Football Team Picked Fourth

July 31, 2009

DALLAS, Texas – New Southwestern Oklahoma State University football coach Dan Cocannouer told a Dallas hotel room packed full of media members and fellow coaches that he expects his Bulldogs to win every game in the 2009 season.

Cocannouer made his comments to a group assembled for the Lone Star Conference Football Media Day Thursday in conjunction with the release of the annual Pre-Season Poll and Player-of-the-Year picks.

“I may have to go to heaven through the side gates for telling people this, but I believe we can win every game, including West Texas A&M,” Cocannouer said. “That’s just the type of person I am. I want our kids believing the same.”

Cocannouer inherits a club that has some star front-line players including quarterback Steve Day and wide receiver Johnathan Haggerty but also some pressing concerns in the area of depth.

SWOSU’s team will consist of nearly 50 true freshman, approximately 50 percent of the entire roster,  when camp begins Thursday, Aug. 6.

The poll results tabbed Central Oklahoma and Abilene Christian to repeat as the LSC North and South Division Champions again. The league's preseason polls reflect the opinions of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.

The 2009 football season kicks off in late August, and the LSC has 13 teams set to compete.  Each team will play a total of nine countable conference games. Divisional champions will be determined by only those games against division opponents, while the overall league champion will be determined by the overall nine-game conference record, which will include division games plus designated crossover contests.

UCO, who posted a perfect 5-0 mark in the division last season, totaled 90 poll points to end up in front of Texas A&M-Commerce and Southeastern Oklahoma in the LSC North .  A&M-C and SOSU finished tied for second with 70 points each including three and one first-place votes, respectively. SWOSU (39) was third, East Central fourth (37) and Northeastern State (30) rounded out the poll.

ACU, who posted a 11-1 mark in 2008, earned first-place votes on 16 of the 20 ballots to finish with 135 total points in front of West Texas A&M’s 107-point tally in the poll. Tarleton State, 8-3 overall last year, finished third with 86 points, Texas A&M-Kingsville was fourth 84, Midwestern State fifth 82 and the remaining first-place nod, Angelo State sixth 42 and Eastern New Mexico seventh 24.