New coaching staff, a lot of new faces on the roster. Same big expectations for Lenoir-Rhyne football.
The Bears find themselves ranked ninth in the preseason AFCA D2 Coaches Poll. That’s the highest ranking for any of North Carolina’s college football teams in any division.
Lenoir-Rhyne went 13-2 a year ago, won the South Atlantic Conference and advanced to the NCAA Division II semifinals before falling to eventual champion Harding.
Last week, SAC coaches anointed the Bears as the team to beat in the league. Doug Socha takes over the program from Mike Jacobs, who left LR in the off-season to become the head coach at Mercer.
Coaches picked Harding as the No. 1 team in the preseason D2 poll. The Bisons received 25 of 27 first-place votes. The rest of the top five includes Central Missouri, Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Colorado School of Mines.
Wingate, the only team to beat Lenoir-Rhyne last season, did not crack the top 25 but received votes. No other North Carolina team received any votes.
Other teams of note in the AFCA D2 rankings:
* Valdosta State, which hosts Fayetteville State and Chowan this season, starts the year at No. 7.
* Mars Hill’s first opponent on Thursday, Aug. 29, Delta State, is ranked 18th.
* Reigning CIAA champion Virginia Union was voted 20th. Winston-Salem State, Shaw, Johnson C. Smith and Elizabeth City State all play VUU this season in the conference’s new division-less format..
* Livingstone’s season opening opponent, Charleston (WV), comes in at No. 23. Charleston also will host fellow Mountain East Conference member UNC Pembroke on Sept. 21.
* Projected conference champion Virginia State was the only other CIAA team to receive votes, getting enough for 28th.
2024 AFCA D2 Coaches Poll
Rank – Team – 2023 Record – Points – Final ’23 Rank – First Game – Head Coach
1 Harding (Ark.) (25) 15-0 672 1 Sept. 5 vs. Southern Nazarene (Okla.) Paul Simmons 2 Central Missouri 11-2 620 6 Sept. 7 vs. Northeastern St. (Okla.) Josh Lamberson 3 Ferris St. (Mich.) (1) 8-3 590 9 Aug. 31 at No. 6 Pittsburg St. (Kan.) Tony Annese 4 Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (1) 11-2 566 3 Sept. 5 vs. Central St. (Ohio) Scott Wooster 5 Colorado School of Mines 14-1 564 2 Sept. 5 vs. West Texas A&M Pete Sterbick 6 Pittsburg St. (Kan.) 11-2 540 5 Aug. 31 vs. No. 3 Ferris St. (Mich.) Tom Anthony 7 Valdosta St. (Ga.) 12-2 516 8 Aug. 31 vs. Albany St. (Ga.) Tremaine Jackson 8 Central Washington 9-4 418 17 Sept. 7 at San Diego (Calif.) Chris Fisk 9 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 13-2 416 4 Sept. 7 vs. Bowie St. (Md.) Doug Socha 10 Kutztown (Pa.) 12-3 413 7 Sept. 5 vs. Assumption (Mass.) Jim Clements 11 Slippery Rock (Pa.) 12-2 384 10 Sept. 7 vs. New Haven (Conn.) Shawn Lutz 12 West Florida 8-4 330 23 Sept. 5 vs. McKendree (Ill.) Kaleb Nobles 13 Minnesota St. 9-3 232 21 Aug. 29 at No. 22 Northwest Missouri St. Todd Hoffner 14 Augustana (S.D.) 11-2 231 13 Sept. 5 at Mary (N.D.) Jerry Olszewski 15 Western Colorado 10-2 230 15 Sept. 7 vs. Midwestern St. (Tex.) Jas Bains 16 Indianapolis (Ind.) 9-2 216 22 Sept. 7 at Hillsdale (Mich.) Chris Keevers 17 Minnesota-Duluth 9-2 214 25 Aug. 29 at Northern Michigan Curt Wiese 18 Delta St. (Miss.) 10-2 212 11 Aug. 29 at Mars Hill (N.C.) Todd Cooley 19 Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 9-2 209 NR Sept. 5 vs. Southwestern Oklahoma St. Todd Knight 20 Virginia Union 10-2 183 20 Aug. 31 at Kentucky St. Alvin Parker 21 Texas-Permian Basin 10-2 169 18 Aug. 31 vs. Western New Mexico Kris McCullough 22 Northwest Missouri St. 7-4 167 NR Aug. 29 vs. No. 13 Minnesota St. Rich Wright 23 Charleston (W.Va.) 10-2 102 19 Aug. 31 at Livingstone (N.C.) Quinn Sanders 24 Angelo St. (Tex.) 7-3 89 NR Aug. 29 at Fort Hays St. (Kan.) Jeff Girsch 25 Bemidji St. (Minn.) 9-3 70 16 Aug. 29 vs. Michigan Tech Brent Bolte
*– Ranking in final AFCA Division II Poll of 2023
Others Receiving Votes: Benedict (S.C.), 64; Henderson St. (Ark.), 56; Virginia St., 54; Tiffin (Ohio), 34; Southern Arkansas, 24; Ashland (Ohio), 21; Davenport (Mich.), 21; Wingate (N.C.), 20; Emporia St. (Kan.), 18; Colorado St.-Pueblo, 17; Albany St. (Ga.), 15; Findlay (Ohio), 14; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 12; California (Pa.), 11; Oklahoma Baptist, 11; Shepherd (W.Va.), 8; New Haven (Conn.), 7; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 6; Wayne St. (Neb.), 3; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 2; Truman St. (Mo.), 2; Fort Valley St. (Ga.), 1; Indiana (Pa.), 1.
