Overview: The 2017 football season was probably was one of the most bizarre seasons of note in the 48-year history of the Gulf South Conference. The eventual champion for last season, the University of West Alabama Tigers (10-3 overall in 2017) finished GSC play at 7-1, while five other teams, including the eventual national runners-up in the University of West Florida Argonauts (11-4 overall), finished in a five-way tie for second place at 5-3 in the GSC, with West Georgia and Delta State joining both UWA and UWF in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Once playoff time arrived, it was West Florida that produced one of the most unlikely runs in college football postseason history, as the Argonauts upset multiple teams, including GSC champion West Alabama, as well as then-undefeated and top-ranked Indiana (Pa.) on the road, to reach their first-ever national championship game in just their second season of action, losing to Texas A&M-Commerce in a tight 37-27 tilt.
The 2018 season brings a couple of changes to the GSC membership, as North Greenville University of Tigerville, South Carolina joins the conference as an associate member. The Crusaders (4-6 in 2017) will replace a longtime league mainstay in the University of North Alabama. UNA (5-5 in 2017) left the GSC and the NCAA Division II ranks to begin a four-year transition to the NCAA Division I level. The Lions will join the Big South Conference to play FCS football in 2019.
But no matter which teams make up the membership of the new-look GSC, expect the upstart West Florida squad to be among the top teams not only in the conference but at the D-II level as a whole, with the Argos being ranked as a preseason No. 1 team by two publications: Lindy's and Street and Smith's. Still, don't be surprised if West Alabama, West Georgia, Delta State, and even Valdosta State have a say as to who ultimately comes out on top in the GSC this season.
NOTE: If the link to the team's schedule is not highlighted, it means that the team has not submitted its schedule for the 2018 season. When the team's schedule is submitted, the link (s) will appear in each blog post. Also, please visit the RFC blog at realfootballcentral.blogspot.com for preseason previews, schedules, schedule updates, and much more.
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