Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis picked fifth in MVFC preseason poll
02/03/2021 | 9:00:00 | Football
Six players named to preseason team.
The four teams picked to finish ahead of SIU in the poll of conference head coaches and media members are all ranked in the top 10 of the FCS — No. 1 North Dakota State, No. 3 Northern Iowa, No. 5 South Dakota State and No. 9 Illinois State.
Valley Football Preseason Poll
1. North Dakota State....................................101
2. UNI .............................................................92
3. South Dakota State.....................................91
4. Illinois State ................................................80
5. Southern Illinois...........................................68
6. South Dakota...............................................52
7. North Dakota...............................................39
8. Youngstown State .......................................36
9. Missouri State..............................................23
9. Western Illinois............................................23
Indiana State opted out of spring season
Six SIU players were named to the preseason team — RB Javon Williams Jr., WR Avante Cox, G ZeVeyon Furcron, DE Anthony Knighton, S Qua Brown and LB Makel Calhoun. The Salukis return eight starters on offense and six on defense from the 2019 season, plus the return of linebacker Bryce Notree — a starter in 2018 who missed all but two games in 2019.
Southern opens its season on Feb. 20 at North Dakota before hosting defending champions North Dakota State on Feb. 27. With limited capacity in Saluki Stadium, less than 50 season tickets remain for the spring season, and there will be no walk-up sales on game day. Call 877-SALUKIS to order season tickets.
