NAU Football Picked to Finish Third in the Big Sky Preseason Polls
Football / July 18, 2017
PARK CITY, Utah – The votes are in for the 2017 Big Sky Preseason Polls and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks have been picked to finish third in the conference by both the league coaches and media.
"It's an honor to be recognized by my coaching peers and the media to have NAU voted in the top three in the preseason polls, after having suffered so many injuries a year ago," said head coach
Jerome Souers. "For us, it's about going out there and performing every day so that we are ready to be at the top of the Big Sky come the end of the season."
Picked to win the conference was North Dakota, followed by Eastern Washington. Both teams shared the regular season title a year ago. UND has the preseason defensive player of the year in safety Cole Reyes, while the Eagles have preseason offensive player of the year quarterback Gage Gubrud.
NAU finished 5-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play last season, after having been voted to win the league in 2016. The Lumberjacks received three first-place votes in the media poll and two first-place votes in the coaches poll.
Rounding out the top-five teams were Cal Poly and Weber State, both receiving one first-place vote each in the coaches poll.
On Monday, the Big Sky released its preseason all-conference team. The Lumberjacks had three players selected – senior wide receiver
Emmanuel Butler, sophomore placekicker
Griffin Roehler, and senior offensive guard
Tyler Shank.
NAU opens the season on Sept. 2 on the road at Arizona. The Lumberjacks' first home game will be on Sept. 9 versus Western Illinois. NAU's first Big Sky game will be at Cal Poly on Sept. 23.
| #BigSkyFB Preseason Polls |
| Media Poll |
| Team |
Point Total (First-Place Votes) |
| North Dakota |
298 (15) |
| Eastern Washington |
271 (5) |
| Northern Arizona |
236 (3) |
| Cal Poly |
224 |
| Weber State |
209 |
| Montana |
204 (1) |
| Southern Utah |
175 |
| Montana State |
156 |
| Northern Colorado |
135 |
| Portland State |
104 |
| UC Davis |
62 |
| Sacramento State |
61 |
| Idaho State |
44 |
| Coaches' Poll |
| North Dakota |
130 (6) |
| Eastern Washington |
124 (2) |
| Northern Arizona |
119 (2) |
| Cal Poly |
108 (1) |
| Weber State |
103 (1) |
| Montana |
83 (1) |
| Southern Utah |
80 |
| Montana State |
69 |
| Portland State |
62 |
| Northern Colorado |
60 |
| UC Davis |
35 |
| Sacramento State |
26 |
| Idaho State |
15 |
