JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman football received votes and is four spots out of the top 25 in the preseason American Football Coaches Association poll.
This marks the first year since 2012 that the Eagles have started out the season unranked in the AFCA poll.
After taking back-to-back losses in weeks nine and 10 last year to Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry last season, Carson-Newman fell out of both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls. It marked the first time in 27 weeks that the Eagles were unranked. The streak began in 2012 when Carson-Newman entered the final poll of the regular season with a 66-36 win over archrival Tusculum.
Carson-Newman was ranked 17th in the 2013 preseason AFCA coaches poll and 16th in the preseason poll last year.
Among South Atlantic Conference competition, C-N and Lenoir-Rhyne are the only two schools to receive votes. The four-time SAC champion Bears start out the year ranked 10th in the country.
Among Super Region II programs, West Georgia (3), L-R (10), Delta State (14), North Alabama (15), Valdosta State (16) and Tuskegee (RV – 27) all rank in front of the 29th-ranked Eagles.
Carson-Newman opens up the season Sept. 3 under the lights of Burke-Tarr Stadium against the NAIA's University of the Cumberlands at 7 p.m. Coverage for the contest will be available at cneagles.com/live with a free high definition stream as well as over the air on the Eagle Sports Network on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville).
Rank School (1st votes) Rec. Pts. Rank* Season Opener Head Coach
1. Minnesota St.-Mankato (9) 14-1 751 2 Sept. 3 vs. No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth Todd Hoffner
2. Colorado St.-Pueblo (16) 14-1 747 1 Sept. 5 vs. Central Washington John Wristen
3. Minnesota-Duluth (3) 13-1 648 3 Sept. 3 at No. 1 Minnesota St.-Mankato Curt Wiese
4. West Georgia (3) 12-3 632 6 Sept. 5 at Catawba (N.C.) Will Hall
5. Northwest Missouri St. (1) 10-2 623 14 Sept. 3 at Nebraska-Kearney Adam Dorrel
6. Ferris St. (Mich.) 11-1 601 11 Sept. 12 vs. Northwood (Mich.) Tony Annese
7. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 11-2 557 7 Sept. 3 at Northeastern St. (Okla.) Tim Beck
8. Ohio Dominican 11-2 526 4 Sept. 3 at Malone (Ohio) Bill Conley
9. Concord (W.Va.) 13-1 477 5 Sept. 5 at West Liberty (W.Va.) Garin Justice
10. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 11-1 431 8 Sept. 3 at No. 22 West Chester (Pa.) Ian Shields
11. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 11-2 422 12 Sept. 5 vs. Stonehill (Mass.) Paul Darragh
12. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 10-1 381 9 Sept. 3 at East Central (Okla.) Todd Knight
13. Angelo St. (Texas) 9-3 376 20 Sept. 3 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle St. Will Wagner
14. Delta St. (Miss.) 9-2 369 13 Sept. 3 vs. Fort Valley St. (Ga.) Todd Cooley
15. North Alabama 9-2 358 16 Sept. 6 vs. Miles (Ala.) Bobby Wallace
16. Valdosta St. (Ga.) 10-3 286 10 Sept. 5 at Albany St. (Ga.) David Dean
17. Sioux Falls (S.D.) 11-1 277 18 Sept. 5 vs. Mary (N.D.) Jed Stugart
18. Colorado School of Mines 10-2 189 19 Sept. 5 vs. South Dakota School of Mines Gregg Brandon
19. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 10-1 175 23 Sept. 3 at West Texas A&M Victor Santa Cruz
20. Winston-Salem St. (N.C.) 9-2 142 24 Sept. 3 at North Carolina-Pembroke Kienus Boulware
21. Harding (Ark.) 9-2 129 17 Sept. 5 at Oklahoma Baptist Ronnie Huckeba
22. Texas A&M-Commerce 9-3 127 NR Sept. 3 vs. Adams St. (Colo.) Colby Carthel
23. West Chester (Pa.) 11-2 125 15 Sept. 3 vs. No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) Bill Zwaan
24. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 6-5 119 NR Sept. 3 vs. Southwest Baptist (Mo.) Matt Mitchell
25. Slippery Rock (Pa.) 9-3 111 NR Sept. 5 at New Haven (Conn.) Dr. George Mihalik
*– Ranking in final AFCA Division II Poll of 2014
Others Receiving Votes: Indianapolis (Ind.), 109; Tuskegee (Ala.), 101; Michigan Tech, 64; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 63; Ashland (Ohio), 56; Gannon (Pa.), 46; Shepherd (W.Va.), 46; West Texas A&M, 44; Virginia St., 41; Midwestern St. (Texas), 39; Albany St. (Ga.), 37; Central Missouri, 37; Henderson St. (Ark.), 28; American International (Mass.), 24; North Carolina-Pembroke, 12; Wayne St. (Mich.), 12; Central Washington, 11; Tarleton St. (Texas), 11; California (Pa.), 7; Charleston (W.Va.), 6; Truman St. (Mo.), 6; Central Oklahoma, 5; St. Cloud State (Minn.), 4; Humboldt St. (Calif.), 3; LIU-Post (N.Y.), 3; East Central (Okla.), 2; Newberry (S.C.), 2; Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 1; Southeastern Oklahoma St., 1.