2017 West Alabama Tigers football team

2017 West Alabama Tigers football
2017 West Alabama Tigers football
GSC champion
NCAA Division II Quarterfinal, L 21–28 vs. West Florida
Conference	Gulf South Conference
Ranking
AFCA	No. 12
Record	10–3 (7–1 GSC)
Head coach	Brett Gilliland (4th season);
Offensive coordinator	Don Bailey (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Steve Sisa (1st season)
Home stadium	Tiger Stadium
	Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

The 2017 West Alabama Tigers football team represented the University of West Alabama in the 2017 NCAA Division II football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Brett Gilliland. The Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium and were members of the Gulf South Conference.

2017 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e
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 Rankings from AFCA Poll

Schedule

West Alabama announced its 2017 football schedule on January 13, 2017. The schedule consists of both five home and six away games in the regular season. The Tigers hosted GSC foes Mississippi College, Shorter, West Florida, and West Georgia and traveled to Delta State, Florida Tech, North Alabama, and Valdosta State^[1]

The Tigers only hosted one of the three non-conference games against North Greenville which is independent from a conference and traveled to two games against Lenoir-Rhyne from the South Atlantic Conference and Samford from the Southern Conference.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Lenoir–Rhyne*		Moretz Stadium Hickory, NC		W 46–7	2,555
September 7	6:00 p.m.	at No. 17 (FCS) Samford*		Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN3	L 41–49	4,509
September 16	6:00 p.m.	Mississippi College		Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL		W 42–13	5,351
September 23	6:00 p.m.	at No. 10 North Alabama		Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL (rivalry)		W 38–17	10,327
September 30	6:00 p.m.	Shorter		Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL		W 62–0	4,324
October 7	6:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Delta State		McCool Stadium Cleveland, MS		W 29–26	7,856
October 14	4:00 p.m.	No. 22 West Georgia	No. 23	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL		W 34–31	3,321
October 21	1:00 p.m.	at Florida Tech	No. 18	Florida Tech Panther Stadium Melbourne, FL	ESPN3	L 39–41	2,900
October 28	4:00 p.m.	West Florida	No. 25	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL	ESPN3	W 35–18	6,999
November 4	2:00 p.m.	Valdosta State	No. 23	Bazemore–Hyder Stadium Valdosta, GA		W 38–14	5,921
November 11	2:00 p.m.	North Greenville*	No. 22	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL		W 29–26	5,481
November 25	12:00 p.m.	Delta State*	No. 17	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL (NCAA Division II Second Round)		W 27–20	4,893
December 2	12:00 p.m.	West Florida*	No. 17	Tiger Stadium Livingston, AL (NCAA Division II Quarterfinal)		L 21–28	6,105
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
AFCA	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	23	18	25	23	22	17	12

^ "Seven Instate Games Highlight 2017 UWA Football Schedule" (Press release). University of West Alabama Department of Athletics. January 13, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.