DALLAS – Missouri State rolled to the Lone Star Alliance Division II championship in its first season in the league last spring and now the Bears are favored to repeat to feat according to the LSA’s preseason coaches poll.

Missouri State (12-3) edged out Louisiana (8-5) by a single vote for the top spot. The Bears and Ragin’ Cajuns have combined to win the last three LSA titles.

UT-Dallas (12-3), which met up with MoState in the finals last spring, has been slotted third while Baylor (10-3) wraps up the top four.

“We're excited about this year's team,” said Missouri State coach Dustin Rich. “We lost a lot of talent offensively and defensively, but with another large freshman class and three key transfer students, I'm really excited to see what we can do this year.

“We are excited to compete for another conference title, but obviously we have to play one game at a time. We talk about three things almost every day at practice: work hard, compete, and be positive – and we hope to do that in the spring.”

The 26-team team conference – by far the largest in the MCLA in either division – will also be contested by Rice (6-2) and Tulane (3-4), according to the preseason poll.

2019 LSA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll