Southern Conference football power poll entering season

1. The Citadel

2. Chattanooga

3. Mercer

4. Western Carolina

5. Samford

6. Furman

7. Wofford

8. VMI

9: East Tennessee State

This week’s games

Thursday

The Citadel at Mercer, 7 p.m.

Mars Hill at Samford, 7 p.m.

Shorter at Chattanooga, 7 p.m.

Wofford at Tennessee Tech, 7 p.m.

Friday

Furman at Michigan State, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Western Carolina at East Carolina, 6 p.m.

VMI at Akron, 6:30 p.m.

East Tennessee State at Kennesaw State, 7 p.m.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Southern Conference football power poll entering season."