SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The only thing new about the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team's Southern Conference media day experience was the players representing the Mocs.
The results have been the same for four straight seasons.
The Mocs, who are becoming the new standard for the new-look Southern Conference, received seven of nine first-place votes in the coaches' poll and 26 out of 28 first-place votes in the media poll to be the overwhelming preseason favorite to win what would be their fourth consecutive league title. They were also picked to finish first each of the past three seasons.
Defensive end Keionta Davis was the preseason pick for defensive player of the year, and a total of 10 Mocs were chosen for first- or second-team all-conference honors announced Wednesday at the media event at the Spartanburg Marriott.
"That's just a testament to how much work we've put in over the years and the guys before us that helped us get to where we're at," said Davis, a Red Bank High School alum entering his senior season.
"It's just good to see us on top. We were at the bottom for so long, fighting to get on top, but once we got wins, we started rolling and the team started changing, the atmosphere starting changing and the city started changing. To see all that at once is a result of what we've been doing in the offseason. It's really good to see and be a part of."
Davis was joined by Mocs linebacker Nakevion Leslie and defensive back Lucas Webb on the first-team defense, while defensive end Vantrel McMillan and defensive back Cedric Nettles were on the second team. Running back Derrick Craine, who was second in the league in rushing yards per game last season, and offensive linemen Corey Levin - the two-time winner of the SoCon Jacobs Blocking Award - and Jacob Revis represented UTC on the first-team offense. Mocs offensive lineman Josh Cardiello was a second-team pick.
Kicker Henrique Ribeiro was a first-team specialist.
The Citadel, which shared the 2015 SoCon championship with the Mocs, received one first-place vote in the coaches' poll and two in the media poll. Head coaches weren't allowed to vote for their own school. Samford was picked third by the coaches (receiving the final first-place vote) but was fifth in the media poll, while Western Carolina was fourth for coaches and third for media.
Mercer - the only team to defeat the Mocs in conference play in the past two seasons - was picked fourth by media and fifth by coaches. Wofford, Furman, Virginia Military Institute and East Tennessee State rounded out the polls.
Along with increasing the preseason expectations placed on them by outsiders, the Mocs' recent success is sure to enlarge the bull's-eye pasted on the program by other SoCon teams. They started to feel that last season, when they made their second straight appearance in the FCS playoffs, and they don't see it changing this year.
"We're going to get everyone's best game, week in and week out," Levin said. "We've got to prepare like it's going to be the toughest game of the season, a one-game season, every week of the season.
"If we approach it like that and focus and prepare like we know we can, we should put ourselves in a position to win."
Western Carolina's Detrez Newsome, who rushed for 1,109 yards and nine touchdowns in 2015, was the pick for offensive player of the year. The Catamounts matched UTC with a league-high 10 preseason selections.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.