BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - West Florida was chosen to come in second place in the GSC race at the end of this upcoming season, according to the 2024 Gulf South Conference Football Preseason Poll, as voted by the league's head coaches.
Entering Year 2 of the Kaleb Nobles era, the Argos earned 42 total points and a first-place vote, just four points under predicted champion and defending co-champion Valdosta State, who picked up 46 points and five of the first place votes after advancing to the 2023 NCAA Quarterfinals under second-year coach Tremaine Jackson.
Appropriately, the two teams will meet in the final matchup of the regular season on November 16 at Valdosta, Ga. The Argos will look to avenge their heartbreaking 31-28 loss to the Blazers last season at Pen Air Field. VSU won on a 28-yard touchdown pass with 36 seconds left, their first lead of the game, to claim a crucial result in the GSC standings and knock the Argos into third place, where they would finish behind co-champions VSU and Delta State.
Two-time defending champion DSU sits just one point back of UWF while earning the final two first-place votes. After ending the Argos' season in the first round of the NCAA South Regional Super Region 2 playoffs to avenge their 24-21 home loss to UWF in the regular season, the Statesmen saw their season end at the hands of VSU in the second round of the playoffs.
Below DSU in fourth place in the poll is West Alabama with 30 points, who handed the Argos their other conference loss last season. North Greenville comes in fifth with 24 points, three points over sixth-place Mississippi College. Chowan and Erskine round out the eight-team preseason poll tied for seventh with 10 points apiece, after the departures of Shorter to Conference of the Carolinas and West Georgia to the Atlantic Sun Conference of NCAA Division I.
Points were awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale and schools were unable to vote for itself. The GSC Football Media Day will take place Thursday, July 25. Coverage will be provided exclusively for free on FloFootball, beginning at 8 am CT.
This is the sixth consecutive year in which the Argos have been predicted to finish in the top half of the conference. The team has met or exceeded the preseason poll ranking five times in its history, and won a share of the conference title in 2021 and 2022. UWF is 37-17 all-time in GSC play, the second-highest win total in the league since the program's inception in 2016 and just five behind VSU.
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2024 GSC Football Preseason Coaches Poll
First-place votes ( )
1. Valdosta State (5) – 46 points
2. West Florida (1) – 42 points
3. Delta State (2) – 41 points
4. West Alabama – 30 points
5. North Greenville – 24 points
6. Mississippi College – 21 points
t7. Chowan – 10 points
t7. Erskine – 10 points
