July 22, 2008
ST. LOUIS- -
The Illinois State football team got its first taste of life in the nine-member Missouri Valley Football Conference Tuesday and it was pretty sour, as the Redbirds were projected to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll conducted by member head coaches, media and sports information directors. Senior safety Tom Nelson was honored as a member of the conference's preseason first team.
Nelson has earned back-to-back second-team All-Valley Football honors after being named the league's freshman of the year in 2005. He has started all 35 games in his Redbird career and ranked third on the team in tackles, with 86, during the 2007 season. He also led the Redbirds in both kickoff and punt returns, as well as interceptions, with two.
The Redbirds received 104 total points in the preseason poll, just one vote behind No. 7 Missouri State. The No. 8 ranking is the lowest ISU has been voted in the preseason poll since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 1986; however, this is the first season that the league has had nine-conference members.
First-year member North Dakota State was tabbed as the preseason favorite with 13 first-place votes and 289 points. Last season's champion, Northern Iowa, received more first-place votes (15), but totaled the second-highest votes (275) in the poll. NDSU and UNI were followed by Youngstown State (209), Western Illinois (202), Southern Illinois (201), South Dakota State (149) and Missouri State (105). For the sixth-straight season, Indiana State was projected to finish last in the conference with 41 votes.
The last time Illinois State was voted second-to-last in the preseason poll was 2005, in which the Redbirds finished fourth in the conference, posted a 7-4 record overall and were ranked No. 22 in the nation by The Sports Network in the final poll.
The Redbirds open the season at Marshall Aug. 30, and open Valley Football action Oct. 4, at Indiana State.
