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Gators Picked Middle of Pack in NCAC Preseason Polls
August 8, 2006
GRANVILLE, Ohio - The Allegheny College football team was picked to finish 2006 roughly where it ended the 2005 season in the North Coast Athletic Conference as the coaches and media predicted the Gators would finish fifth and sixth in the league standings, respectively, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Earning the top nod from both factions was 2005 NCAC Champion Wabash College, who earned eight of 10 first-place votes from the coaches and 24 of 28 first-place votes from the media to easily outdistance second-place, which was a close battle between Ohio Wesleyan University and The College of Wooster. The Battling Bishops edged the Fighting Scots in the coaches’ poll, despite the latter’s earning two first-place votes. Wooster took second in the media poll by a slim margin with both squads earning a first-place vote.
Six-time conference champion Wittenberg University held down the No. 4 position in both polls, followed by Allegheny and Kenyon, who switched positions in each poll. The Lords and Gators each received the remaining first-place votes from the media.
The final four teams finished in the same spots in both polls with Denison University, Oberlin College, Earlham College, and Hiram College filling out 7-10.
The Gators return 47 letterwinners and 12 starters from a team that went 3-7 in 2005 despite outscoring its opposition 247-218. Allegheny closed out the year with a two-game winning streak, posting victories over Earlham (41-0) and Wittenberg (31-21) to finish 3-4 and tied for fifth in the NCAC.
Opening day pits the Gators at long-time rival Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 1 p.m. Allegheny will host Community Day when it inaugurates the newly renovated Frank B. Fuhrer Field against Hiram College in a non-conference contest on Saturday, Sept. 16, also at 1 p.m., while the Gators open conference play two weeks later on Sept. 30 at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.