McNeese is ranked in FCS poll

The first college football preseason poll has been released, and the McNeese Cowboys have been tabbed with a No. 9 ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll.
McNeese is one of three Southland Conference schools listed in the top 25 ranking. Southeastern Louisiana sits at No. 3, while Sam Houston State is in at No. 14.
North Dakota State, who captured its third straight FCS National Championship last January, is ranked No. 1 followed by Eastern Washington then SLU.
Rounding out the top 10 is New Hampshire at No. 4, Montana, Coastal Carolina, Towson, Jacksonville State, McNeese and South Dakota State.
The Colonial Athletic Association led all conferences with six schools ranked in the top 25, followed by the Big Sky and Missouri Valley with four and the Southland at three.
McNeese, who ended the 2013 year with a 10-3 record and second round showing in the FCS playoffs, will open the season Sept. 6 at Nebraska.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association and the American Football Coaches Association and is administered by the Southern Conference.
The poll will be released exclusively on ESPN every Monday on College Football Daily on ESPNU.