CHICAGO — The South Dakota State University football team has matched its highest-ever ranking in a Football Championship Subdivision preseason poll, checking in at No. 3 in the Stats Perform survey released Monday. The Jackrabbits also were tabbed third in both 2018 and 2019, while holding a fifth-place ranking in the initial poll last season.
SDSU is coming off a 2020-21 season in which the Jackrabbits reached the FCS title game for the first time in program history, finishing with an 8-2 record after making their ninth consecutive postseason appearance. Defending national champion Sam Houston, which edged the Jackrabbits, 23-21, in the closing seconds of their national championship game this past May in Frisco, Texas, holds the top spot with 1,228 points after garnering 39 of the 50 first-place votes. James Madison was second with 1,180 points and eight first-place votes, followed by SDSU with the remaining three first-place votes and 1,156 points. North Dakota State (1,116 points) and Delaware (1,017 points) rounded out the top five.
The Jackrabbits are scheduled to kick off the 2021 campaign Sept. 3 at Colorado State
