2017 Delta State Statesmen football team

The 2017 Delta State Statesmen football team represented Delta State University in the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Todd Cooley. The Statesmen will played their home games at McCool Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference.

2017 Delta State Statesmen football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
2017 record	9–4 (5–3 GSC)
Head coach	Todd Cooley (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joel Williams (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Jerry Partridge (1st season)
Home stadium	Parker Field at Horace McCool Stadium (Capacity: 8,125)

2017 Gulf South Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 West Alabama $^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 2 West Florida ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 21 Delta State ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
No. 19 West Georgia ^		5	–	3					9	–	4
Valdosta State		5	–	3					5	–	4
North Alabama		5	–	3					5	–	5
Florida Tech		3	–	5					5	–	6
Mississippi College		1	–	7					1	–	9
Shorter		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AFCA Poll

Schedule

Delta State announced its 2017 football schedule on December 27, 2016 which consists of six home and five away games in the regular season. The Statesmen will host GSC foes Florida Tech, Valdosta State, West Alabama and West Georgia, and will travel to Mississippi College, North Alabama, Shorter, and West Florida.

The Statesmen will host two of the three non-conference games against Chowan of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Tarleton State of the Lone Star Conference and will travel to North Greenville whom is independent from a conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	2:00 p.m	Tarleton State*		Mickey Sellers Field Cleveland, MS		W 34–16	5,155
September 9	2:00 p.m.	Chowan*		McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		W 42-13	5,255
September 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 17 West Georgia	No. 24	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		W 17-7	5,255
September 23	12:00 p.m.	at Shorter	No. 17	Barron Stadium Rome, GA	ESPN3	W 54-20	1,100
September 30	7:00 p.m.	at Mississippi College	No. 13	Robinson–Hale Stadium Clinton, MS (Rivalry)	ESPN3	W 30-17	6,348
October 7	6:00 p.m.	West Alabama	No. 9	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		L 26-29	7,856
October 14	4:00 p.m.	at West Florida	No. 21	Blue Wahoos Stadium Pensacola, FL		W 28-25	5,458
October 21	2:00 p.m.	Valdosta State	No. 19	McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		L 13-34	3,451
October 28	6:00 p.m.	at North Alabama		Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL		L 7-20	6,033
November 4	1:30 p.m.	at North Greenville*		Younts Stadium Tigerville, SC		W 33-30 ^OT	3,033
November 11	2:00 p.m.	Florida Tech		McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS	ESPN3	W 42-20	6,555
November 18	10:00 a.m.	at No. 14 Bowie State*		Bulldog Stadium Bowie, MD (Division II Playoffs First Round)		W 45-35	2,214
November 25	12:00 p.m.	at No. 17 West Alabama*		Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL (Division II Playoffs Second Round)		L 20-27	4,893
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AFCA	RV	RV	24	17	13	9	21	19	RV	NR	RV	RV	21

References