The Gannon Golden Knights have been picked as the preseason favorites to win the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference’s Western Division.
The 2015 PSAC preseason football poll, which surveys the league’s head coaches, chose Gannon (9-2) to repeat as champions after sharing the title with Slippery Rock in 2014.
Senior running back Brock Jones will return to lead the Golden Knights powerful rushing attack. Gannon led the PSAC West with 239.6 rushing yards per game last season.
Slippery Rock (9-3), who went on to win the PSAC Championship Game a year ago, is ranked second. The Rock will return 21 starters from last season’s championship squad, including 2014 PSAC West freshman of the year and West Mifflin graduate, defensive end Marcus Martin.
Mercyhurst (7-4) and California (8-3) tied for third in conference action last season and are ranked third and fourth, respectively coming into the 2015 season.
For the Vulcans, junior defensive back Jordan Bowman has been named a Lindy’s Sports second-team preseason All-American.
Rounding out the rankings are No. 5 IUP (6-5), No. 6 Seton Hill (3-8), No. 7 Edinboro (3-8) and No. 8 Clarion (2-9).
In the Eastern Division, returning champions Bloomsburg were picked to repeat.
The PSAC season begins on Thursday, September 3 with divisional play beginning on Saturday, September 26.
Photo credit: GoErie.com
