GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman Paladins are ranked ninth in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll, announced this morning.

Furman, which returns seven starters off last year's 10-3, SoCon championship team that advanced to the playoff quarterfinals, finished the 2023 campaign ranked sixth in the AFCA Poll. 

The Paladins are among three SoCon teams to earn preseason Top 25 rankings, which includes Chattanooga (8th) and Western Carolina (17th). Mercer and Samford also received votes.

The Paladins defeated Chattanooga twice last fall, claiming a 17-14 road victory over the Mocs to secure the league championship and a 26-7 triumph in Greenville in second round FCS playoff action.    Furman also beat Western Carolina, 29-17, in Cullowhee, N.C. The Paladins earned a first round playoff bye a year ago.

Reigning champion South Dakota State tops the poll after receiving 25 of 26 first place votes, followed by North Dakota State and Montana. Montana State and South Dakota round out the top five.

William & Mary, which Furman will face on Sept. 21 in Williamsburg, Va., is ranked 16th in the poll after finishing the 2023 season unranked.

The Paladins have earned rankings in each of the last 21 polls.

Under the direction of head coach Clay Hendrix, who in seven seasons has compiled a 51-29 overall record (.638) and 39-16 SoCon worksheet (.709), Furman is among only three FCS programs to post double-digit wins (20-6) the last two seasons, along with South Dakota State and North Dakota State.

Furman's Fan Fest is slated for Saturday, Aug. 17, in Paladin Stadium.

Furman kicks off its 2024 season on Saturday, August 31, at Ole Miss in a 7:00 p.m. ET contest. 

Click HERE for Furman's complete 2024 schedule.

Paladin fans can renew or purchase new season tickets online by clicking HERE, or by calling Dwight Covington or Houghton Flanagan, or by emailing Houghton.Flanagan@Furman.edu.

AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl – August 12, 2024
 

Rank	School (1st votes)	2023 Rec.	Pts.	2023 Rank	Season Opener	Head Coach
1	South Dakota St. (25)	15-0	649	1	Aug. 31 at Oklahoma St.	Jimmy Rogers
2	North Dakota St.	11-4	614	3	Aug. 29 at Colorado	Tim Polasek
3	Montana	13-2	576	2	Aug. 31 vs. Missouri St.	Bobby Hauck
4	Montana St.	8-4	518	8	Aug. 24 at New Mexico	Brent Vigen
5	South Dakota	10-3	512	4t	Aug. 29 vs. Northern St.	Bob Nielson
6	Villanova	10-3	502	9	Aug. 29 vs. No. 23 Youngstown St.	Mark Ferrante
7	Idaho	9-4	473	4t	Aug. 31 at Oregon	Jason Eck
8	Chattanooga	8-5	403	17	Aug. 31 at Tennessee	Rusty Wright
9	FURMAN	10-3	392	6	Aug. 31 at Ole Miss	Clay Hendrix
10	Sacramento St.	8-5	382	15	Aug. 29 at San Jose St.	Andy Thompson
11	Southern Illinois	8-5	370	13	Aug. 31 at BYU	Nick Hill
12	Richmond	9-4	353	22	Aug. 31 at Virginia	Russ Huesman
13	Central Arkansas	7-4	339	NR	Aug. 31 at Arkansas St.	Nathan Brown
14	UAlbany	11-4	275	7	Aug. 31 vs. LIU	Greg Gattuso
15	UIW	9-2	259	14	Aug. 31 vs. Northern Colorado	Clint Killough
16	William & Mary	6-5	196	NR	Aug. 29 vs. VMI	Mike London
17	UC Davis	7-4	164	NR	Aug. 31 at California	Tim Plough
18	Lafayette	9-3	157	19	Aug. 29 at Buffalo	John Troxell
19	Western Carolina	7-4	144	NR	Aug. 29 at NC State	Kerwin Bell
20	Illinois St.	6-5	143	NR	Aug. 31 at Iowa	Brock Spack
21	Tarleton	8-3	137	NR	Aug. 24 vs. McNeese	Todd Whitten
22	North Dakota	7-5	131	16	Aug. 31 at Iowa St.	Bubba Schweigert
23	Youngstown St.	8-5	97	21	Aug. 29 at No. 6 Villanova	Doug Phillips
24	Nicholls	6-5	91	NR	Aug. 31 at Louisiana Tech	Tim Rebowe
25	Florida A&M (1)	12-1	71	10	Aug. 24 vs. Norfolk St.	James Colzie III

 
*– Ranking in final AFCA FCS Coaches Poll of 2023
 
Others Receiving Votes: Weber St., 66; North Carolina Central, 53; Eastern Illinois, 50; UT Martin, 38; Austin Peay, 35; Northern Iowa, 33; Harvard, 32; Yale, 31; Mercer, 27; Holy Cross, 20; Howard, 20; Alabama St., 17; Northern Arizona, 17; Elon, 16; Alcorn St., 9; Duquesne, 7; North Carolina A&T, 6; Fordham, 5; Gardner-Webb, 4; Indiana St., 3; Missouri St., 3; Butler, 2; Eastern Kentucky, 2; Southeast Missouri St., 2; Eastern Washington, 1; Murray St., 1; Samford, 1; Utah Tech, 1.