CHICAGO – The Illinois State football team was selected as the No. 15 team in the country Monday when the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 poll was released. Ten conferences placed teams in the preseason rankings, led by the Missouri Valley, Big Sky and CAA conferences with five each.
The two-time defending national champion North Dakota State Bison, who finished 15-0 last season and have a Division I-leading 21-game winning streak, gained 142 of the 160 first-place votes and 3,971 of a possible 4,000 points in the national media poll. James Madison edged South Dakota State for the No.