ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Indiana State football has been picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll as selected by coaches, media and sports information directors, the league announced on Monday.
It marks just the third time in program history that the Sycamores have been picked fourth or better with the last time being in 1996 when the team was picked third. In 1989, ISU was tabbed to finish second behind Missouri State.
North Dakota State was picked as the MVFC preseason favorite in a poll. The Bison have been picked first in the preseason poll for eight-straight seasons. North Dakota State has earned the league title for eight-straight years, four times sharing it with another league school. This year, NDSU received 32 of 40 first-place votes and 392 total points in the poll.
South Dakota State earned the second spot in the poll, finishing with 348 total points while picking up four first-place votes. Illinois State (289 points), Indiana State (279 points) and UNI (266 points) were tightly bunched for the third-, fourth- and fifth-place spots, while Illinois State (3) and Indiana State (1) also received first-place mentions.
The second five was led by South Dakota, which came in sixth place in the poll with 176 points. Youngstown State has been picked seventh (153 points), followed by Western Illinois (128), Southern Illinois (89) and Missouri State (80).
In 2018, three MVFC teams earned selection to the NCAA Division I Championship, two advanced to the playoff semifinals, and North Dakota State won its seventh national championship in eight years. Counting last year, an MVFC member has reached the FCS semifinals 23 times in the past 23 seasons (and 26 times overall), and the MVFC has had two semifinal teams in four of the past five seasons.
In the current decade, MVFC teams are 59-25 in the playoffs, and only one other conference (the CAA at 40-36) has a winning record. Since 2004, league teams have combined for a 73-38 record in playoff games, with seven titles – both tops in the FCS. Notably, only the MVFC (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018), CAA Football (2016) and Big Sky Conference (2010) have an FCS title this decade. Valley Football is celebrating its 35th season in 2019. In its first 34 seasons the league owns nine national crowns.
The MVFC will announce its preseason All-Conference teams this week (Tuesday-Offense; Wednesday-Defense). North Dakota State tops the league with nine total selections, including a league-best six on the first-team unit. South Dakota State has the second-most selections, with eight total honorees. ISU will have seven All-MVFC selection which is tied for third-best.
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