Mountaineers the pick in SoCon

The Southern Conference's nine football coaches have chosen Appalachian State as a near-unanimous choice to repeat as league champion in 2008, it was announced Wednesday. The Mountaineers garnered eight first-place votes and 64 total points in the poll in which coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team. Appalachian State returns 14 starters from its 2007 squad, which went 13-2 and claimed the Football Championship Subdivision national title for the third year in a row. Elon, which finished 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the SoCon last season, earned one first-place vote and 47 total points to sit in the second slot. The Phoenix returns 21 starters in 2008 after recording its best SoCon finish last season. Defending co-champion Wofford (45 points) was picked to finish third in the conference, followed by Georgia Southern... [read full story]