Vernonia

2018 Southland Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Nicholls +^		7	–	2					9	–	4
Incarnate Word +^		6	–	2					6	–	5
Lamar ^		6	–	3					7	–	5
Abilene Christian		5	–	4					6	–	5
Central Arkansas		5	–	4					6	–	5
McNeese State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Sam Houston State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Northwestern State		4	–	5					5	–	6
Southeastern Louisiana		4	–	5					4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin		2	–	7					2	–	8
Houston Baptist		0	–	9					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll

The 2018 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Wildcats were led by second-year head coach Adam Dorrel and played their home games at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. They played as a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–4 in Southland play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place.

Preseason

Preseason All-Conference Teams

On July 12, 2018, the Southland announced their Preseason All-Conference Teams, with the Wildcats placing one player on the second team.^[1]

Preseason Poll

On July 19, 2018, the Southland announced their preseason poll, with the Wildcats predicted to finish in seventh place.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Sam Houston State	187 (10)
2	Nicholls State	173 (6)
3	Central Arkansas	170 (5)
4	McNeese State	159 (1)
5	Southeastern Louisiana	119
6	Stephen F. Austin	90
7	Abilene Christian	89
8	Northwestern State	86
9	Incarnate Word	53
10	Lamar	52
11	Houston Baptist	32

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	at Baylor*	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	FSN	L 27–55	45,330
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Angelo State*	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ACU Stretch ($)	W 41–24	9,287
September 15	6:00 p.m.	at Houston Baptist	Husky Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 38–13	2,038
September 22	6:00 p.m.	at Stephen F. Austin	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	ESPN+	L 21–24	6,281
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Incarnate Word	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN+	L 34–44	9,751
October 6	6:00 p.m.	at No. 9 McNeese State	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	Cowboy Insider	L 21–24	10,001
October 13	2:30 p.m.	No. 11 Nicholls	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN3	W 28–12	10,973
October 20	7:00 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	SLC Digital	W 48–27	4,724
November 3	2:00 pm	Northwestern State	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ACU Stretch	W 49–47	6,936
November 10	2:30 pm	at Sam Houston State	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ELVN/SLC Digital	W 17–10	6,914
November 17	2:00 pm	Central Arkansas	Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN+	L 7–16	8,006
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Source: ^[3][4]

Game summaries

At Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	13	7	0	27
Bears	17	21	10	7	55

At Houston Baptist

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	17	7	38
Huskies	6	0	0	7	13

At Stephen F. Austin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	7	7	7	21
Lumberjacks	3	7	7	7	24

Incarnate Word

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	14	13	10	7	44
Wildcats	14	14	0	6	34

At McNeese State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	0	7	21
No. 9 Cowboys	7	3	7	7	24

Nicholls

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Colonels	6	6	0	0	12
Wildcats	7	14	0	7	28

At Southeastern Louisiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	17	7	21	48
Lions	0	10	7	10	27

Northwestern State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Demons	7	7	14	19	47
Wildcats	14	10	17	8	49

At Sam Houston State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	7	3	17
Bearkats	0	3	7	0	10

Central Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	6	3	7	16
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7

References