PITMAN, N.J. – New Jersey Athletic Conference coaches have chosen the Salisbury University football team to claim the league title in 2016, pending the release of  the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll results.

According to the Salisbury University Athletic Department, SU sits atop the poll after claiming three first-place votes, and if the poll rings true it would make back-to-back titles for the Sea Gulls who shared top honors in 2015 with Wesley College, which finished second in the preseason poll for 2016, earning five first-place votes.

Salisbury went 7-3 last year, including a 7-1 mark in NJAC play in the team’s first year in the league, and earned the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament by virtue of its 38-35 win against Wesley, SU officials say.

Frostburg State University was tabbed to finish third, garnering one first-place vote, while Rowan University picked up the other first-place nod and is predicted to finish in fourth.

The next six teams in the poll, respectively, are Kean University, Montclair State University, Christopher Newport University, The College of New Jersey, William Paterson University, and Southern Virginia University.

Salisbury kicks off the 2016 season hosting Albright College on Friday, September 2, at Sea Gull Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. NJAC play begins two weeks later when the Sea Gulls host Montclair State on September 17.

To see the NJAC release on the preseason poll, click here.