The Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25 was released on Tuesday, and it features 2 local football teams that will be playing each other in the annual River Bell Classic.
The Nicholls St. Colonels come in at No. 14 on the list.
The Colonels are coming off of a 9-5 season highlighted by their second straight Southland Conference Championship.
The Colonels were knocked out of the FCS Playoffs in the second round by eventual National Champion, North Dakota State.
Coming in at No. 17 is the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions.
Southeastern finished their 2019 campaign with an 8-5 record and were also eliminated in the second round of the FCS Playoffs by Montana.
In all the Southland Conference has 4 teams on the Athlon Sports Preseason list and is expected to be as competitive as ever in the 2020 season.
The 4 teams are in bold on the list below:
2020 Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. Northern Iowa
3. Weber State
4. James Madison
5. Montana State
6. South Dakota State
7. Montana
8. Villanova
9. Illinois State
10. Kennesaw State
11. Central Arkansas
12. Sacramento State
13. Austin Peay
14. Nicholls
15. New Hampshire
16. Sam Houston State
17. Southeastern Louisiana
18. Furman
19. Southern Illinois
20. Eastern Washington
21. The Citadel
22. Wofford
23. Albany
24. Jacksonville State
25. Towson
Nicholls St. will open the 2020 regular season Saturday, Sept. 5th against Mississippi Valley State at home. They open conference play in week 2 at Northwestern State.
Southeastern kicks off the 2020 season Thursday, Sept. 3rd at Tulane. The Lions open conference play on Sept. 26, hosting McNeese at Strawberry Stadium.
Nicholls and Southeastern meet up in the 2020 River Bell Classic Thursday, November 19th at John Guidry Stadium in Thibodaux.
{List courtesy of Southeastern Athletics}
