Wonder Boys Tied for Fourth in GAC Poll

Arkansas Tech University is picked to finish in the upper echelon of the Great American Conference during the 2018 football season.

The Wonder Boys received 86 points in a preseason poll of league head coaches. Arkansas Tech was tied for fourth place in the poll alongside Southeastern Oklahoma State University, which earned 86 points and one first-place vote.

Harding University is the preseason favorite to win the 2018 GAC football championship. The Bisons garnered eight first-place votes and 118 points. Ouachita Baptist University (2nd, 111 points) collected two first-place votes and Southern Arkansas University (3rd, 91 points) was one coach’s pick to win the league title.

After ATU and SOSU, Henderson State University (6th, 81 points) rounded out the top half of the poll.

The University of Arkansas-Monticello (7th, 58 points), Northwestern Oklahoma State University (8th, 55 points), Southern Nazarene University (9th, 30 points), Southwestern Oklahoma State University (10th, 28 points), East Central University (T-11th, 24 points) and Oklahoma Baptist University (T-11th, 24 points) complete the prognostications put forth by GAC coaches.

Head coach Raymond Monica will be in his sixth season at the helm of the ATU football program in 2018. The Wonder Boys were 8-4 overall, tied for second place in the final GAC standings and recipients of a bid to the Agent Barry Live United Texarkana Bowl last season.

It was the third consecutive winning season for Arkansas Tech, its longest such streak since 2004-06. The Wonder Boys have not compiled a string of four or more consecutive winning seasons since they had six in a row from 1967-72.

The 104th season of Arkansas Tech football will begin on Thursday, Aug. 30, when the Wonder Boys visit Southern Arkansas for a 6 p.m. GAC contest at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will provide live coverage.