ODESSA, Texas – The West Texas A&M Buffaloes were tabbed fourth in the annual Lone Star Conference Preseason Football Poll announced on Thursday afternoon during the league's Media Day inside of the MCM Grande Fun Dome on the campus of UT Permian Basin. WT junior defensive back Hunter Streuling was named the league's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. The league's preseason awards and poll were selected by a vote of LSC head coaches and sports information directors, plus various media representatives from throughout the region.
 
Defending LSC Champion Texas A&M-Commerce picked up 19 of the possible 28 first place votes for a total of 269 points to sit atop of the poll followed by LSC Playoff Champion Midwestern State who received eight first place nods for a total of 254 points. Angelo State ranked third (211) followed by WT (182), Eastern New Mexico (181), Texas A&M-Kingsville (141), Tarleton State (121), Western New Mexico (66), Oklahoma Panhandle State (66) and UT Permian Basin with the last remaining first place vote for a total of 49 points.  
The Lone Star Conference expands to 10 football playing institutions for the 2016 campaign as Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin joined the league as full members back on July 1^st while Oklahoma Panhandle State joins as a football-only member. Each conference team will play nine league contests to decide the LSC Champion. Three LSC teams were included in postseason play last season, with MSU and TAMUC advancing to the NCAA Division II playoffs while ENMU played in the C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl.
 
Streuling was named the league's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after earning first team All-LSC honors last season after leading the Buffs with 89 tackles including 46 solo stops. The Austin native recorded three interceptions, which tied for the LSC and team best, along with three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble while starting all 10 games.
 
TAMUC's Richard Cooper picked up LSC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Lions with 1,331 rushing yards and 110.9 yards per game last season. He was the first Lion running back to surpass the 1,000-yard mark in a single-season since 2005. Cooper opened the 2015 season with six straight 100-yard rushing games to set a new school record and finished the season with nine games over 100-yards.  The reigning LSC Offensive Back of the Year had a season-best 158 yards on 28 carries at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
WT is coming off a 6-4 season in 2015 and a 3-3 mark in Lone Star Conference play.  The Buffs are under the direction of fourth year head coach Mike Nesbitt who is 19-12 at the helm of the program with a NCAA quarterfinal appearance in 2013. The Buffs open the 2016 slate at Azusa Pacific on Thurs., Sept. 1, followed by a road game at Colorado State-Pueblo on Sept. 10.  WT then plays at UT Permian Basin in Ratliff Stadium in Odessa on Sept. 17 on ESPN3 for its third-straight road game to open the season.
 

Rank	School	1st Place	Points
1	Texas A&M-Commerce	19	269
2	Midwestern State	8	254
3	Angelo State		211
4	West Texas A&M		182
5	Eastern New Mexico		181
6	Texas A&M-Kingsville		141
7	Tarleton State		121
t8	Western New Mexico		66
t8	Oklahoma Panhandle State		66
10	UT Permian Basin	1	46