterwinners from last season including five defensive starters. Among the returning offensive starters is senior quarterback Matt Scheible who was a first-team All-OVC pick last year.
After being predicted last in the OVC in 2010, Murray State was tabbed second this season after a 6-5 overall and 5-3 campaign in the league in 2010 under first-year head coach Chris Hatcher. Hatcher brings his "Hatch Attack" spread offense back for year No. 2 this season and has 10 offensive and nine defensive starters back. Among those returning players is junior quarterback Casey Brockman who is one of 20 players on the Walter Payton Award Watch List (he award is given to the top offensive player in the FCS).
Eastern Kentucky was picked third in the OVC preseason poll after tying for second in the standings with a 5-2 OVC record in 2010. After starting last season 0-3, the Colonels won six of its final eight games and this season returns nine offensive and seven defensive starters including seven total players who were named to the Preseason All-OVC team this year. Among the team's returning players is senior defensive back/return specialist Jeremy Caldwell who is one of 20 players on the preseason Buck Buchanan Award Watch List (the award is given to the top defensive player at the FCS level).
Defending National Champion Eastern Washington was No. 1 in the preseason FCS Coaches poll; the Eagles received 23 of the 28 first-votes in the poll. Appalachian State (1 first-place vote), Georgia Southern (3) and William & Mary (1) were the other schools to receive at least one first-place vote.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.