Wildcats picked 7th in LSC poll
10/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ACU picked seventh in poll
Wildcats picked to finish last in rugged LSC South Division
RICHARDSON -- The ACU men's basketball team has been picked to finish seventh in the rugged Lone Star Conference South Division, according to the league's annual pre-season poll.
The Wildcats, who finished 8-19 overall and 1-11 in the LSC South Division last season under former head coach Klint Pleasant, will be under the direction of first-year head coach Jason Copeland in 2005-06. Copeland is the Wildcats' fourth different head coach since the 1998-99 season, and during that six-year stretch the Wildcats are 58-101 overall. ACU hasn't reached the LSC Post-Season Tournament since the 1997-98 season.
ACU collected 33 points in the poll, 10 points behind sixth-place finisher Angelo State, which collected just 43 points in the poll. Tarleton State -- which is back in the LSC South Division this season after three years in the LSC North Division --was the overwhelming choice to win the division championship. The Texans, who won the NCAA Division II South Central Region title last year on their way to reaching the Division II Final Four, picked up 15 first-place votes and 122 total points in the poll.
The Texans, the pre-season No. 1 team in the nation according to Street & Smith magazine, finished 20 points ahead of runner-up Midwestern State, which picked up two first-place votes and 102 points. West Texas A&M finished third with 87 points, followed by Texas A&M-Kingsville with 70 points and Eastern New Mexico in fifth with 47 points.
In the LSC North Division pre-season poll, Texas A&M-Commerce -- which switched divisions permanently starting this season -- is the pick to win the division title. The Lions, who won the LSC South Division title and the overall LSC title in 2004-05, picked up 14 of 18 first-place votes and had 119 points to runner-up Central Oklahoma's 110 points.
