PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Illinois State football team was selected as one of the top-25 teams in the country Monday, when The Sports Network released its preseason FCS Top 25 poll and ranked the Redbirds No. 19. The preseason national ranking is the first for ISU since 2007, when the Redbirds were ranked No. 7 after reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2006.
Reigning Missouri Valley Football Conference champion and FCS national champion North Dakota State was ranked No. 2 in the poll. A total five Missouri Valley Football Conference teams dot The Sports Network preseason Top 25 rankings. The Bison were joined by MVFC members Northern Iowa (9), Youngstown State (13), ISU (19) and Indiana State (23) in the rankings.
A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the Top 25 each season. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote. During the regular season, the Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon, except for the final weekend of the regular season, when it will be released Sunday morning, Nov. 18, prior to the selection of the FCS playoff field.
The Redbirds (7-4, 5-3 MVFC) finished the 2011 season ranked No. 18 in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 poll and No. 22 in the final FCS Coaches Poll. The Redbirds will open the regular season Saturday, Sept. 1, against Dayton at Hancock Stadium.
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