Southland Begins 50th Football Season
8/27/2013 8:32:00 AM | Football
This Week's Schedule:
Thursday, Aug. 29
Northwestern State at Missouri State, 6 p.m. (MediaCom)
UIW at No. 7/6 Central Arkansas , 7 p.m.
Southeast Missouri at Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 31
Nicholls at No. 3/3 Oregon, 3 p.m. (Fox Sports 1)
McNeese State at South Florida, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
Houston Baptist at No. 3/4 Sam Houston State, 6 p.m.
Oklahoma Panhandle State at Lamar, 7 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin at Weber State, 7 p.m.
The Southland Conference kicks off its 50th season of football this weekend.
The Southland began playing football with five schools in 1964. Lamar was 3-0-1 that season to finish ahead of Arkansas State, Trinity, Abilene Christian and Texas-Arlington.
Thursday three teams hit the gridiron, then five more play Saturday including two-time defending league champion Sam Houston State as the Bearkats play host to future conference football member Houston Baptist.
Sam Houston State is the Southland Conference's top-ranked team. The Bearkats, who finished 11-4 overall and 6-1 in conference games, is ranked No. 3 in the Sports Network poll and No. 4 in the FCS Coaches' Poll.
Central Arkansas, which shared last year's conference championship with Sam Houston, is No. 7 in the Sports Network poll and No. 6 in the coaches' poll. The Bears finished 9-3 overall and had a 6-1 league record.
Four other teams are receiving votes in at least one of the two polls. Both McNeese State and Stephen F. Austin are garnering votes in both polls, while Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana received votes in the Sports Network poll.
Following the contest with HBU, Sam Houston heads to College Station to take on Cotton Bowl champion Texas A&M on Sept. 7. The contest is one of 12 games Southland teams will play against FBS opponents. The league has 18 wins against FBS teams since 200.
A total of 22 of the 58 Southland Conference football players who earned all-conference honors after the 2012 season return for the 2013 campaign and garnered spots on the preseason all-conference teams.
Nine of the 29 first-team selections, including six offensive members, highlight the two teams that also see 13 second-team picks return for an automatic spot on the preseason squads. Three Southland institutions have 12 student-athletes each named to the preseason all-conference teams with McNeese State joining defending co-champions Central Arkansas and Sam Houston State to lead the preseason teams. Stephen F. Austin has seven all-conference selections followed by Lamar and Southeastern Louisiana both with five. Nicholls is next with three while Northwestern State completes the preseason all-conference teams with two selections. UCA led all teams with nine first-team selections.
Four of the Southland Conference's individual award winners from last year are back this season, including Sam Houston State senior Timothy Flanders, the league's two-time player of the year, along with Central Arkansas senior quarterback Wynrick Smothers, the reigning offensive player of the year, as well as sophomore teammate, defensive end Jonathan Woodard, last season's top freshman, and Lamar junior wide receiver Kevin Johnson, the conference's newcomer of the year a season ago.
Two Southland Conference football players are among the 20 players on the initial 2013 watch list for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in the FCS. For the third consecutive year, Sam Houston running back Timothy Flanders finds himself listed among some of the best players FCS football has to offer while Central Arkansas quarterback Wynrick Smothers finds himself on the list for the second consecutive year. Flanders is the all-time leading rusher for the Bearkats with 4,234 career yards and 52 rushing touchdowns. He has been named to 10 different All-America teams and has twice been named the Southland Conference Player of the Year.
Despite the additions of Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist and UIW, the Southland Conference will feature the same eight football teams: Central Arkansas, Lamar, McNeese State, Nicholls, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin. Next year, the league will have 11 football-playing schools.
The Battle of the Piney Woods between Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin returns to Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2013. It will be the 88th football duel between the two rivals. The series is the second oldest FCS rivalry in Texas. The Battle of the Piney Woods dates back to 1923, with Sam Houston State holding a 50-35-2 edge in the series. The Bearkats won last year, 51-43, in the third of what was originally scheduled to be a four-game series to be played at Reliant. The three games have averaged 25,318 fans. Reliant extended the contract another three years prior to the 2012 game, keeping the Battle of the Piney Woods at Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL's Houston Texans, through the 2017 season.
Tickets for all seven Sam Houston home games at Bowers Stadium this fall plus the Battle of the Piney Woods are on sale now at the SHSU athletic ticket office or online at www.gobearkats.com . The ticket office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Sam Houston students may pick up their East Side student section tickets on the LSC mall Wednesday and Thursday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
All students and faculty/staff can enter the stadium at the north (scoreboard) end of Bowers Stadium on presentation of their BearkatOneCard.
Parking lots will open at 2 p.m. "Bearkat Alley" tailgate begins at 4 p.m. and closes at 5:30 p.m.
For more information, please call the SHSU athletic ticket office at (936) 294-1729.
Saturday on game day the Bowers Stadium box office opens at 2 p.m for ticket sales and will-call pickup.
Gates will open Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
