Liberty University has been tabbed as the favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason football poll for the 2008 campaign, as voted by the League’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced today at the Renaissance Suites Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. as part of the 2008 Big South Conference Football Kickoff Media Luncheon.  Liberty, champions of the Big South in 2007, was the preseason favorite last year.

The Flames, fresh off its first Big South football championship, enter the 2008 campaign with a six-game Conference winning streak and closed out the 2007 season with five consecutive wins.  Liberty, which was ranked in the Top 35 in the final national polls a year ago, has been tabbed a preseason No. 19 by Lindy’s College Football Preview, and also received votes in the CollegeSportingNews.com “Any Given Saturday” poll, good for the 37th spot in that ranking.  Liberty was a perfect 4-0 in Big South play last year and finished 8-3 overall, and returns 39 letterwinners and 13 starters in 2008.  Danny Rocco’s squad received 12 of the 13 first-place votes cast and 77 total points to repeat this year. 

For the second-straight year, Coastal Carolina is picked to finish second to the Flames.  David Bennett’s Chanticleers, which have won or shared three of the six Big South championships since the League started football in 2002, finished second in this year’s preseason poll with 58 points.  For the fourth consecutive year, Steve Patton’s Gardner-Webb Bulldogs are predicted to finish third.  Gardner-Webb totaled 52 points in the voting and returns 56 letterwinners and 23 starters.

New associate football member Stony Brook University is predicted to finish fourth (38 points) in its first season in the Big South.  Chuck Priore’s Seawolves went 6-5 last year as an independent, with four of the five losses against nationally-ranked programs.  Jay Mills’ Charleston Southern squad received the remaining first-place vote and finished fifth in the poll with 30 points.  VMI, under the direction of new head coach Sparky Woods, rounded out the voting with 18 points for the sixth spot.  Presbyterian is not eligible for the Big South championship this season as the Blue Hose are not playing a full Conference schedule in 2008.

The 2008 season begins with Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb in action on Thursday, Aug. 28.  Conference play starts Saturday, Oct. 4 with Gardner-Webb at Charleston Southern and Liberty at Coastal Carolina.  The regular-season concludes Saturday, Nov. 22 with Coastal Carolina hosting Charleston Southern in the final League game of the year.