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The Missouri Southern Lions football team was picked to finish sixth by the coaches on Monday at MIAA Football Media Day in Kansas City. The Lions were picked seventh in the media poll.
“I think they picked us where we should be, sixth in one seventh in the other,” Missouri Southern football coach Bart Tatum said. “That is where we need to be. We earned that. There is no secret to it, you look at what happened last year and you base everything on that. Until we can show up and beat not just one ranked team, but two or three, you have to put together a string of quality wins to get out of the bottom half of the league. That is a tough thing to do in the league, but I think we can do it.”
In 2010, Southern finished with a 4-7 record (2-7 in the MIAA) and ended up eighth in the final standings.
This year, the MIAA loses Nebraska-Omaha but stays at 10 teams with the addition of Lincoln University into the conference. Last year, Southern defeated Lincoln 38-7, in a non-conference affair.
Despite being picked so low by both the coaches and media, the goal remains unchanged for Tatum and the Lions.
“Our goal is to get out of the bottom half of the league and get some quality wins and challenge for the playoffs,” Tatum said. “Again, we aren’t talking about a bowl game, we are talking about playoffs. We want in the postseason, I think we can do that.”
Tatum and the Lions have two big home matchups this year against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference preseason polls.
On Sept. 17, MSSU opens their home slate against the Washburn Ichabods. The Ichabods were picked to finish second by both the coaches and the media, collecting 3-of-10 first place votes from the coaches and 7-of-30 from the media.
On Oct. 29, the Lions will face off with five-time defending MIAA champion Northwest Missouri State in their home finale. The Bearcats were picked to win the conference for the sixth straight year.
Tatum hopes that the home-field advantage will be enough to help the Lions to big, program defining wins over Northwest and Washburn.
“Words can’t express how big it would be,” Tatum stressed. “We have terrific fans, we averaged 4,500, 5,000 (fans) a game last year and they come out and support us. They are good people.”
MSSU will open their 2011 slate with a Thursday night matchup in Warrensburg, Mo., on Sept. 1 against Central Missouri.
Pittsburg State was picked to finish fifth in both the coaches’ and media poll. The Gorillas finished 6-6 last season and defeated Concordia-St. Paul in the Mineral Water Bowl.
The Missouri Southern Lions football team was picked to finish sixth by the coaches on Monday at MIAA Football Media Day in Kansas City. The Lions were picked seventh in the media poll.
“I think they picked us where we should be, sixth in one seventh in the other,” Missouri Southern football coach Bart Tatum said. “That is where we need to be. We earned that. There is no secret to it, you look at what happened last year and you base everything on that. Until we can show up and beat not just one ranked team, but two or three, you have to put together a string of quality wins to get out of the bottom half of the league. That is a tough thing to do in the league, but I think we can do it.”
In 2010, Southern finished with a 4-7 record (2-7 in the MIAA) and ended up eighth in the final standings.
This year, the MIAA loses Nebraska-Omaha but stays at 10 teams with the addition of Lincoln University into the conference. Last year, Southern defeated Lincoln 38-7, in a non-conference affair.
Despite being picked so low by both the coaches and media, the goal remains unchanged for Tatum and the Lions.
“Our goal is to get out of the bottom half of the league and get some quality wins and challenge for the playoffs,” Tatum said. “Again, we aren’t talking about a bowl game, we are talking about playoffs. We want in the postseason, I think we can do that.”
Tatum and the Lions have two big home matchups this year against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference preseason polls.
On Sept. 17, MSSU opens their home slate against the Washburn Ichabods. The Ichabods were picked to finish second by both the coaches and the media, collecting 3-of-10 first place votes from the coaches and 7-of-30 from the media.
On Oct. 29, the Lions will face off with five-time defending MIAA champion Northwest Missouri State in their home finale. The Bearcats were picked to win the conference for the sixth straight year.
Tatum hopes that the home-field advantage will be enough to help the Lions to big, program defining wins over Northwest and Washburn.
“Words can’t express how big it would be,” Tatum stressed. “We have terrific fans, we averaged 4,500, 5,000 (fans) a game last year and they come out and support us. They are good people.”
MSSU will open their 2011 slate with a Thursday night matchup in Warrensburg, Mo., on Sept. 1 against Central Missouri.
Pittsburg State was picked to finish fifth in both the coaches’ and media poll. The Gorillas finished 6-6 last season and defeated Concordia-St. Paul in the Mineral Water Bowl.
