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ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Southern Illinois was picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll of Missouri Valley Football Conference coaches, media and sports information directors, the league announced on Monday. The MVFC is traditionally one of the top 1-2 conferences in FCS football and sent five teams to the playoffs in 2017. North Dakota State was tabbed as the unanimous favorite of all 39 voters. The Bison, who have won the league title for seven-straight years, have also been picked first in the pre-season poll for seven-straight seasons. 

The Salukis finished tied for eighth place last season, but return 17 starters, including nine starters on defense. Guiding the offense will be fifth-year senior quarterback Sam Straub, who passed for 20 touchdowns and had a quarterback rating of 134.6 before a season-ending injury in game eight last year. He has a strong supporting cast at the skill positions, including wide receivers Darrell James and Raphael Leonard, plus running back D.J. Davis. The defense is headlined by safety Jeremy Chinn, an All-Conference performer last season as a sophomore.

“When you’re trying to grind out a win in the MVFC in November, nobody is going to remember where they picked us,” said third-year SIU head coach Nick Hill. “The score and the record will take of themselves. We have to commit to becoming a team in training camp, and then we can be as good as we want to be.”

South Dakota State earned the second spot in the poll, finishing with 340 total points, followed by UNI (270), Youngstown State (258), Illinois State (248) and South Dakota (206).

The league is coming off a season in which five teams represented the conference in the playoffs. The MVFC has had four or more playoff teams in four-straight seasons (earning five each in 2014, 2015 and last year). Western Illinois was one of the league’s five playoff teams a year ago, and the Leathernecks — with new head coach Jared Elliott at the helm — are picked seventh with 163 total points.

A pre-season favorite has claimed the league crown 20 times (in 32 previous polls). North Dakota State was picked to win the league last season, and the Bison earned both the league title and the national title (following a 17-13 win over previously unbeaten James Madison in the NCAA Division I Football Championship game in Frisco, Texas).

Valley Football is celebrating its 34th season in 2018. In its first 33 seasons the league owns eight national crowns. MVFC teams combined for an 8-4 record in last year’s playoffs, while North Dakota State and South Dakota State both reached the semifinals. That marks the third time in the past four years in which two league teams played in the semis. North Dakota State, meanwhile, represented the league in the title game, marking the 7th-straight year at least one MVFC team has reached the championship game — an FCS record. Notably, MVFC teams have combined for a 52-23 record in the playoffs this decade. Only one other league has as many as 20 wins since 2010 (CAA Football is next best with 37.)

The 2018 season begins Thursday, Aug. 30, with four league teams in action. Nine non-conference games feature road matchups against FBS opponents. An MVFC school has recorded a win against an FBS school in each of the past eight seasons, setting a league record in 2016 with four that year. Conference play begins Thursday, Sept. 27, as Indiana State hosts UNI in the first league tilt of the season.

The MVFC will announce its pre-season all-conference teams this week (Tuesday-Offense; Wednesday-Defense). North Dakota State tops the league with 11 total selections, including a league-best eight on the first-team unit. South Dakota State, meanwhile, has the second-most selections, with eight total honorees. Youngstown State has five first-team selections, meanwhile, which is second-best to NDSU.