Troy has been selected to finish fifth in the annual Sun Belt Conference Preseason Football Poll, the league office announced Thursday. The predicted order of finish was selected by the league’s 11 head coaches.

Appalachian State and Arkansas State both received five first place votes, but the Mountaineers were selected to win the league with 114 points and the Red Wolves were picked to finish second with 110 points. The predicted champion has won the league just once since 2010. Georgia Southern received the other first place and was selected to finish in third place with 98 points. Georgia State was picked to finish fourth followed by Troy and UL Lafayette in a tie for fifth place. The rest of the poll featured South Alabama, Idaho, New Mexico State, Texas State and ULM in the seven through 11 spots, respectively.  Troy opens the 2016 season on Sept. 3 when it plays host to Austin Peay in the first of six home games in Veterans Memorial Stadium.

2016 Sun Belt Football Coaches Predicted Order of Finish (first place votes)

1. Appalachian St. (5) – 114 pts

2. Arkansas State (5) – 110 pts

3. Georgia Southern (1) – 98 pts

4. Georgia State – 73 pts

5. Troy – 70 pts

5. UL Lafayette – 70 pts

7. South Alabama – 62 pts

8. Idaho – 48 pts

9. New Mexico St. – 37 pts

10. Texas State – 30 pts

11. UL Monroe – 14 pts