PENSACOLA — In their inaugural season, the University of West Florida Argonauts finished sixth in the Gulf South Conference standing.
This pre-season the Argos have been picked to finish seventh in the Coaches Poll announced by the league office.
North Alabama, who claimed their fourth consecutive GSC title last season, earned seven first place votes to take the top spot ahead of Valdosta State and West Georgia, both of which earned a first place vote and were ranked second and third respectively.
The Lions represented the GSC very well last season as they were the NCAA Division II national runner-up.
UWF earned 25 points in the poll and was ranked ahead of Mississippi College and Shorter.
The rest of the preseason poll has Florida Tech ranked fourth followed by West Alabama and Delta State.
UWF also had three players selected to the All-GSC pre-season team by the league's coaches.
Senior Reggie Barnes and sophomore Andre Duncombe were among the four linebackers selected, while junior Antoine Griffin was one of two return specialists named to the team.
Barnes finished last season with 67 tackles, which was good enough for third on the Argos' defensive side of the ball. He also was credited with six tackles for loss, six quarterback hurries, and a pass break-up.
Duncombe had 12.5 tackles for loss, which was second for UWF, while registering 51 tackles along with six and a half sacks.
Griffin, who was recognized as a return specialist, accounted for 560 receiving yards on 43 receptions and seven touchdowns. As a return specialist he averaged 13.33 return yards on punts and 20.5 yards on kickoffs.
UWF will kick off their 2017 season Sept. 2 when they travel to face Missouri A&T, while they will open their second season at Blue Wahoos Stadium at 6 p.m. when they play Midwestern State.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: The Argos are in a battle for respect