Southeastern Louisiana picked to repeat as Southland Conference Champions

HAMMOND, La. – The reigning Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana University football team was picked atop the 2023 preseason Southland Conference poll released Monday in conjunction with the league’s Football Media Day.

The Lions received nine first-place votes, narrowly outpacing UIW, which finished with the other seven first-place votes. The poll was voted on by the SLC head coaches and media relations directors.

SLU (93 points) and the Cardinals (91) were followed in the polls by McNeese (65), Nicholls (62), Northwestern State (52), Texas A&M-Commerce (33), Lamar (28) and HCU (24).

Southeastern led the conference with 17 selections when the preseason All-SLC squads were released Friday. The Lions have advanced to the second round of the NCAA FCS playoffs in three of the past four seasons and are one of three teams nationally to be ranked in the final FCS Top 25 in each of the past four years.

The Lions report to campus Aug. 1 with fall practice officially opening Aug. 2. Southeastern opens the 2023 season with three straight nonconference road contests, beginning with a Sept. 2 trip to Mississippi State. The game versus the Bulldogs kicks off at 3 p.m. in Starkville, Mississippi and will be televised on SEC Network and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).

Head football coach Frank Scelfo, the reigning and two-time SLC Coach of the Year, will be at all remaining stops on the 2023-24 LAA Coaches Caravan. The caravan moves on to Greystone Golf & Country Club (9461 St. Andrews Court) in Denham Springs Thursday. The final stop sees the Lions return to Hammond, America July 31 at Gnarly Barley Brewing (1709 Corbin Rd.).

2023 Southland Conference Football Preseason Poll
Team (First-place votes) | Points
1. Southeastern (9) | 93
2. UIW (7) | 91
3. McNeese | 65
4. Nicholls | 62
5. Northwestern State | 52
6. Texas A&M-Commerce | 33
7. Lamar | 28
8. HCU | 24

TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2023-24 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.