The Missouri Valley will announce its all-conference teams, players of the year and preseason poll tomorrow morning and in anticipation of that; have a look at my preseason poll with some notes surrounding each squad as we get closer to a new season. Have a look at past preseason polls since the Bison joined the Valley in 2008:
- 2008: NDSU Preseason Poll Ranked 1st; Southern Illinois wins conference
- 2009: NDSU Preseason Poll Ranked 4th; UNI Preseason Ranked 1st; SIU wins conference
- 2010: NDSU Preseason Poll ranked 6th; SIU Preseason Ranked 1st; UNI wins conference
- 2011: NDSU Preseason Poll ranked 2nd; UNI Preseason Ranked 1st; NDSU/UNI win conference
- 2012: NDSU Preseason Poll ranked 1st; NDSU wins conference
NDSU and SDSU should go 1-2 in the Missouri Valley Preseason Poll. (Dave Wallis – Forum File Photo)
- 3: I think we all can assume the Bison will be the preseason number one ranked team in the conference; which will make the third time this has happened for NDSU joining the league in 2008(’08, ’12 and ’13) and while preseason polls don’t mean much in the long run; it gives us something to debate about here on July 28th. And with that being said the Izzo vote for the Missouri Valley Preseason Poll:
I truly believe SDSU will be the hardest regular season game on the Bison schedule this year; especially since NDSU beat the Jacks twice last year and have won four straight against them. The game is in Brookings and with Austin Sumner and Zach Zenner back it’s an offense that looks loaded for bear and will certainly test the Bison defense. Northern Iowa is due for a bounce back season; Sawyer Kollmorgen is back for a 2nd season under center and the Panthers have stud running back David Johnson back; UNI’s schedule is WAY easier than last year; considering they are playing Drake and Northern Colorado in the non-conference; they also play Iowa State and McNeese State. The Panthers conference schedule is daunting though; road games at NDSU, SDSU and Illinois State. I like Youngstown State a lot too; Jamaine Cook is back and the Penguins have an easy non-conference schedule. They get the benefit this year of hosting both the Dakota State schools at the end of the season. This is a big year for Dale Lennon; the Salukis haven’t made the postseason since 2009; SIU also has a favorable home schedule; Youngstown, UNI, Illinois State and NDSU ALL come to Carbondale; this is a make or break year for Lennon; who is just 15-18 over the past 3 seasons. Indiana State is murky to me; they bring back perhaps the league’s best player in Shakir Bell; but now have a new coach in Mike Sanford and that will have to be an adjustment. The Sycamores are following UNI’s strategy of playing two FBS games to start the season (at Indiana, at Purdue); they do get NDSU, Youngstown and SIU to Terre Haute this season. Illinois State I think will drop the most this year; losing a four year starting quarterback in Matt Brown has to count for something and taking a risk on many jucos and FBS transfers is something that can either pay off or blow up. The Redbirds final 3 games will be tough; UNI, at NDSU at SIU. The bottom three teams could all switch spots in my mind between Missouri State, USD and Western Illinois. WIU brings in former Duluth coach Bob Nielson; for the 2nd straight year the Bison will not face the Leathernecks; that will end next season; it’s a large rebuild job in Macomb. Mo State gave NDSU fits last season; Kierra Harris is dynamic with his legs; he ran for a touchdown against the Bison last season and Caleb Schaffitzel is an all-conference player at linebacker (he had the 100 yard pick 6 against NDSU last year); Bears host SDSU, UNI and Indiana State this season; MSU will beat one of those teams. Lastly up is South Dakota; Joe Glenn’s rebuild job will get harder this year; a non-conference schedule of UC Davis, Northern Arizona and Montana won’t help things. Will be a long year for the Coyotes. So there it is folks; the official poll comes out tomorrow; but what do you think?