For the second-straight season, the Illinois State Redbirds are picked to win the Gateway Football Conference crown by a vote of league coaches, media representatives and sports information directors.
Illinois State returns 24 full or part-time starters after a 1999 campaign which saw the Redbirds earn their second-consecutive trip to the NCAA I-AA playoffs, reach the I-AA semifinals, and win their first Gateway Conference title.
Eight of those Redbirds were named to the Gateway Football Conference preseason all-conference squad. All-American offensive lineman Mike Rodbro is one of six players who were unanimously selected to the team and one of three Redbirds selected on offense.
The other two Redbirds selected on the offensive side of the ball were fellow linemen Dan Hama and Ted Wulf, giving the Redbirds three of the six starters on the offensive line.
Linebacker Galen Scott and defensive back Sam Young, both 1999 all-Americans, were defensive selections along with lineman Devon Finn.
On special teams, Aveion Cason was selected as the Gateways top return specialist while Jake Strader was selected as the teams punter and also named honorable mention as the place kicker.
The Redbirds captured 17 of the 27 possible first-place tallies, easily outpacing Northern Iowa which was second in the preseason rankings with six first-place votes.
Youngstown State, which reached the I-AA title game for the second time in three seasons in 1999, ranked just behind Northern Iowa, and the Penguins received two first-place votes. Southwest Missouri State, meanwhile, finished fourth in the poll, and the Bears received the two remaining first-place votes.
