AFCA D-II Preseason Top 25: Augustana #23, Sioux Falls Unranked

We're just a few short weeks away from kickoff to the college football season, and both the Augustana Vikings and Sioux Falls Cougars enter with high expectations.

The Vikings won the NSIC a year ago, while the Cougars weren't far behind and finished the season at 9-3 and just short of a playoff appearance.

Augustana got some love in the preseason coaches poll released on Monday, as they cracked the top 25.

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Here's a look at the poll:

1	Ferris St. (30)	14-1	773	1	Aug. 28 vs. No. 9 Pittsburg St.	Tony Annese
2	Harding	12-2	734	4	Sept. 4 at Northwestern Oklahoma St.	Paul Simmons
3	Grand Valley St.	11-2	669	6	Aug. 30 vs. Lincoln (Pa.)	Scott Wooster
4	Slippery Rock (1)	12-2	576	3	Sept. 5 at Franklin Pierce	Shawn Lutz
5	Central Oklahoma	11-2	569	9	Aug. 30 at UT-Permian Basin	Adam Dorrel
6	Colorado St.-Pueblo	10-2	549	8	Aug. 28 vs. South Dakota Mines	Philip Vigil
7	Kutztown	11-1	517	5	Sept. 4 vs. Assumption	Jim Clements
8	West Florida	7-3	504	NR	Aug. 29 vs. No. 17 Lenoir-Rhyne	Kaleb Nobles
9	Pittsburg St.	8-3	451	17	Aug. 28 at No. 1 Ferris St.	Tom Anthony
10	Western Colorado	11-2	450	10	Aug. 28 vs. West Texas A&M	Jas Bains
11	Minnesota St.	11-4	449	7	Aug. 28 vs. Northwest Missouri St.	Todd Hoffner
12	Valdosta St.	13-1	402	2	Aug. 30 vs. Clark Atlanta	Graham Craig
13	Angelo St.	9-3	352	20	Aug. 28 at Fort Hays St.	Jeff Girsch
14	Charleston	11-1	337	15	Aug. 28 vs. Livingstone	Mike Tesch
15	California (Pa.)	10-3	275	12	Sept. 4 vs. No. 14 Charleston	Gary Dunn
16	Bemidji St.	10-4	254	13	Aug. 28 at Michigan Tech	Brent Bolte
17	Lenoir-Rhyne	10-3	248	16	Aug. 29 at No. 8 West Florida	Doug Socha
18	Ouachita Baptist	10-2	246	14	Sept. 4 at East Central	Todd Knight
19	Virginia Union	10-4	228	11	Aug. 31 vs. No. 24t Miles	Alvin Parker
20	UIndy	10-2	191	19	Aug. 28 at Marian	Chris Keevers
21	Central Washington	8-4	176	24	Aug. 28 vs. Colorado Mesa	Chris Fisk
22	Central Missouri	9-3	149	NR	Aug. 28 at Delta St.	Josh Lamberson
23	Augustana (S.D.)	8-4	127	25	Aug. 30 vs. Missouri Western	Jerry Olszewski
24t.	Ashland	9-4	114	23	Sept. 4 at Indiana (Pa.)	Doug Geiser
24t.	Miles	10-3	114	22	Aug. 31 vs. No. 19 Virginia Union	Chris Goode

READ MORE: Texas Longhorns Named #1 Team in Preseason AP Top 25

Others Receiving Votes: West Alabama, 113; Carson-Newman, 100; Wingate, 74; Fort Hays St., 66; Colorado School of Mines, 42; Saginaw Valley St., 35; Minnesota-Duluth, 29; Albany St., 26; Northwest Missouri St., 21; Indiana (Pa.), 16; UT-Permian Basin, 16; Delta St., 13; Findlay, 12; UNC-Pembroke, 12; Davenport, 10; Johnson C. Smith, 9; East Stroudsburg, 7; Fairmont St., 7; Southern Arkansas, 6; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 5; Colorado Mesa, 1; Truman St., 1.

Per GoAugie.com:

Augustana, picked second in the NSIC preseason poll, concluded 2024 with an 8-4 record after going 8-2 in NSIC action on its way to its second consecutive outright conference title and just the second solo conference crown for the program since 1959. The Vikings advanced to their fourth NCAA Division II Playoff in the last five seasons.
Earlier this month, the NSIC coaches voted Augustana to finish second in the NSIC. In addition, Gunnar Hensley was selected as the NSIC South Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Logan Leonard was named NSIC Preseason Defensive Player to Watch.

Augustana opens the season on Saturday, August 30th when they play host to Missouri Western. As for USF, they head West on Thursday, August 28th to take on Black Hills State. For the latest on both programs, visit the official site links below.

Sources: AFCA Polls, GoAugie and USFCougars