Southern Illinois University was picked to finish fourth out of 11 teams in the pre-season Missouri Valley Football Conference poll of league coaches, media and sports information directors.
South Dakota State was picked first, followed by North Dakota State, North Dakota and SIU.
The Salukis led the league with 13 players named to the pre-season team, including six first-teamers...WR Avante Cox, G ZeVeyon Furcron, DE Jordan Berner, S Qua Brown, CB James Ceasar and RB Javon Williams Jr.
QB Stone Labanowitz, FB Jacob Garrett, DE Anthony Knighton, LB Bryson Strong and P Jack Colquhoun were featured on the preseason second team, while K Nico Gualdoni and LS Dan Heilbron picked up honorable mention preseason honors.
The Salukis advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs last spring, losing a 31-26 heartbreaker to SDSU, and finished the season ranked number 8 in the country. SIU also returns 10 offensive and 10 defensive starters.
The season opener is September 2 at SEMO.
