SXU Football Ranked No. 5 In NAIA Preseason Poll

CHICAGO — Football season soon returns to the campus of Saint Xavier University, and there's an added buzz at the school located in the far Southwest corner of Chicago. That's because the Cougars are ranked fifth in the country in the AFCA-NAIA Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, which the American Football Coaches Association announced on Monday.

The top four rankings went to Morningside (Iowa), Benedictine (Kansas), Saint Francis (Indiana) and Kansas Wesleyan.

SXU's No. 5 ranking is the highest the program has been at in the preseason since 2005, but Head Coach Mike Feminis says it all comes down to proving it on the field.

"[The ranking] is nice for our fans and people who follow the program, but they're largely reflective of the year before," said Saint Xavier head coach Mike Feminis. "Beating Marian (a highly ranked NAIA team from Indianapolis) in the playoffs last year, and having a lot of starters returning really helps, but we're going to have to prove it on the field. The rating is our expectation level; we want to make another deep run in the playoffs."

The Cougars reached the NAIA quarterfinals last year after defeating Marian in a first-round playoff upset. The upset followed a season in which SXU won their second consecutive Mid-States Football Association championship and a second straight year of going undefeated in league play.

This year's squad kicks it off on Saturday, Sept. 7 with a road game against Lawrence Tech (Michigan). The home opener is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 against Wisconsin-Whitewater.