By Wallace Dooley

Nashville, TN -- Tennessee State, which claimed its first Ohio Valley Conference football crown last season, has been picked to repeat as champion in 1999 according to a poll of the OVC's head football coaches and sports information directors. The Tigers were a near unanimous choice to win the title, earning 12 of a possible 14 first-place votes.

Tennessee State returns 17 starters (8 offense, 8 defense) from last year's 9-3 squad which earned a berth in the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time since 1986. Eight starters are back from an offensive unit which led the OVC and ranked among the top 10 teams in I-AA in passing (303.3 ypg), scoring (39.1 ppg) and total offense (467.2 ypg) a year ago. TnSU also welcomes back eight starters from a defense which topped the league in pass efficiency and scoring defense.

The Tigers also had six players named to the All-OVC Pre-Season first team, led by last year's OVC Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Leon Murray (Sr, Shreveport, LA), who passed for a league record 3,002 yards and 22 touchdowns. Joining Murray on offense are wide receiver Corey Sullivan (Sr, Miami, FL), offensive guard Bennie Anderson (Sr, St. Louis, MO) and offensive tackle Michael Thompson (Sr, Savannah, GA). Tigers defensive players name to the team are defensive lineman Lamar Carter (Sr, Tullahoma, TN) and linebacker LaBrent Sterling (Sr, Oxford, AL). Three Tigers were tabbed honorable mention, they are WR Avion Black, Center Ike Boone and DB Ligarius Jennings.