Oklahoma City – After claiming both the regular season and tournament championships last season, Mid-America University claimed the 2023 Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Preseason Poll as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
The Evangels earned the top spot with 87 points and grabbed eight first-place ballots after winning the regular season title with an overall record of 19-2-2 and finished league play with a 7-0-2 mark before winning the conference tournament by defeating Science and Arts 3-0 in the title match. Mid-America earned a berth into the NAIA National Tournament and fell in the quarterfinals to Rio Grande 2-1.
The Drovers grabbed the second slot in the poll with 77 points as they also earned a first-place vote. Science and Arts placed third in the regular season last year with an overall record of 12-5-3 and a conference mark of 5-2-2 before dropping the title game to Mid-America 3-0.
John Brown earned the third position in the poll with 74 points as the Golden Eagles also garnered a first-place vote. John Brown finished the regular season last year with a 10-4-3 overall record and a 5-3-1 mark in league play.
Last year’s regular season runner-up Southwestern Christian is in the fourth spot in the poll with 72 points after recording a 9-6-5 overall record and a 5-1-3 mark in league play.
Oklahoma City rounds out the top five with 58 points after the Stars wrapped up the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 10-7-1 and finished conference action with a 4-4-1 mark.
Complete Pre-Season Poll (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)
- Mid-America Christian 87 (8)
- Science and Arts 77 (1)
- John Brown 74 (1)
- Southwestern Christian 72
- Oklahoma City 58
- Texas Wesleyan 49
- Wayland 44
- Central Christian 35
- Panhandle State 25
- SAGU 21