ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats are ranked in the top 25 in the first two NCAA Division II football pre-season polls of the season.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in the nation according to
Lindy's magazine, while
The Sporting News has the Wildcats at No. 15 in the nation. Four-time defending national runner-up Northwest Missouri State is ranked No. 1 in the nation by
Lindy's with Grand Valley State ranked No. 2, while
The Sporting News has Grand Valley State at No. 1 with Northwest Missouri State at No. 2.
ACU's Lone Star Conference South Division rival, West Texas A&M, is ranked No. 12 in the
Lindy's pre-season poll, but the Buffs are not ranked by
The Sporting News. Besides ACU, the only other LSC team ranked by
The Sporting News is Central Oklahoma, which checks in at a surprising No. 9 in the nation. The Bronchos won their last seven games of the 2008 season to win the LSC North Division title.
ACU finished 11-1 last season and won the program's first outright Lone Star Conference championship since 1973 and first LSC title since it shared the title in 1977. The Wildcats return five offensive starters and eight defensive starters from last year's team, which reached the NCAA Division II quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Wildcats will open the season at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 27, against Northwest Missouri State in a game that will be nationally broadcast on CBS College Sports.
