Arkansas Online · Jul 22, 2018
Red Wolves carrying favored role well
Preseason polls matter when they need to.
It's a convenient thing.
When a team gets ranked low, it "provides adversity."
When a team gets ranked high, a team "can't get complacent."
The Sun Belt Conference favorite has only held up in three of the past seven seasons, and by Week 5, you forget about the whole poll anyway.
One of the things it does accomplish in the dog days of summer is doling out a little prestige -- something Arkansas State University has never received from the preseason poll despite winning conference championships in five of the past seven seasons.
Until now.