North Dakota State Ranked 20th in Phil Steele's FCS Preseason Poll

CLEVELAND, Ohio--North Dakota State University was ranked 20th in Phil Steele's College Football Preview Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Top 40 poll.

North Dakota State went 9-5 and reached the NCAA Division FCS quarterfinals before falling to No. 1-ranked and national champion Eastern Washington 38-31 in overtime in Cheney, Wash., on Dec. 11. It was a dramatic turnaround for the Bison, who went 3-8 in 2009.

NDSU, which was ranked 9th in the final FCS Coaches and Sports Network/Fathead.com top 25 polls, opens the 2011 season against Lafayette College at 6 p.m. Sept. 3 in the Fargodome.

The Bison are scheduled to report Aug. 3 with the first practice slate for Aug. 4.

Below you will find Phil Steele’s FCS Top 40. Make sure to check out PhilSteele.com  everyday from now until August 15th. Each day he will release a new team from his Top 40 and give you access to that team’s magazine page for 24 hours. Preview your favorite Top 40 teams and see how their season will shape up - only at PhilSteele.com! Teams will be available to download after noon ET on the date listed below.
*For teams released on Sat, they will be available until noon ET Monday.

Phil Steele’s FCS Preseason Top 40

1) William & Mary Mon, Aug 15

2) Eastern Washington Sat, Aug 13*

3) Georgia Southern Fri, Aug 12

4) Northern Iowa Thur, Aug 11

5) Appalachian St Wed, Aug 10

6) Delaware Tue, Aug 9

7) James Madison Mon, Aug 8

8) Montana St Sat, Aug 6*

9) Wofford Fri, Aug 5

10) Sacramento St Thur, Aug 4

11) Jacksonville St Wed, Aug 3

12) Montana Tue, Aug 2

13) Central Arkansas Mon, Aug 1

14) New Hampshire Sat July 30*

15) Stony Brook Fri, July 29

16) Lehigh Fri, July 29

17) Southern Illinois Fri, July 29

18) South Carolina St Thur, July 28

19) Chattanooga Thur, July 28

20) North Dakota St Thur, July 28

21) Murray St Wed, July 27

22) Sam Houston St Wed, July 27

23) Massachusetts Wed, July 27

24) Southern Utah Tue, July 26

25) Jackson St Tue, July 26

26) Albany Tue, July 26

27) Colgate Mon, July 25

28) UT Martin Mon, July 25

29) Harvard Mon, July 25

30) Indiana St Sat, July 23*

31) Liberty Sat, July 23*

32) Florida A&M Sat, July 23*

33) Jacksonville Fri, July 22

34) Grambling Fri, July 22

35) McNeese St Fri, July 22

36) Richmond Thur, July 21

37) Youngstown St Thur, July 21

38) UC Davis Wed, July 20

39) SF Austin Wed, July 20

40) Bethune-Cookman Wed, July 20