South Alabama received one vote in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 college football poll, which includes 63 reporters and editors from around the country.

The Athletic’s Matt Brown was the one AP voter who put his faith in the Jaguars, giving him his vote at No. 25 in the poll. AL.com reached to Brown to ask what he saw in South Alabama that others might not.

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“I think South Alabama is the type of team that often gets overlooked in the preseason but ends up ranked by November, so I figured I’d get ahead of things,” Brown said via email. “More Group of 5 teams almost always finish ranked than start ranked, and the Jaguars have a lot of ingredients to make a push: They’re eighth in returning production, per Bill Connelly’s metrics at ESPN, and they came a few plays away from an unbeaten regular season last year, including the close call at UCLA.”

South Alabama went 10-3 last season, finishing tied for first in the Sun Belt Conference West Division. They lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with Troy, which went on to win the Sun Belt championship game and finish 12-2 and ranked No. 19 nationally.

However, South Alabama returns a loaded team in 2023. The Jaguars return 18 players who started the season-ending New Orleans Bowl, plus two other long-time starters who missed all or most of 2022 due to injury.

A proven QB in Carter Bradley, a deep backfield, an experienced O-line and a well-coached defense — what’s not to like?,” Brown said. “The schedule is tricky, but I can see a surprise win at Tulane in the opener to put the program firmly on the Top 25 radar. Should be a heck of a battle with Troy, who I also considered ranking.”

South Alabama opens the 2023 season at Tulane on Sept. 2. The Green Wave, champions of the American Athletic Conference and the Cotton Bowl a year ago, are ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP Top 25.