TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Indiana State Sycamores received 12 votes in the preseason edition of the Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 Poll, one of two nationally-recognized FCS Top 25 Polls as announced by The Sports Network on Monday.

ISU was one of eight Missouri Valley Football Conference schools recognized in the first preseason poll to be released this fall and is their No. 58 position in the poll is the program's highest start since beginning the 2004 campaign in Top 40.

Southern Illinois is ranked fifth, South Dakota State is ninth and UNI is 14th. Illinois State (488); Missouri State (40); Youngstown State (15); Indiana State (12) and North Dakota State (5) rounded out the league's representation.

The Sycamores are in the midst of one of their most challenging preseason camps in recent memory and open the season on September 4 against St. Joseph's (Ind.) at 7 p.m. (ET) at Memorial Stadium.

Team (First-place votes)       Record             Points  Previous Rank

1. Villanova Wildcats (104)          14-1                3,112               1

2. Montana Grizzlies (9)             14-1                 2,899               2

3. App. St. Mountaineers (8)        11-3                 2,857              3

4. William & Mary Tribe (3)         11-3                2,631               4

5. Southern Ill. Salukis (1)     11-2               2,569              6

6. Richmond Spiders (1)             11-2                 2,317               5

7. Elon Phoenix                         9-3                  2,243               9

8. Stephen F. Austin                  10-3                 2,041               10

9. S. Dakota St. Jackrabbits   8-4                 1,863              11

10. New Hampshire Wildcats       10-3                1,837               7

11. S.C. St. Bulldogs                  10-2                 1,607               8

12. McNeese State Cowboys       9-3                 1,475               12

13. E. Washington Eagles            8-4                 1,422               3

14. UNI Panthers                   7-4                  1,269              18

15. James Madison Dukes           6-5                  1,237               NR

16. Delaware Blue Hens            6-5                  879                  NR

17. Jacksonville St.                     8-3                  833                  16

18. Eastern Illinois Panthers        8-4                 762                  19

19. Weber State Wildcats            7-5                  716                  17

20. Prairie View A&M                  9-1                  709                  15

21. Liberty Flames                    8-3                  633                  22

22. Colgate Raiders                   9-2                  608                  21

23. Penn Quakers                      8-2                  593                  20

24. Montana State Bobcats          7-4                 584                  NR

25. Holy Cross Crusaders            9-3                  560                  14

Others receiving votes: Illinois State 488, Wofford 311, Northern Arizona 286, Cal Poly 239, Furman 229, Texas State 206, Florida A&M 153, Lafayette 98, Maine 88, Harvard 85, Eastern Kentucky 81, UC Davis 61, Samford 61, Massachusetts 45, Southeastern Louisiana 45, Alabama A&M 45, Missouri State 40, Central Arkansas 39, Norfolk State 28, Lehigh 27, Old Dominion 25, Grambling State 24, Davidson 23, Georgia Southern 22, Princeton 21, Dayton 20, Portland State 18, Chattanooga 17, Youngstown State 15, Idaho State 15, Southern utah 14, Northwestern State 12, Indiana State 12, Stony Brook 12, Hampton 12, Gardner-Webb 11, Tennessee Tech 9, Robert Morris 9, North Dakota 8, Southern 8, Central Connecticut State 7, Morgan State 7, Jackson State 7, North Carolina A&T 6, VMI 5, North Dakota State 5, Austin Peay 4, Butler 4, Alcorn State 3, Jacksonville 2, Texas Southern 2, Brown 2, Howard 2, Cornell 1, Coastal Carolina 1.