SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Citadel Football team was predicted to finish seventh in the Southern Conference for the upcoming 2009 season by a vote of members of the Southern Conference Sports Media Association. Following the lead of the league's coaches on Monday, the media members who cover Southern Conference football selected Appalachian State as the preseason favorite.

The Citadel received 165 votes and are predicted to finish seventh as the Bulldogs are coming off a 4-8 season.

The Mountaineers received all but two of the first place votes with Elon and Georgia Southern splitting the rest.

ASU is gunning for its fifth straight SoCon championship, a feat that would put the Mountaineers in rare company, as only Georgia Southern (1997-2002) has won a share of at least five straight conference titles in the league's 89-year history.

Elon, the league's third-place finisher in 2008 at 6-2, was selected to finish second, and the Phoenix grabbed one first-place vote.

Following Elon in third was Wofford (326), a team which has reached the FCS playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

Georgia Southern (275) received the final first-place vote and was picked to finish fourth by the media voters.

Furman (260) and Samford (194) were fifth and sixth, respectively, while The Citadel (165), Western Carolina (94) and Chattanooga (57) completed the rankings.

The 2009 Southern Conference football season begins on Thursday, Sept. 3 when Chattanooga entertains Glenville State at Finley Stadium at 7 p.m. The first SoCon game of the season is Saturday, Sept. 12 when Furman travels to face Chattanooga at 6 p.m. Western Carolina visits Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19 to kick off the SoCon Saturday broadcast package on SportSouth.

The Citadel kicks off the 2009 season at North Carolina on Sept. 5 at 6 p.m. For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.