Year after year, the East Carolina University football team is overlooked in its progress to compete with other teams within the American Athletic Conference, and a lackluster 2017 preseason conference ranking shows just how the AAC committee feels.
Every year leading up to the football season, AAC media officials rank the competition in the division on their season outlook. The results of the annual AAC preseason football media poll were announced July 18, with the Pirates picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the conference’s East Division. After a below par 2016 season, followed by a disappointing 2017 preseason conference ranking, the Pirate football team needs to change its outlook on and off the field in order to turn their program around.