HOUSTON - Southeastern Louisiana University, which opens its fifth season since restoring its football program in 2003, was picked to finish seventh by the Southland Conference head coaches and eighth by the sports information directors as the 2007 SLC Preseason Polls were released Tuesday by the conference office.

Southeastern, which returns 39 letterwinners for head coach Mike Lucas, was picked to finish in a tie with SLC newcomer Central Arkansas by the league's head coaches while being picked behind Nicholls State in the SID Poll.

McNeese State, a team which has won as many league titles as the other seven members combined, was picked by the head coaches and sports information directors to win the 2007 Southland Conference regular season football championship.

The defending champion Cowboys received six of the possible eight first-place votes from the coaches while five SIDs tabbed MSU to be the best. Voters may not vote for their own teams in the preseason polls.

Stephen F. Austin received the other two first-place nods from the head coaches and ranks second in their poll with 42 total points to McNeese's 48. Sam Houston State, with the addition of highly-touted quarterback Rhett Bomar, finds itself third with 36 tallies. Northwestern State (31 points) placed fourth, ahead of Texas State (27) and Nicholls State (20). Central Arkansas (10) and Southeastern (10) will tie for seventh according to the coaches.

Five SIDs voted for McNeese to finish first while three think the impact of Bomar will be enough to get the Bearkats to the top. Four points (47-43) separate the two in the publicists' poll. SFA (32) ranks third with Texas State (27) and Northwestern State (24) rounding out the top five. UCA (23), Nicholls (19) and SLU (9) complete the SID picks.

McNeese State captured its 11th SLC regular-season title by posting a 5-1 league record in 2006 to finish one game ahead of Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin. It was the fourth title in six years for McNeese. The other seven Southland clubs have combined to win 11 crowns with Northwestern State garnering four, followed by SHSU (3), SFA (2) and Nicholls State and Texas State with one apiece. McNeese did get a 15-year jump on the competition as the Cowboys joined the SLC for the 1972 football season. Four others, SHSU, Northwestern, Texas State and SFA entered the Southland in 1987. Nicholls State came on board in 1991 with Southeastern Louisiana starting its football play in the league in 2005. Central Arkansas is the newest member of the league as the Bears embark on an SLC schedule this year for the first time.

McNeese head coach Matt Viator begins his first full season with the Cowboy program after taking over mid stream and guiding his team to the championship in 2006. He will have a dozen preseason All-Southland Conference selections helping him try to secure the 12th trophy to place in the department display case. Included are 2006 SLC Player of the Year Steven Whitehead at wide receiver and SLC Defensive Player of the Year Bryan Smith on the defensive side of the ball.

With the Cowboys off to a 1-3 start, Viator was named McNeese State's head coach on Sept. 13, 2006. He went on to lead the Cowboys to the NCAA championship playoffs by posting a 6-2 record in his partial season. He was named both the SLC Coach of the Year and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year and was a finalist in the balloting for the national Football Championship Subdivision's Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.

2007 Southland Conference Football Preseason Polls
COACHES (1st Place Votes)
1. McNeese State (6) 48
2. Stephen F. Austin (2) 42
3. Sam Houston State 36
4. Northwestern State 31
5. Texas State 27
6. Nicholls State 20
7. Central Arkansas 10
Southeastern Louisiana 10

SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTORS
1. McNeese State (5) 47
2. Sam Houston State (3) 43
3. Stephen F. Austin 32
4. Texas State 27
5. Northwestern State 24
6. Central Arkansas 23
7. Nicholls State 19
8. Southeastern Louisiana 9