HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team was ranked No. 21 in the Stats Perform Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Top 25, which was released on Tuesday.
All 13 FCS conferences have postponed league play to the spring. Southeastern will participate in a conference-only schedule during what projects to be the most exciting spring in SLU Athletics history.
The Lions finished 8-5 overall a season ago and finished ranked nationally in both the final Stats Perform Top 25 (No. 19) and FCS Coaches (No. 18) polls. SLU opened its third trip to the FCS playoffs in program history with a thrilling 45-44 come-from-behind first-round win at home over No. 8 Villanova.
The visiting Wildcats were one of three top 10 opponents Southeastern defeated in 2019, along with Jacksonville State and Central Arkansas – both ranked No. 6 at the time they played SLU. The Lions return 11 starters from last year’s team, including the top three receivers from one of the nation’s most prolific scoring and passing offenses.
SLU is one of four Southland Conference schools in the preseason Top 25, along with Central Arkansas (No. 11), Nicholls (No. 14) and Sam Houston State (No. 22). League foes Houston Baptist, UIW and McNeese were among those receiving votes. Three-time defending national champion North Dakota State was the unanimous No. 1 choice in the poll.
Stats Perform 2020 FCS Preseason Top 25
1. North Dakota State – 3,675 points (147 first-place votes)
2. James Madison – 3,411
3. Northern Iowa – 3,269
4. Weber State – 3,198
5. South Dakota State – 2,911
6. Montana State – 2,884
7. Montana – 2,753
8. Villanova – 2,499
9. Illinois State – 2,471
10. Kennesaw State – 2,178
11. Central Arkansas – 2,093
12. Sacramento State – 2,085
13. Austin Peay – 2,030
14. Nicholls – 1,392
15. Furman – 1,239
16. Wofford – 1,089
17. Albany – 825
18. Eastern Washington – 817
19. North Carolina A&T – 809
20. New Hampshire – 759
21. Southeastern Louisiana – 652
22. Sam Houston State – 597
23. Monmouth – 577
24. Southern Illinois – 568
25. Southeast Missouri – 499
Others Receiving Votes: Jacksonville State 357, Florida A&M 301, The Citadel 283, Central Connecticut State 200, Towson 199, Dartmouth 195, Delaware 193, Yale 193, Princeton 143, San Diego 104, North Dakota 66, South Carolina State 25, Alcorn State 22, Houston Baptist 19, Richmond 18, Chattanooga 16, Elon 15, Holy Cross 15, UIW 15, UT Martin 14, Portland State 12, Youngstown State 12, McNeese 10, UC Davis 9, Maine 7, Duquesne 5, Charleston Southern 4, Eastern Kentucky 2.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets.
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