Redhawks' standing should improve in OVC football poll

The Ohio Valley Conference's preseason predictions and all-league teams for the 2011 football season will be announced today as voted on by the OVC coaches and sports information directors.

Just about every publication I've seen so far has Southeast tabbed for the upper division in the nine-team OVC, which is a far cry from where the Redhawks have been projected in the past.

But that was before the Redhawks had their historic 2010 campaign that featured the program's first OVC title and first playoff berth.

So it's no surprise that Southeast, despite losing 15 starters and several All-Americans, is getting more respect from prognosticators. In fact, the Redhawks have been ranked nationally in the preseason by at least two organizations.

Of course, the Redhawks know all too well that preseason predictions don't really mean anything. If they did, then last year's breakthrough never would have taken place.

What today's predictions really mean is that the 2011 campaign is just around the corner.

Where did all the time go? Doesn't it seem like just the other day when the Redhawks were preparing to play at Eastern Washington in the program's inaugural playoff game?

Southeast players report to fall camp next week. And after that it's only a few weeks until the highly anticipated Sept. 3 season opener at home against regional rival Southern Illinois, which the Redhawks stunned to jump-start their 2010 campaign.

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some football.

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The Redhawks will have several nice facility upgrades when they arrive for fall camp -- although many players have stuck around to train this summer.

The state-of-the-art video scoreboard and FieldTurf are in place at Houck Stadium, along with new lighting. Houck also has been repainted.

And much-needed improvements to the Rosengarten Athletic Complex are just about complete. The upgrades include a renovated locker room with more than double the space of the previous one and renovated coaches offices, meeting rooms and athletic training areas.

It's nice to see the university pumping some money into the program. That's the only way to have a shot at sustaining success so last year doesn't turn out to be a one-hit wonder.

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The start of the college basketball season is a few months away, but Southeast fans who attend both men's and women's games will need to spend more days at the Show Me Center in 2011-12.

That's because the OVC has changed its format of filling out virtually its entire conference schedule with men's and women's doubleheaders.

There still will be OVC men's and women's doubleheaders on Saturdays, but no longer on Thursdays. That means men's teams will play single games on Thursdays, while women's squads will play on Mondays.

The OVC tried something similar several years ago and it didn't work out too well regarding attendance for the women's contests, so we'll see how long this format lasts.

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Former Southeast standout kicker/punter Jason Witczak recently was signed as a kicker by the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League. He also spent last season with the Rattlers.

Witczak, who earned All-American honors as a punter in 2000 during his final season at Southeast, has played for several AFL teams over the years and also has been in various NFL camps.

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Missouri senior place-kicker Grant Ressel, a Jackson High School graduate, was selected to the 2011 preseason all-Big 12 Conference football team last week. Voting was done by media members who cover the league,

The 27-player squad featured three Tigers.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.