SAN ANTONIO — The Roadrunners football program may be adjusting to a new conference next season, but external expectations are as high as internal ones after UTSA was picked to finish second in an American Athletic Conference (AAC) preseason media poll.
UTSA gathered nine first-place votes in the poll, bested only by defending champion Tulane, which garnered 20 first-place votes.
"We've got a lot of great players, so we know we're going to have a good football team as well," Head coach Jeff Traylor said this week during AAC Media Days in Arlington.
Traylor's squad is coming off back-to-back Conference USA titles, has won at least 11 games in each of the past two seasons and has emerged as a new Texas football powerhouse during Traylor's tenure. The 'Runners have also appeared in a bowl game for three years running, and only three teams in the country have tallied more wins over the last two seasons.
>See the preseason media poll results below:
- Tulane: 20 first-place votes (457 total points)
- UTSA: Nine first-place votes (440)
- SMU: Three first-place votes (397)
- Memphis: One first-place vote (362)
- Florida Atlantic (312)
- East Carolina (303)
- North Texas (261)
- UAB: One first-place vote (209)
- Navy (199)
- Temple (182)
- Tulsa (160)
- Rice (138)
- South Florida (86)
- Charlotte (64)
The pieces are in place for UTSA to make some noise in the AAC this year. All-Conference quarterback Frank Harris, named Conference USA MVP for a 2022 campaign in which he racked up 32 touchdowns, is set to return for a final season.
"We've only been playing football going on 13 years, and we're taking on programs that have been playing for over a hundred," Traylor said about the conference switch. "It's so hard to keep momentum in college football. Now that we're going to this new league, it's very important that we continue to push. That we just keep pressing."
UTSA's season kicks off against Houston for a second consecutive season, a Sept. 2 road matchup. It's the first of three nationally televised games for the 'Runners this year.
>MORE UTSA FOOTBALL NEWS:
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