LSC South Division poll

And now for the LSC South Division poll. Don't forget, ACU has been picked to win the LSC South in each of the last three years (2007, 2008 and 2009), winning the LSC title in 2008:

1. West Texas A&M (9)            105
2. Abilene Christian (3)            103
3. Midwestern State (3)              91
4. Tarleton State (2)                   87
5. Texas A&M-Kingsville (2)   84
6. Angelo State                          42
7. Incarnate Word                      20

Defensive Pre-Season Player of the Year -- Aston Whiteside, DE, Abilene Christian
Offensive Pre-Season Player of the Year -- Zack Eskridge, QB, Incarnate Word

Mike Santiago, UIW head coach:  "We're very proud to be part of this great conference.  Last year we were very young.  This year we are seasoned sophomores.  Noticed a lot of guys were welcoming us and anxious to see us and I'm sure they are.  But this is a good football team we're putting together.  They grew up dramatically last year.  To win five football games last year was dramatic.  But this year the challenge is dramatically different.  But it's one our players are looking forward to taking on."

Dale Carr, Angelo State head coach:  "This is the team that we've been building toward for five seasons.  Don't know that we have a chink in our armor.  We're telling our guys that this year could be like last year in that I don't know that anyone will go through the LSC South undefeated.  If we can make the playoffs I think we can make a deep run in the playoffs.  There's a lot of excitement surrounding Angelo State football right now."

Bo Atterberry, Kingsville head coach:  "Good thing it's a pre-season poll because fifth place won't work in Kingsville, Texas."

Cary Fowler, Tarleton State head coach:  "I'm very excited to be here today as the head coach at Tarleton State.  We're very excited at Tarleton and we have high expectations.  Our tradition is that we're a hard-hitting, physical football team and we're going to try and live up to that."

Bill Maskill, Midwestern State head coach:  "There's seven teams in the LSC South that could win the league.  This is the strongest this league has been in my time here.  Anytime you have a returning quarterback like we have in Zack (Eskridge) you have a chance to win a lot of games.  We've had to re-tool our defense and we'll be young on that side of the ball.  But I think we'll get better as the season goes along."

Chris Thomsen, ACU head coach:  "We believe we've got a really good team coming back, but when you look around this room you see a lot of great teams.  Almost our entire front seven is returning and we feel good about those guys.  We've got to re-tool our secondary and we'll feel really good about our defense.  Offensively we've got almost everyone back and we're really excited about the development and progress those guys have shown."

Don Carthel, West Texas A&M head coach:  "I found out a lot about the Buffaloes last year, and I know going into this season that this is the highest-character group I've ever coached.  The depth and experience we have is by far more than we've ever had before.  I'm really excited about coaching these guys.  I think this will be the year a team from the Lone Star Conference makes a strong move toward winning a regional and national championship."