2017 North Alabama Lions football team
The 2017 North Alabama Lions football team represented the University of North Alabama during the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by first-yer head coach Chris Willis. The Lions played their home games at Braly Municipal Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference. They finished the season 5–5, 5–3 in GSC play to finish in a five-way tie for second place.
| 2017 North Alabama Lions football | |
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| Conference | Gulf South Conference |
| 2017 record | 5–5 (5–3 GSC) |
| Head coach | Chris Willis (1st season) |
| Offensive coordinator | Steadman Campbell (2nd season) |
| Defensive coordinator | Brett Borden (1st season) |
| Home stadium | Braly Municipal Stadium (Capacity: 14,215) |
| 2017 Gulf South Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 12 West Alabama $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 10 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 West Florida ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 11 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 21 Delta State ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 19 West Georgia ^ | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valdosta State | 5 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Alabama | 5 | – | 3 | 5 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Tech | 3 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi College | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shorter | 0 | – | 8 | 0 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was their final season as a member of the GSC and NCAA Division II as they will begin a transition to NCAA Division I and the Football Championship Subdivision where they will be a member of the Big South Conference in 2019 after playing 2018 as an FCS independent.
Schedule
North Alabama announced its 2017 football schedule on April 12, 2017. The schedule consists of five home and away games in the regular season. The Lions will host GSC foes Delta State, Florida Tech, Mississippi College, and West Alabama, and will travel to Shorter, Valdosta State, West Florida, and West Georgia.[1]
The Lions will host one of the two non-conference games against Texas A&M–Commerce from the Lone Star Conference and travel to Central Washington from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1[lower-alpha 1] | 6:00 p.m | No. 5 Texas A&M–Commerce* | No. 6 | L 7–8 | 6,892 | ||
| September 16 | 6:00 p.m. | at Valdosta State | No. 10 | ESPN3 | W 30–24 | 4,191 | |
| September 23 | 6:00 p.m. | West Alabama | No. 11 |
| L 17–38 | 10,327 | |
| September 30 | 1:00 p.m. | at West Georgia | L 23–37 | 4,273 | |||
| October 7 | 6:00 p.m. | Florida Tech |
| W 30–7 | 7,002 | ||
| October 14 | 12:00 p.m. | at Shorter | W 48–0 | 1,118 | |||
| October 21 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Central Washington* |
| L 10–17 | 3,719 | ||
| October 28 | 6:00 p.m. | Delta State |
| W 20–7 | 6,033 | ||
| November 4 | 4:00 p.m. | at West Florida |
| ESPN3 | L 7–30 | 5,590 | |
| November 11 | 1:30 p.m. | Mississippi College |
| W 16–7 | 7,235 | ||
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- Game was originally scheduled for August 31, but postponed due to Hurricane Harvey.
Rankings
| Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final | ||||||||
| AFCA | 6 | 11 | 10 | 10 | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | ||||||||
References
- "LIONS RELEASE 2017 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE" (Press release). University of North Alabama Department of Athletics. April 12, 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2017.