Wildcats tabbed for 7th-place finish in Southland

LAKE CHARLES, La. – ACU, which finished 4-4 in the Southland Conference last year in the program's first season back in the league since 1972, has been picked to finish seventh in the league in 2015, according to polls released Wednesday at the league's annual Media Day at the L'Auberge Resort.

The Wildcats were 6-6 overall last season and finished tied for sixth in head coach Ken Collums' third season at the helm of the program. ACU was picked to finish seventh in both the coaches' poll and the sports information directors' polls. In the coaches' poll, ACU received 49 points to finish seventh, and in the SID poll ACU received 48 points to finish seventh.

Sam Houston State, which won its sixth league title last season, was picked as the favorite in both polls to win the league title. The Bearkats received eight first-place votes and 98 points in the coaches' poll and nine first-place votes and 99 points in the SID poll. Southeastern Louisiana, co-champions with Sam Houston State last year, earned one first-place vote from the coaches, along with McNeese State and Central Arkansas. In the SID poll, the Cowboys and Bears split the remaining two first-place votes. Coaches and SIDs could not vote for their own team.

The Bearkats, who posted a 7-1 mark in conference play last season, return 21 starters and 54 lettermen, including pre-season first team all-conference quarterback Jared Johnson and sophomore defensive end P.J. Hall, the reigning conference Freshman of the Year. The Bearkats reached the national semifinals last season for the third time in the last four seasons.

Southeastern Louisiana, which advanced to the NCAA Division I playoffs for the second straight season in 2014, was picked second in the coaches' poll (86 points) and third in the SID poll (77 points). the Lions return 13 starters and 46 letter winners to a team that shred the league crown with a 7-1 record.

Stephen F. Austin, which tied for third last season at 5-3, was tabbed to finish second by the SIDs (87 points) and fourth by the coaches (73 points). The Lumberjacks, who returned to the post-season last year for the first time since 2010, return 41 lettermen and 14 starters, including quarterback Zach Conque, last year's Newcomer of the Year.

McNeese State was picked third by the coaches (79 points) and fourth by the SIDs (75 points). the Cowboys, who haven't had a losing record since 2004, return 17 starters and 64 lettermen, and will be led by dual-threat quarterback Daniel Sams.

Northwestern State was picked fifth by the coaches and sixth by the SIDs after 60 and 51 points, respectively. The Demons, who ended 2014 at 4-4 in conference play, return 15 starters and 53 lettermen, including all-conference wide receiver Ed Eagan, who was second in FCS last season with 180.5 all-purpose yards per game.

Central Arkansas earned 66 points from the SIDs to finish fifth, while garnering 57 points from the coaches to finish sixth. The Bears finished 5-3 in Southland play last season and will be led this season by all-conference defensive end Jonathan Woodard, the league's Defensive Player of the Year in 2014.

ACU was picked seventh in both polls, followed by Lamar, Incarnate Word, Nicholls and Houston Baptist in each poll.

2015 Southland Conference Pre-Season Polls
Coaches' Poll

Place	School (1st-place votes)	Points
1.	Sam Houston State (8)	98
2.	Southeastern Louisiana (1)	86
3.	McNeese State (1)	79
4.	Stephen F. Austin	73
5.	Northwestern State	60
6.	Central Arkansas (1)	57
7.	Abilene Christian	49
8.	Lamar	46
9.	Incarnate Word	26
10.	Nicholls	16
11.	Houston Baptist	15

Sports Information Directors' Poll

Place	School (1st-place votes)	Points
1.	Sam Houston State (9)	99
2.	Stephen F. Austin	87
3.	Southeastern Louisiana	77
4.	McNeese State (1)	75
5.	Central Arkansas (1)	66
6.	Northwestern State	51
7.	Abilene Christian	48
8.	Lamar	41
9.	Incarnate Word	25
10.	Nicholls	20
11.	Houston Baptist	12

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY MEDIA DAY QUOTES
Head coach Ken Collums
General thoughts: "The bottom line is when you go into the Southland Conference you know it's going to be a really tough league. After one season, we know this is a big-time league with great coaches and great players. We had some great wins last year, starting with a big non-conference win at Troy. That solidified us, and then we got big conference wins over Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin. As a program you can work hard, but you need significant wins."

On Parker McKenzie: "Everybody brings a different skill set to the table, and it's our job as coaches to figure out what they can do and do it. Parker is an operator. He'll beat you with his decision-making and throw strikes all over the field. Obviously it really helps that we've got five senior receivers coming back and a running back like De'Andre Brown behind him."

On Having Eight Players on the Pre-Season All-Conference Team: "Those things affirm what we're doing and affirm our guys, but at the end of the day they don't mean very much. Honors like that won't get you very far on a Saturday afternoon. I'm grateful our players are recognized because those guys are legitimate playmakers in this league. We're grateful for the recognition, but we've got to turn that into production on the field."

On Taking the Next Step: "The big thing we didn't do last year was finish games. It was really cool to play well for three quarters, but you'd better finish games. Everybody we line up against will be trying to do the same. The bottom line is you have to play clean football. We're one of the best teams in the country at protecting the football. In the last 10 years we're plus-104 in turnover ratio, and last year we were the best in the league at pre-snap discipline penalties. But we have to learn to finish games. To do that, you have to develop depth and we're in the process of doing that."

Quarterback Parker McKenzie
On ACU's First Year in the Southland Conference: "I was able to play a couple of games in 2013, but 2014 was my first year as the starter. Obviously everybody is bigger and faster, but you just have to adjust to it. Everybody has phenomenal athletes on both sides of the ball."

Running back De'Andre Brown
Looking Ahead to the 2015 Season: "I believe this team is very excited about 2015. We've worked even harder this summer because we know what we're getting into each week and we know what to expect in terms of level of talent and level of play. We know we can compete and that has given us a certain edge."

Schedule

Players Mentioned

De'Andre Brown

Parker McKenzie