Lenoir-Rhyne University is ranked No. 23 in the 2012 D2Football.com Top 25 National Preseason Poll. Pittsburg State (Kan.) (13-1) is the top-ranked team in the poll after winning the 2011 NCAA

Division II National Championship game last December. L-R, the defending South Atlantic Conference Champions, opens the 2012 season this Saturday when it travels to Athens, W.Va., to take on Concord beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Mountain Lions finished 7-4 last season, earned a playoff berth and won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Championship.
Concord will be hosting Lenoir-Rhyne in the season opener for the second straight year. In 2011, the Bears prevailed by a 26-6 score on Saturday, September 3. Lenoir-Rhyne, which tied Mars Hill last year for the league crown, finished 7-3 last season including a 6-1 mark in SAC play to go along with a four-game winning streak to end the campaign.
L-R, under second-year Head Coach Mike Houston, returns 18 starters from last fall and was picked to repeat as league champions in this summer's preseason coaches poll.
Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Davidson the following weekend in its home opener on Saturday, September 8, at Moretz Stadium. Kickoff time for the contest is set for 7:00 p.m.

2012 D2Football.com
Preseason Top 25 Poll

1. Pittsburg State (Kan.) 13-1
2. Minnesota-Duluth 11-3
3. Northwest Missouri State 11-3
4. Grand Valley State (Mich.) 8-3
5. Midwestern State (Texas) 10-1
6. Colorado State-Pueblo 11-1
7. Missouri Western 9-3
8. West Alabama 8-4
9. Abilene Christian (Texas) 8-3
10. Hillsdale (Mich.) 8-3
11. California (Pa.) 10-3
12. West Texas A&M 8-3
13. Valdosta State (Ga.) 6-4
14. Minnesota State 9-3
15. Winston-Salem State (N.C.) 13-1
16. New Haven (Conn.) 11-2
17. Saginaw Valley (Mich.) 7-4
18. Kutztown (Pa.) 11-2
19. Wayne State (Mich.) 12-4
20. North Alabama 9-3
21. Bloomsburg (Pa.) 9-2
22. Central Missouri 8-4
23. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) 7-3
24. Shepherd (W.Va.) 9-2
25. Washburn (Kan.) 10-3

Photo Courtesy: Michael Green, L-R Athletics