NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off back-to-back playoff appearances and playing for the 2025 FCS National Championship following a historic run to the title game, the Illinois State was picked fourth in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll announced on Monday. Illinois State has appeared in every Stats Perform FCS Top 25 poll for 31-straight weeks, the sixth-longest active streak in the FCS.
Defending national champion Montana State is the preseason No. 1 team in the national media poll, collecting all 57 first-place votes. Montana, which lost to Montana State in a national semifinal, has the No. 2 ranking, with the Big Sky claiming four spots overall. The Missouri Valley Football Conference has the most ranked teams with six, including No. 3 South Dakota State and No. 4 Illinois State. Tarleton State from the United Athletic Conference rounds out the top five.
The Redbirds return 42 letterwinners and nine starters from last year's playoff squad and were picked second in the MVFC Preseason poll. Consensus First-Team All-American and reigning MVFC Defensive Player of the Year Tye Niekamp heads into his final season on the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award, which is given to the top defensive player in FCS football.
Also returning is preseason All-American tailback Victor Dawson, who recorded six 100-plus yard rushing games last year including four in a row to end the playoff run for the Redbirds, as he finished with 1,377 yards and five touchdowns on the year. Dawson has earned a spot on the watch list for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top offensive player in FCS football.
In addition, Dawson, Tye Niekamp, Landon Woodard, La'Shavion Brown, Luke Mailander and Dexter Niekamp were all named 2026 Preseason All-Americans by noted FCS pundits and will anchor a team looking to get back to Nashville.
The Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll will be released each Monday during the regular season and one day after the FCS championship game (scheduled for Jan. 11 in Nashville, Tennessee).
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