NORMAL, Ill. – After previously being selected the No. 6 team in the Stats Perform FCS preseason Top 25, the Illinois State football team found themselves in that same exact spot in the preseason AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl.
Defending FCS national champion North Dakota State received all 26 first-place votes in the national coaches' poll to take the top spot. Last year's national runner-up, Montana State, start at No. 2 followed by South Dakota State at No. 3. UIW, the team South Dakota State beat in the quarterfinals of last season's playoffs, will begin at No. 4 and South Dakota rounds out the top 5 just ahead of the Redbirds in sixth. In total, five Missouri Valley Football Conference programs made the preseason poll, with Southern Illinois also coming in at No. 20.
The Redbirds return 39 letterwinners and 16 starters from last year's squad, including six players who were selected as preseason All-Americans by Stats Perform. Junior linebacker Tye Niekamp and senior longsnapper Dylan Calabrese were named First-Team selections, senior wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz and senior running back Wenkers Wright earned Second-Team honors, and senior quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and junior defensive lineman Jake Anderson garnered Third-Team plaudits.
In addition, four players were named to national player of the year watch lists by Stats Perform including Niekamp and Anderson who were named to Buck Buchanan Award watch list and Wright and Sobkowicz who were selected for the Walter Payton Award watch list.
Illinois State appeared in every AFCA FCS Coaches Poll last season, finishing as high as No. 10 in the final one of the year. The AFCA FCS Coaches Poll will be released each Monday during the regular season and the final poll of the year comes after the FCS championship game.
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