By ISU Sports Information
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Illinois State football program is ranked right where it was at the end of the historic 2014 campaign, as the Redbirds were picked No. 2 in the preseason FCS Coaches Poll announced Wednesday.
Four-time national champion North Dakota State opens the 2015 season as the unanimous preseason No.1 in the FCS Coaches Poll, with the Redbirds right behind at No. 2 with 551 total points. Villanova, Sam Houston State and Coastal Carolina close out the top five.
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Eastern Washington checks in next at No. 6, followed by New Hampshire, Chattanooga, Jacksonville State and Northern Iowa to round out the top 10. The poll features teams from nine different conferences, with the Missouri Valley Football Conference claiming six spots, including three in the top 10. South Dakota State (No. 15), Youngstown State (No. 16) and Indiana State (No. 20) also represent Valley Football in the first poll of the 2015 season.
The Redbirds, led by MVFC Coach of the Year and Eddie Robinson Award Finalist Brock Spack, posted a school-record 13 wins en route to a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and their first appearance in the FCS National Championship, where they dropped a 29-27 heartbreaker to the Bison in Frisco, Texas. ISU returns 11 starters from that team, including 2015 STATS preseason All-Americans Tre Roberson, Marshaun Coprich, Pat Meehan and Teddy Corwin.
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 and the American Football Coaches Association and is administered by the Southern Conference.
