SAN MARCOS, Texas – Coming off a historic 2023 season, Texas State heads into the 2024 campaign favored to win the Sun Belt Conference's West Division announced by the league office on Monday. The Bobcats also had eight preseason all-conference selections with six being first team picks.
 
Chosen to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team was Ben Bell, Joey Hobert, Jordan McCloud, Mason Shipley and Ismail Mahdi, who was a two-time honoree at running back and as an all-purpose back. Second team picks for TXST were Kaleb "Kuga" Culp and Kole Wilson.
 
Texas State received nine of the 14 first-place votes to sit atop the West Division's preseason poll with 92 points. The only team to rack up more points (96) and first-place picks (12) was App State on its way to topping the East Division. Claiming four first-place votes in the West Division was Troy (68 pts) while Louisiana (66 pts) claimed the one top selection. Rounding out the West was Arkansas State (65 pts), South Alabama (54 pts), Southern Miss (31 pts) and ULM (16 pts).
 
Madhi is a two-time All-Sun Belt first team honoree after being chosen at running back and as an all-purpose back. The junior ran for 1,331 yards, caught 20 passes for 275 yards and totaled 563 yards on 22 kick returns. He recorded 12 touchdowns in the season with 10 coming on the ground, one reception score and returned a kickoff 100 yards for another touchdown.
 
The Murphy, Texas native earned six All-American team honors including first team by CBS/247Sports. Mahdi has already received 2024 preseason all-conference accolades from Athlon Sports and Phil Steele (first team RB, third team KR).
 
A newcomer to the roster, McCloud picked up top honors at quarterback. The reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year committed to the Bobcats in February after an 11-2 season as the starting quarterback for fellow conference member James Madison. The dual-threat quarterback has made 31 starts in 36 career games and thrown for nearly 7,000 yards on 573-of-903 passing. McCloud has thrown 58 touchdown and added 13 more on the ground in his career.
 
Hobert was named to the conference's first team after leading Texas State with 76 catches and 895 receiving yards. Those marks set the program's FBS single-season records. His eight touchdown catches were tied for the most on the team. Five times he went over 100 yards receiving including four times in a five-game stretch against Sun Belt foes, capped off by a 141-yard performance in the bowl eligible clinching victory over Georgia Southern.
 
The lone first team defensive pick for the Bobcats was Bell. The senior from Cedar Park, Texas racked up 10 sacks last season, which ranked tied for ninth in the nation and tied for fourth in the Sun Belt, to set the program's single-season record. His 16 tackles for losses placed him in a tie for 20th in the country. Bell also added 57 tackles with 32 of them being solo take downs.
 
Shipley was chosen as the league's preseason first team kicker after his historic 2023 campaign. In his first full season as the team's field goal kicker, the Liberty Hill, Texas native made all 15 of his field goal attempts and was one of only two kickers in the nation to have a 100% field goal percentage. His field goal total also set a new school record while his 103 points scored were the second most in school history behind David Morrison's 114 in 1967.
 
The junior converted six attempts between the 20s, five between the 30s and four from between the 40s. His longest make of the year was 47 against ULM.
 
Junior wide receiver Wilson was named to the preseason second team and is coming off a 2023 season in which he caught 66 passes for 747 yards. His eight touchdown receptions tied for the team lead with Hobert. The Katy, Texas native caught at least one pass in all 13 games last season. Wilson broke the 100-yard barrier once, that coming against South Alabama with 102 yards while also returning a kickoff 100 yards for a score in the same contest.
 
Culp was the Bobcats' lone defensive pick on the second team. The senior from Dallas played in all 13 games last season and made nine starts. He recorded 81 tackles, 48 of them solo, had five pass breakups and tied for the nation's lead with four fumble recoveries. He returned one of the fumbles for a touchdown in the regular season finale against the Jaguars. Seven times Culp finished with at least eight tackles including a team best nine in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl victory over Rice.
 
The 2024 season kicks off on Aug. 31 against Lamar at UFCU Stadium. It is the first of seven home games this season for the Bobcats.
 
Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2024 Texas State football season are on sale now at TXST.com/tickets.