N.C. Wesleyan picked to win USA South

I can remember it like it was yesterday.

N.C. Wesleyan head football coach Jack Ginn, his wife Sherri and I, after attending the press conference that introduced him as the school's first-ever football coach, rode together over to what is now the Battling Bishops' practice field and surveyed an untamed field and started wondering how things were going to be for the future of Battling Bishops football.

We are wondering no longer!

Tuesday in Fayetteville, NCWC, in a vote of the USA South Athletic Conference's coaches, made the Battling Bishops the preseason favorite to win the league.

But just three short seasons into the program Ginn has methodically built a winner - and the NCWC braintrust has to be patting itself on the back for picking the right man for the job.

Here is the press release of the polling results from NCWC's website:

North Carolina Wesleyan College, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Jack Ginn (pictured), was picked in the preseason coaches' poll to win the USA South Athletic Conference football title in 2007. The Battling Bishops have yet to claim a USA South title but placed third in the standings last fall, which was the best finish in school history. Wesleyan posted a 6-4 record in 2006, including a 5-2 mark in USA South play.

The Blue & Gold hope for even more success in 2008 as they return the last year’s Offensive Player of the Year and Offensive Rookie of the Year in quarterback Cedric Townsend and tailback Teron Bush, along with approximately 60 letterwinners overall. Entering his fourth season with the Bishops, 2008 will also mark the first senior class for Ginn, who began the program in 2004.

"This could be a very special year for our seniors," said Ginn at Tuesday's USA South Football Media Day press conference. "We started this program with over 140 guys, and these 26 young men have stuck with us. They will be our leaders both on and off the field."

For the first time in conference history, the preseason poll was released at the annual event, which was held this year at Methodist University. The Bishops received six of eight first place votes (48 points) as head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.

Christopher Newport University, the five-time USA South co-champions, finished second in the balloting with 44 points and the remaining two first place votes. Methodist University placed third in the poll with 33 points while Averett University, which claimed a share of the USA South title last season, was fourth with 31 points. The bottom half of the preseason poll featured Maryville College with 27 points, Ferrum College with 17 points, Greensboro College with 15 points and Shenandoah University with nine points.

The 2007 USA South football schedule kicks off on Saturday, Sept.1 as six teams begin their seasons with non-conference action. Wesleyan will travel to Dover, De. to take on perennial power Wesley College at 1 p.m.