It’s in the air!  Football is on its way!  The McNeese Cowboys Football team have already been picked by the Southland coaches to win the Conference and now they have been ranked 13th in the country in the FCS.

Coach Viator
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McNeese State’s Cowboys, who report in Wednesday afternoon, have been ranked No. 13 in the nation in a pre-season poll by College Sporting News.

The poll was announced on Tuesday. Appalachian State topped the poll followed by Georgia Southern, Delaware, William & Mary and Eastern Washington.

Defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin was ranked No. 18 and Central Arkansas was picked No. 25.

McNeese has won three of the last five SLC titles and finished second the other two times. Last week the Cowboys were selected the pre-season favorite in the league in a poll of conference coaches.

The Cowboys posted a 6-5 record last year along with a 5-2 conference mark.

A total of 48 lettermen off that team return this year including 2010 first team all-conference picks Andre Anderson (tailback), Miguel Gauthreaux (offensive guard), Josh Lewis (place kicker), Desmund Lighten (defensive end) and Malcolm Bronson (safety).

Matt Viator returns for his sixth season as the Cowboy head coach having compiled a 39-15 mark. He is the SLC’s winningest active coach and holds a 27-7 league record.

Members of Viator’s staff are Mike Collins (assistant head coach, defensive coordinator), Tim Leger (co-offensive coordinator, quarterbacks), Broderick Fobbs (co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers), Lark Hebert (special teams coordinator, linebackers), Carlos McGee (running backs), Reggie Nelson (offensive line), Manny Michel (defensive line), J. D. Kappeler (secondary), Lance Fremin (tight ends) and Eman Naghavi (defensive line assistant).

College Sporting News 2011 Pre-season Top 25

1. Appalachian State

2. Georgia Southern

3. Delaware

4. William & Mary

5. Eastern Washington

6. Montana State

7. New Hampshire

8. Northern Iowa

9. Wofford

10. North Dakota State

11. Villanova

12. Jacksonville State

13. McNeese State

14. James Madison

15. Penn

16. Lehigh

17. Southern Illinois

18. Stephen F. Austin

19. Montana

20. Liberty

21. Western Illinois

22. Florida A&M

23. Bethune-Cookman

24. Harvard

25. Central Arkansas

Are you ready for some College Football????

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