FIU football picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in Conference USA’s East Division

They aren’t setting the bar very high for FIU for Butch Davis in first season at the helm.

The Panthers, who haven’t had a winning season since 2011 and were 4-8 last season, were picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in Conference USA’s East Division by a panel of media members on Tuesday.

Defending conference champion Western Kentucky, led by the conference’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year and former Davie University High star quarterback Mike White, was picked to win the East and face Louisiana Tech in a rematch of last year’s conference title game.

Middle Tennessee, Old Dominion, Marshall and rival Florida Atlantic were all picked to finish ahead of the Panthers, who were only voted ahead of Charlotte.

Davis, quarterback Alex McGough and linebacker Anthony Wint will all speak with reporters at Conference USA's Football Media Kickoff in Irving, Texas at 10:15 a.m. on Thursday. New FAU coach Lane Kiffin, offensive lineman Antonyo Woods and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair will follow FIU at 10:30 a.m.

C-USA TV will present live streaming of interviews with coaches and players via Facebook Live.

On Monday, Wint, a 6-foot, 224-pound senior out of Homestead High, was named to the preseason all-conference team. He was FIU’s lone representative.

Wint started all 12 games for the Panthers last season and finished the year with 108 total tackles (57 solo), 6.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery, earning second team all-conference honors. His 108 tackles were the sixth-most in school history for a single season at FIU.

The Panthers open the season on Thursday, Aug. 31 in Orlando against the UCF Knights.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "FIU football picked to finish sixth out of seven teams in Conference USA’s East Division."