Jacksonville State might not have been eligible for the Ohio Valley Conference preseason football poll, but judging from the results announced Monday, the Gamecocks' absence played a part in deciding the order of finish.

The OVC coaches and publicists installed Eastern Kentucky as the favorite — for the third time in five years — but they also bestowed first-place votes on five of the eight teams that were eligible for the poll.

A conference official said he thought the Gamecocks —with a Payton Award candidate quarterback and two preseason All-Americans — would have been the clear favorite had an NCAA postseason ban that prevents them from winning the title rendered them ineligible.

So with JSU out of the picture, the preseason ballot became a free-for-all.

"When you see a spread in the first picks, it's some indication that … it was really hard to have a clear-cut pick among those they're picking from," Gamecocks coach Jack Crowe said. "It doesn't indicate they had a team they would have picked — or they didn't think there was one."

The Colonels received 10 first-place votes. They were followed in the poll by UT-Martin (four), Eastern Illinois (two), Tennessee State (one), Murray State (one) and Tennessee Tech, with Austin Peay and Southeast Missouri tying for seventh.

At least the Gamecocks put four players on the preseason All-OVC team — center Reggie Wade, defensive lineman Brandt Thomas, linebacker Alexander Henderson and safety Carnell Clark.

Crowe confirmed his first-place vote went to Eastern Kentucky, the two-time defending champions, and said his ballot "just about exactly" followed the predicted order of finish. He couldn't have voted for his team anyway, but a lot of other voters might have if the Gamecocks were eligible. It's their three-year academic progress rate history that prompted the ban. They'll still play a full schedule with the results counting toward the standings.

"I think we're really a good football team that would have had a good chance to be picked as anybody," he said. "Circumstances like they are, I think we'll have to prove who we are every Saturday we play. We're a team that has to define itself by what we did yesterday.

The voters might have been able to keep the Gamecocks out of the preseason poll, but they couldn't deny their players spots on the all-conference team.

Wade was one of nine players voted onto the team, as neither last year's first- or second-team picks at those positions returned. Crowe said the senior was "shocked" when told of his selection. Thomas was elevated from last year's second-team pick, while Henderson and Clark maintained their status as first-teamers.

"It's like being solid up the middle," Crowe said. "When you've got a catcher, second baseman, shortstop and centerfielder, you're a good baseball team. It appears that should say there's a core over there (on defense) that ought to lead to us being a really good team."

UT-Martin quarterback Cade Thompson beat out JSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux for preseason offensive player of the year. They were the only players receiving votes.

Thompson is the reigning conference offensive player of the year, but Perrilloux is a candidate for his division's version of the Heisman Trophy. Thompson had a league-best 2,680 passing yards and 24 touchdowns last year. Perrilloux passed for 2,318 yards and 19 touchdowns and rushed for 368 yards and seven scores.

After only one JSU season, Perrilloux became the school's career leader in completion percentage (63.0), passing yards per game (210.7) and total offense per game (244.2), but he was also prone to making some costly decisions. He was intercepted five times in a loss to EKU.

"I think (Thompson) is a bona fide player, in both his stats and the fact that he beat us," Crowe said. "We had a quarterback on the field that day, they did, too, and their quarterback won. I think it's very valid, (but) I think there's still some information to be known about players — all of them.

"Ryan had some outstanding games in the conference last year, but he had some that weren't very representative of him, too. I think the real challenge for Ryan Perrilloux this season is to be a consistent player, to be the player that everybody knows he can be every Saturday … I do expect him to have a very special year. We're going to be working to that end."