STATESBORO —  The Sports Media Entertainment Network unveiled its inaugural national NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision poll, and Georgia Southern University was ranked 28th in its preseason poll.
 Poll voters consist of Radio and TV broadcasters from around the FCS.
Georgia Southern received 27 votes in the SMEN preseason poll. According to the poll, six of the Eagles’ nine FCS opponents this year — including four Southern Conference members — are ranked or received votes. Those include: Appalachian State (1st), Furman (9th), Wofford (15th), Coastal Carolina (21st), South Dakota State (24th) and The Citadel (2 votes).
The Eagles, who have made 16 career FCS playoffs appearances and won an unprecedented six National Championships, return 42 letterwinners and 16 starters off last year’s 3-8 team that finished with the seventh-toughest schedule among all FCS teams.
Georgia Southern and its first-year head coach Chris Hatcher open the 2007 season at Paulson Stadium on Sept. 8, against West Georgia with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. For ticket information call the Georgia Southern ticket office at (912) 681-0123 or 800-GSU-WINS.

The top 25 schools
1. Appalachian St. 20 first-place votes (500)
2. Montana (441)
3. Massachusetts (427)
4. North Dakota St. (417)
5. Youngstown St. (402)
6. New Hampshire (392)
7. Northern Iowa (352)
8. James Madison (351)
9. Furman (296)
10. Southern Illinois (271)
11. Illinois St. (265)
12. Cal Poly (242)
13. McNeese St. (239)
14. Portland St. (235)
15. Wofford (218)
16. Tennessee-Martin (165)
17. Hampton (153)
18. Montana St. (147)
19. Eastern Illinois (145)
20. Delaware (140)
21. Coastal Carolina (119)
22. San Diego (79)
23. Princeton (60)
24. South Dakota St. (56)
25. Sam Houston St. (43)