College Football: Rating the Rankings

Bobcats ranked in four preseason polls

By Tyler Mayforth

Last year, the Texas State football team stepped back into the national spotlight after a two-year hiatus.

The Bobcats were in the second year under head coach Brad Wright and seemed to gel as the season progressed. Wright instructed the team to ignore any pressure from outside sources and go about work as usual.

Texas State surpassed expectations, finishing 8-4 and winning the Southland Conference title outright. The team advanced to the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, where its road ended.

“You sit back and realize that it’s the first outright conference championship in 25 years,” Wright said. “You really don’t have that much time to enjoy it because the next thing you know, the guys were gone. We had the shirts made (with the 2008 SLC Champions on the sleeves), but it’s not good after the season starts.”

Now a year removed from the success of 2008, the Bobcats are finding themselves getting deserved respect.

Texas State’s found itself ranked in the Top 25 of several preseason polls by different outlets. The Bobcats are as high as sixth in Lindy’s, 16th according to FCS Now and 22nd in Athlon.

“Obviously it’s great to be recognized and you want your school to be recognized, but the main thing is where we end up,” Wright said. “We can spend all the time patting ourselves on the back where these preseason rankings have us, but you can drop out of those rankings in just a couple weeks.”

Texas State is the highest-ranked SLC team in Lindy’s, while it’s second in the others. Pollsters have taken a liking to Central Arkansas as well as McNeese State.

The Bobcats, like the Bears and Cowboys, are set up for success.

Texas State returns five starters on offense and six on defense. Bradley George is back to guide the Bobcats’ offense and that’s good news for his teammates.

George excelled last season after returning to the starting role against Texas Southern. The 27-year-old quarterback passed for 2,660 yards and 26 touchdowns last season, while displaying a precision-like accuracy, throwing only six interceptions.

“What he showed from that Texas Southern game on was that he could get the job done,” Wright said of George. “He grew up a whole bunch and that’s what you want to see going forward out of a quarterback.”

While the Texas State offense is among the best in the nation, questions still remain about the defense.

If the Bobcats expect to have any lengthened success, they’ll need to lock down in the trenches. One of the only things separating Texas State from being a No. 1 team (other than Appalachian State) is its defense.

The Bobcats were run into the ground by UCA and Northwestern State in the regular season and then trampled by Montana in the playoffs. Texas State has another year under its belt with defensive coordinator Fred Bleil, so the familiarity can only help.

“During the season we were adding stuff that these guys had never seen before,” Wright said. “We taught it to them during the week, hoping they’d be ready with it on the weekend. Where as right now, the spring was a review.”

Ultimately, it will be a team effort on the field, as the offense can put up as many points as it wishes, yet the defense needs to make sure the opposition doesn’t outscore them.

Wright said all he hopes is the team is ready to take the next step forward to becoming a winning program.

“What we did last year was start to break a tradition of losing,” Wright said. “That senior class had a lot to do with it. I just hope these seniors take it amongst themselves to continue the trend of winning here. That begins in August.”



Any Given Saturday Poll

Team, (first place votes), total

1. Richmond (59) 2338

2. Appalachian State (20) 2292

3. Montana (5) 2154

4. Villanova (11) 2152

5. Northern Iowa (2) 2011

6. James Madison (1) 1746

7. Southern Illinois 1703

8. New Hampshire 1695

9. Weber State 1692

10. Elon 1398

11. Wofford 1326

12. Cal Poly 1159

13. William & Mary 1105

14. Central Arkansas 1034

15. Maine 841

16. McNeese State 687

17. South Carolina State 617

18. Massachusetts 602

19. Eastern Washington 538

20. Delaware 409

21. South Dakota State 397

22. Furman 386

23. Texas State 323

24. Georgia Southern 311

25. Montana State 306



FCS Now Preseason Poll

Team, (first place votes) points

1. Appalachian State (29) 1760

2. Richmond (27) 1756

3. Villanova (15) 1669

4. Northern Iowa (1) 1615

5. Montana (2) 1589

6. New Hampshire 1362

7. Weber State (1) 1308

8. James Madison 1212

9. Southern Illinois 1192

10. Elon 1089

11. Wofford 1079

12. South Carolina State 1072

13. McNeese State 961

14. South Dakota State 898

15. Eastern Washington 794

16. Texas State 627

17. Maine 610

18. Jacksonville State 507

19. Cal Poly 489

20. William & Mary 410

21. Central Arkansas 303

22. Holy Cross 298

23. Albany 178

24. Grambling State 176

25. Montana State 144



Athlon Sports FCS Top 25

Team

1. Appalachian State

2. Richmond

3. Northern Iowa

4. Villanova

5. James Madison

6. Montana

7. Weber State

8. Southern Illinois

9. New Hampshire

10. Wofford

11. William & Mary

12. South Carolina State

13. Jacksonville State

14. Elon

15. Massachusetts

16. Central Arkansas

17. Maine

18. Holy Cross

19. Cal Poly

20. Tennessee-Martin

21. Grambling State

22. Texas State

23. Harvard

24. Georgia Southern

25. Eastern Washington



Lindy’s Preseason Poll

Team

1. Appalachian State

2. Richmond

3. Montana

4. Northern Iowa

5. Villanova

6. Texas State

7. James Madison

8. Central Arkansas

9. Weber St.

10. New Hampshire

11. South Dakota State

12. Southern Illinois

13. Tennessee-Martin

14. Elon

15. Jacksonville State

16. William & Mary

17. Eastern Washington

18. Coastal Carolina

19. McNeese State

20. Georgia Southern

21. Holy Cross

22. Harvard

23. South Carolina State

24. Florida A&M;

25. Delaware

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