July 23, 2007

Elmhurst, IL - The Great West Football Conference made history last year with 80 percent of its conference makeup being listed in the Top 25 at one point during the 2006 season. The 2007 season will begin with the Great West placing three of its five teams in the Pre-Season Football Championship Subdivision Top 25, released today by the College Sporting News.

North Dakota State, which ended the 2006 season with a 10-1 record and ranked fifth, was listed third in the first poll this season, behind defending national champion Appalachian State and Montana. Cal Poly, 7-4 a year ago, is ranked 14th and South Dakota State, 7-4 overall and runner-up in the Great West in 2006, is 22nd. UC Davis, which completed its 37th consecutive winning season in 2006 with a 6-5 record, just missed out on a Top 25 ranking and was listed at 29th.

The Great West will see how it fares against the FCS best as it will play no less that eight games against teams ranked in the pre-season Top 25, with five of those games coming in the first three weeks of the season.

Southern Utah will face four teams on the list, including No. 2 Montana in the first week of play on Saturday, Sept. 1 in Missoula, Mont. The Thunderbirds then face No. 12 Southern Illinois on Sept. 8 in Cedar City, followed with road games against No. 4 Youngstown State on Oct. 13 and No. 7 Northern Iowa in the final regular season game on Nov. 14. South Dakota State faces two teams in the pre-season Top 25 - Youngstown State on Sept. 8 and Northern Iowa on Sept. 15. North Dakota State will battle No. 9 Illinois State on November 3, and UC Davis could break into the Top 25 with a win in the first week over Western Washington before and a victory over No. 13 Portland State on Sept. 8.

The 2007 CSN Preseason FCS Top 25

1. Appalachian State 2. Montana 3. North Dakota State 4. Youngstown State 5. New Hampshire 6. James Madison 7. Northern Iowa 8. Massachusetts 9. Illinois State 10. McNeese State 11. Furman 12. Southern Illinois 13. Portland State 14. Cal Poly 15. Wofford 16. Tennessee-Martin 17. Sam Houston State 18. Yale 19. Hampton 20. Eastern Illinois 21. Lehigh 22. South Dakota State 23. Montana State 24. Delaware 25. Princeton

Also receiving votes (in order): Towson, Maine, South Carolina State, UC Davis