Written by: Danny Talbert
LaGrange College football team gets placed seven out of nine in the USA South Athletic Conference football coaches preseason poll. Since 2003, the USA South releases a preseason football coaches poll where the nine conference Head Coaches get together to cast their opinion on who they think will be the best. The coaches rank the teams one through eight (excluding their own team) with first place getting eight points, second getting seven points, and so on.
The team receiving the most points in this year's poll is the 2022 conference champions, Huntingdon College. They are followed by Belhaven University and Maryville College to close out the top three. The full rankings can be found at usasouth.net.
While preseason polls are not always correct, it allows fans and teams to see what the coaches of the conference think of the upcoming season. In the past 19 years of this poll, the team picked to win has taken home the championship 11 times. In contrast, the team picked second has won the conference championship four times. As mentioned, the poll is not always right. Over 20% of the preseason polls did not pick the would-be conference champion first or second throughout its 19-year history. Also, with LaGrange College having a completely new staff, it is a guess based on last year's 1-9 season.
The Panthers look to push to the top, starting with their first game on Sep. 9th at 6 p.m. in Callaway Stadium.
