In what has become an annual tradition, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is once again listed among the top programs in the nation in the preseason publications.

Chattanooga is ranked as high as No. 11 in the country by the websites and magazines who cover the Football Championship Subdivision.  The Mocs return 11 starters and 48 lettermen from last year's team that went 9-4.  UTC advanced to the FCS Playoffs for the third year in a row and finished with a No. 10 final national ranking. 

All totaled, Chattanooga has been ranked for 48 consecutive weeks, dating back to Nov. 4, 2013.  It is the sixth longest active streak in the nation. 

Lindy's FCS Top 25 has the Mocs at No. 11, one spot behind Southern Conference foe Wofford.  Other league teams in the Lindy's listings are The Citadel at No. 18 and No. 22 Samford. 

SouthernPigskin.com posted its Way Too Early FCS Top 25 back on March 15 and ranked UTC No. 13.  It also has No. 6 Wofford, No. 9 Samford, No. 12 The Citadel, No. 20 Mercer and No. 23 Furman from the SoCon. 

More recently, SouthernPigskin.com released a preseason All-SoCon team that included OL Josh Cardiello, DT Isaiah Mack, LB Dale Warren and DB Lucas Webb. 

Athlon's Preseason Top-25 has the Mocs at No. 15, along with No. 10 Wofford, No. 18 Samford and The Citadel at No. 25. 

Street & Smith has the Mocs at No. 18.  It also includes Wofford at No. 9, right behind the Weber State team UTC defeated 45-14 in the playoffs last season.  Other SoCon schools in this poll are The Citadel at No. 12 and Samford at No. 20. 

Chattanooga's first opponent of the year, Jacksonville State, is also among the top teams in the preseason rankings.  The Gamecocks are No. 4 in Lindy's, No. 5 in Street & Smith's, No. 7 in SouthernPigskin.com and No. 9 in Athlon.

The Mocs open the season in the Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff against the Gamecocks in Montgomery, Ala.,  on Aug. 26.  Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. on ESPN.  Tickets for this game, UTC's visit to LSU on Sept. 9, and the five-game home season schedule are all on sale now on GoMocs.com or by calling the UTC Ticket Office at (423) 266-MOCS (6627). 

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Preseason FCS Top 25 Poll

Rank	Lindy's	SouthernPigskin.com	Athlon	Street & Smith
1	James Madison	James Madison	North Dakota St.	Sam Houston St.
2	North Dakota St.	North Dakota St.	James Madison	North Dakota St.
3	Sam Houston St.	Eastern Washington	South Dakota St.	James Madison
4	Jacksonville St.	South Dakota St.	Sam Houston St.	South Dakota St.
5	Eastern Washington	Richmond	North Dakota	Jacksonville St.
6	North Dakota	Wofford	Eastern Washington	Richmond
7	South Dakota St.	Jacksonville St.	Richmond	Villanova
8	Richmond	Sam Houston St.	Villanova	Weber St.
9	Youngstown St.	Samford	Jacksonville St.	Wofford
10	Wofford	Villanova	Wofford	Eastern Washington
11	Chattanooga	Youngstown St.	New Hampshire	Illinois State
12	Charleston Southern	The Citadel	Lehigh	The Citadel
13	Villanova	Chattanooga	Northern Iowa	Charleston Southern
14	Illinois State	North Dakota	Youngstown St.	North Dakota
15	New Hampshire	Central Arkansas	Chattanooga	Grambling
16	Central Arkansas	Montana	Charleston Southern	Central Arkansas
17	Lehigh	Northern Arizona	Central Arkansas	Youngstown St.
18	The Citadel	New Hampshire	Samford	Chattanooga
19	Northern Arizona	Northern Iowa	Western Illinois	Albany
20	Fordham	Mercer	Albany	Samford
21	Grambling	Lehigh	Fordham	Tennessee St.
22	Samford	Illinois State	Cal Poly	N.C. Central
23	Northern Iowa	Furman	Liberty	McNeese St.
24	Montana	William & Mary	McNeese	Lehigh
25	Kennesaw State	Kennesaw St.	The Citadel	San Diego