Conference USA media members believe there will be a third different football champion in as many years.

Middle Tennessee and Southern Miss were predicted as the preseason favorites in their respective divisions as part of the C-USA media poll released Thursday afternoon.

Middle Tennessee received the nod over Western Kentucky and Marshall, the two previous C-USA champions who ran through the league with 12-plus win seasons.

Southern Miss was selected to repeat as the C-USA West Division champs, a label held by Louisiana Tech before the 2015 season.

Tech came in second behind Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles beat the Bulldogs in Ruston last November to earn a spot in the title game where they fell to WKU.

The media picked WKU to finish as the runner up to MTSU. Marshall came in third. The Herd is trying to regain their spot atop C-USA after holding off Tech for the 2014 league title.

Most preseason odd-makers have Southern Miss (+230) winning the title. However, both Marshall (+275) and WKU (+350) have slightly better odds than MTSU (+500) to win it all.

Conference USA holds its annual media days next week in Irving, Texas. C-USA West teams will speak to the media Monday afternoon, and C-USA East teams will go Tuesday morning.

Tech opens the season Sept. 3 at Arkansas. The Bulldogs finished 9-4 last year, their second consecutive nine-win season, and beat Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl.

Conference USA preseason media poll

EAST DIVISION  

1.  Middle Tennessee
2.  WKU
3.  Marshall
4.  Florida Atlantic
5.  FIU
6.  Old Dominion
7.  Charlotte

WEST DIVISION 

1.  Southern Miss
2.  Louisiana Tech
3.  Rice
4.  UTEP
5.  UTSA
6.  North Texas