YSU gets a few votes in FCS preseason poll

Staff report

If new Youngstown State football coach Eric Wolford was miffed by the Penguins being picked for seventh place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll, imagine how he feels today.

Youngstown State, coming off a 5-7 season, finished outside the top 50 in the Football Championship Subdivision preseason poll, conducted by The Sports Network and sponsored by fathead.com.

The Penguins picked up just 15 points in balloting by over 100 voters.

They are behind Dayton, and just ahead of Indiana State (12 points) which has won just two games in the last five years.

Three MVFC schools are ranked in the Top 14 of the poll.

Defending champ and preseason favorite Southern Illinois is ranked No. 5 nationally, receiving one first-place vote and 2,569 points overall.

Defending national champion Villanova was picked No. 1 (3,112 points and 104 first-place tallies.)

South Dakota State (9) and UNI (14) also represent the MVFC in the poll, while Illinois State, Indiana State, Missouri State, and North Dakota State also received votes.

Illinois State (with 488 points) was the highest, clocking in at No. 26 in the poll.

Montana, which has lost in the last two FCS championship games, was the No. 2 team in the poll with 2,899 points, receiving nine first-place votes. The Grizzlies were followed in the top five by Appalachian State, William & Mary and Southern Illinois.

Villanova will be tested by the competition in the Colonial Athletic Association, which landed the most teams in the poll with six, all in the top 16. Richmond was sixth, New Hampshire 10th, James Madison 15th and Delaware 16th.

The CAA has had a national finalist in each of the past four seasons and six of the last seven, including national champions Delaware (2003), James Madison (2004) and Richmond (2008).