SPARTANBURG, S.C. - With just two weeks of practice remaining before its season-opener against Dayton, the Illinois State football team picked up more national recognition when the Redbirds were ranked No. 20 in the preseason Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches Poll announced Wednesday.
ISU had been previously ranked No. 19, when The Sports Network released its preseason FCS Top 25 poll earlier in the month. The preseason national rankings are the first for the Redbirds since 2007, when ISU was ranked No. 7 after reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2006. The TSN and FCS Coaches Poll are considered the most respected polls in FCS football.
Reigning Missouri Valley Football Conference champion and FCS national champion North Dakota State was ranked No. 1 in the poll, as the Bison received 19 of the 26 first-place votes to earn 640 points overall. The Bison were joined by MVFC members Northern Iowa (7), Youngstown State (18), ISU (19) and Indiana State (25) in the top 25 rankings.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.
The No. 19/20 ranked Redbirds will host the Flyers in the season opener at Hancock Stadium Sept. 1, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. To purchase Redbird football mini-plans and single game tickets, visit the ticket office page at GoRedbirds.com or call the Redbird Athletics ticket office at (309) 438-8000.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
