# 2017 Southern Conference football season

The 2017 Southern Conference football season was the 96th season of college football for the Southern Conference (SoCon) and formed a part of the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

## Preseason poll results

First place votes in parentheses
| Media | Media | Media | Coaches | Coaches | Coaches |
| Place | School | Points | Place | School | Points |
| 1 | Wofford (11) | 178 | 1 | Wofford (7) | 63 |
| 2 | The Citadel (6) | 166 | 2 | The Citadel (2) | 54 |
| 3 | Samford (3) | 156 | 3 | Samford | 52 |
| 4 | Chattanooga (2) | 152 | 4 | Chattanooga | 41 |
| 5 | Mercer | 101 | 5 | Mercer | 32 |
| 6 | Furman | 87 | 6 | Western Carolina | 27 |
| 7 | Western Carolina | 71 | 7 | Furman | 26 |
| 8 | ETSU | 49 | 8 | ETSU | 17 |
| 9 | VMI | 30 | 9 | VMI | 12 |

### Preseason All-Conference Teams

Offensive Player of the Year: Devlin Hodges, R-Jr., QB, Samford Defensive Player of the Year: Kailik Williams, Sr., DB, The Citadel
| Position | Player | Class | Team |
| First Team Offense ||||
| QB | Devlin Hodges | R–Jr. | Samford |
| RB | Cam Jackson | Sr. | The Citadel |
| RB | Detrez Newsome | Sr. | Western Carolina |
| WR | Kelvin McKnight | Jr. | Samford |
| WR | Terryon Robinson | R-Sr. | Western Carolina |
| TE | Sam Walker | R-Jr. | Mercer |
| OL | Tyler Davis | Jr. | The Citadel |
| OL | Matthew Schmidt | Sr. | Furman |
| OL | Thomas Marchman | Sr. | Mercer |
| OL | Josh Cardiello | Sr. | Chattanooga |
| OL | Roo Daniels | Sr. | Wofford |
| First Team Defense ||||
| DL | Ahmad Gooden | R-Jr. | Samford |
| DL | Isaiah Mack | Jr. | Chattanooga |
| DL | Miles Brown | Jr. | Wofford |
| DL | Tyler Vaughn | Sr. | Wofford |
| LB | Shaheed Salmon | Sr. | Samford |
| LB | Dale Warren | Sr. | Chattanooga |
| LB | Allan Cratsenberg | Sr. | VMI |
| LB | Datavious Wilson | So. | Wofford |
| DB | Kailik Williams | Sr. | The Citadel |
| DB | Omari Williams | Sr. | Samford |
| DB | Lucas Webb | Sr. | Chattanooga |
| DB | Devin Watson | Jr. | Wofford |
| First Team Special Teams ||||
| PK | Cole Fisher | Jr. | Mercer |
| P | Ian Berryman | R-Jr. | Western Carolina |
| RS | Detrez Newsome | Sr. | Western Carolina |
| Reference: ||||

## Rankings

Legend :
* Increase in ranking
* Decrease in ranking
* Not ranked previous week
| | | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Final |
| Chattanooga | Stats | 12 | 13 | 15 | RV | RV | RV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chattanooga | C | 13 | 14 | 15 | RV | RV | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chattanooga | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | Not released | Not released |
| The Citadel | Stats | 16 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | – | – | – | – |
| The Citadel | C | 12 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | – | – | – | – |
| The Citadel | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | | | | Not released | Not released |
| East Tennessee State | Stats | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| East Tennessee State | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| East Tennessee State | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| Furman | Stats | | | | | | | | | | 23 | 21 | 20 | 22 | 19 |
| Furman | C | | | | | | | | | | | RV | 24 | 25 | 20 |
| Furman | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| Mercer | Stats | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mercer | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mercer | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| Samford | Stats | 19 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 25 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 18 |
| Samford | C | 19 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 17 |
| Samford | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| VMI | Stats | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| VMI | C | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| VMI | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| Western Carolina | Stats | – | RV | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 24 | 22 | RV | RV | RV |
| Western Carolina | C | – | – | – | – | RV | RV | 25 | 21 | 20 | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV |
| Western Carolina | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |
| Wofford | Stats | 11 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| Wofford | C | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
| Wofford | FCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | – | – | – | Not released | Not released |

## Regular season

* Index to colors and formatting
* SoCon member won
* SoCon member lost
* SoCon teams in bold
All times Eastern time.
Rankings reflect that of the Sports Network poll for that week.

### Week One

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Two

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Three

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Four

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Five

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Six

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Seven

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Eight

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Nine

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Ten

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Eleven

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Twelve

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |
Players of the week:
| Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive | Special teams | Special teams |
| Player | Team | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| Reference: Weekly Release ||||||

### Week Thirteen

| Date | Time | Visiting team | Home team | Site | Broadcast | Result | Attendance | Reference |

## Records against other conferences
### FCS conferences

| Conference | Record |
| Big South | 5–1 |
| CAA | 1–2 |
| MVFC | 0–1 |
| NEC | 1–1 |
| OVC | 0–2 |
| Patriot | 1–0 |
| Pioneer | 2–0 |
| Total | 10–7 |

### FBS conferences

| Conference | Record |
| ACC | 0–3 |
| MWC | 0–2 |
| SEC | 0–5 |
| Total | 0–10 |

## Attendance

| Team | Stadium | Capacity | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Total | Average | % of Capacity |
| Chattanooga | Finley Stadium | 20,668 | 10,141 | 10,101 | 9,651 | 7,521 | 8,434 | | 45,848 | 9,170 | 44.4% |
| The Citadel | Johnson Hagood Stadium | 21,000 | 7,467 | 9,969 | 8,543 | 11,609 | 7,384 | | 44,972 | 8,994 | 42.8% |
| East Tennessee State | William B. Greene Jr. Stadium | 10,000 | 9,530 | 7,544 | 8,022 | 8,540 | 7,087 | 7,327 | 48,050 | 8,008 | 80.1% |
| Furman | Paladin Stadium | 16,000 | 6,342 | 7,104 | 7,216 | 8,108 | 10,105 | | 38,875 | 7,775 | 48.6% |
| Mercer | Moye Complex | 10,200 | 9,727 | 11,727 | 10,207 | 9,864 | 10,200 | | 51,725 | 10,345 | 101.4% |
| Samford | Seibert Stadium | 6,700 | 4,908 | 4,509 | 9,233 | 3,523 | 5,178 | 4,673 | 32,024 | 5,337 | 79.7% |
| VMI | Alumni Memorial Field | 10,000 | 4,654 | 5,311 | 3,310 | 4,119 | 4,229 | | 21,623 | 4,325 | 43.2% |
| Western Carolina | E. J. Whitmire Stadium | 13,742 | 11,763 | 12,018 | 8,300 | 9,973 | 10,681 | | 52,735 | 10,547 | 76.8% |
| Wofford | Gibbs Stadium | 13,000 | 7,237 | 7,211 | 6,982 | 7,236 | 5,012 | 5,153 | 38,831 | 6,472 | 49.8% |