GSC Preseason Poll: UWF football predicted to finish second in conference

For the second consecutive season, the University of West Florida football team is predicted to finish in second in the Gulf South Conference.

The conference posted its 2024 GSC Football Coaches Preseason Poll on Tuesday, which has the Argos finishing just behind Valdosta State – the former home of UWF head coach Kaleb Nobles, who played for the Blazers before transferring to UWF for its inaugural season in 2016.

2024 UWF Football Schedule: See who and where the Argos are playing this season

The Argos earned 42 points with one first-place vote. Valdosta State, which shared the 2023 GSC conference title with Delta State in 2023, topped the poll with 46 points and five first-place votes. Delta State took third, just behind UWF, with 41 points and two first-place votes.

Rounding out the poll were West Alabama (30 points), North Greenville (24 points), Mississippi College (21 points), Chowan (10 points) and Erskine (10 points). This is Erskine’s first and only season as an affiliate member of the GSC.

The GSC is down two members from the 2023 football season, with Shorter University leaving to officially join Conference Carolinas – though are independent in football and play all eight members of the GSC this coming season. The University of West Georgia also left the GSC and jumped to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference.

UWF is coming off an 8-4 (6-2 GSC) 2023 cam paign in Nobles’ first year as head coach of the program, with the Argos taking third in the final standings for the conference. One of those losses came to Division I Florida A&M in a special contest in Tallahassee during Week 3 of the season.

The other blemishes in the record were a narrow 10-6 loss to West Alabama and another close 31-28 defeat to Valdosta State at home, followed by a 49-14 loss in the NCAA Division II Super Region 2 first-round game.

The Argos hold an all-time 37-17 GSC record since their first season in 2016, finishing 23rd in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll at the end of the year.

UWF kicks off the 2024 season on Sept. 5 with a home game against McKendree University. The Argos topped the Bearcats, 35-3, in Illinois last season. UWF’s first conference game is slated for Week 3, after a bye week, against West Alabama on Sept. 21 at home.

Ben Grieco is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached on X (@BenGriecoSports) and via email at BGrieco@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: GSC Preseason Poll: UWF football predicted to finish second in conference