'Jacks Ranked In Mid-Major Poll
11/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 4, 2008
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team is ranked No. 11 in the season's first Mid-Major Top 25 poll, announced Tuesday by CollegeInsider.com. The Lumberjacks earned 308 total points in the balloting. This marks the first time in the poll's 10 seasons that SFA has begun the season as a ranked team.
The Lumberjacks finished the 2007-08 season ranked No. 14 in the poll, after compiling a 26-6 overall record and winning a share of the program's first Southland Conference championship with a 13-3 league record. SFA also reached the post-season for the first time since 1987, as the Lumberjacks earned a berth in the National Invitation Tournament.
SFA spent a program-best 15 weeks ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 last season, a campaign that saw the Lumberjacks climb to a new high with a No. 6 national ranking on Feb. 25. That week SFA got the program's first-ever first-place vote in the poll. At various points throughout the season, SFA also received votes in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll.
SFA is the lone Southland Conference program to be ranked in the preseason poll, while league foes UT-Arlington, Lamar and Sam Houston State all received votes.
With four of five starters returning from their conference title team, the Lumberjacks are tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the SLC East Division this year. Josh Alexander, 2008 SLC Player of the Year, and Matt Kingsley were both selected to the Preseason All-SLC Team.
SFA begins the 2008-09 season on Friday, Nov. 14, when the Lumberjacks host Howard Payne in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
To see the complete poll, clickhere.
-- SFA --
