(Source: Mountain East Conference and Staff Reports): UNC Pembroke football finished sixth in the 2023 Mountain East Conference preseason football poll, the league office announced Monday.
The Braves, who will be under new leadership this season in coach Mark Hall, earned 50 points in the balloting. Pembroke is coming off a 5-6 campaign in 2022, 5-5 in the MEC. The Braves went 4-1 at home.
Notre Dame College was unanimously voted as the preseason favorite in the 11-team MEC with 100 points, followed by Frostburg State 88, Charleston 74, Concord 72 and Glenville State 54.
Pembroke edged out Wheeling (49) and West Virginia State (45) for sixth.
Notre Dame College has won at least a share of the last five Mountain East Conference football titles, including outright championships in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. The Falcons finished the 2022 season with a 9-3 overall record, including a 9-1 mark in MEC play to win the league title.
Notre Dame also earned the No. 5 seed in NCAA Super Region 1 and lost in an opening-round thriller to Ashland, 20-13, in the 2022 NCAA Football Playoffs. Notre Dame will be faced with replacing record-setting quarterback Chris Brimm and linebacker Nate Moore, the 2022 MEC Defensive Player of the Year, this season.
Frostburg State won a share of the 2021 MEC Football title before finishing third in the standings in 2022 with a league mark of 7-3. Charleston went 6-4 in league play a season ago and return several pieces from last season’s high-scoring offense, including MEC Offensive Freshman of the Year running back Chavon Wright, quarterback Javone Howard and wide receiver Marquan Herron.
The 2023 MEC football season gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 31 with a slate of eight non-conference games. Pembroke will host Fayetteville State in the Two Rivers Classic. Week one Mountain East action will continue with three more games on Saturday, Sept. 2. Conference play will begin on Thursday, Sept. 7 with UNC Pembroke at West Virginia State, Concord at Charleston, and Fairmont State at West Liberty.
Hall comes to Pembroke from Chowan, where he served as head coach in 2022, helping the Hawks reach the 2022 CIAA championship game.
“UNCP is a special place,” Hall said after being named Pembroke’s head coach. The winning culture is something I can’t wait to experience and then contribute to,” Hall said. “As I went through this process, it became very evident that this university values people. We have the resources, fan base and community support to build a program of championship caliber on a national level.”
The MEC will feature each of its 11 head football coaches during the 2023 MEC Football Preseason Countdown from Aug. 15-29 on the league’s social media channels and YouTube page. During the countdown, the league will post an exclusive interview daily to preview each MEC football program entering the 2023 season.
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2023 Mountain East Football Preseason Poll
| 2023 MEC Football Preseason Poll | ||
| Rank | School (First Place Votes) | Voting |
| 1. | Notre Dame College (10) | 100 |
| 2. | Frostburg State (1) | 88 |
| 3. | Charleston | 74 |
| 4. | Concord | 72 |
| 5. | Glenville State | 54 |
| 6. | UNC Pembroke | 50 |
| 7. | Wheeling | 49 |
| 8. | West Virginia St. | 45 |
| 9. | Fairmont State | 38 |
| 10. | West Liberty | 25 |
| 11. | West Va. Wesleyan | 10 |
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