Ferris State Tabbed Fourth Nationally In College Football America Preseason Poll

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University football program, which has advanced to the NCAA Division II Semifinals in three of the past four seasons, has received yet another lofty national preseason ranking entering the 2020 campaign as the Bulldogs were recently tabbed fourth in the country by College Football America.

The Bulldogs previously were picked this summer as the country's #4 preseason team by Street & Smith's along with #6 by Lindy's Sports in each publication's annual college football national preview magazine. This year marks the fifth time in the past six years the Bulldogs have been tabbed as one of the country's top four teams in at least one preseason national ranking.

In the College Football America Division II Preseason Top 30 Rankings, defending national runner-up Minnesota State was picked first followed by defending national champion West Florida. Valdosta State came in third with FSU fourth and Slippery Rock (Pa.) fifth overall. The second five featured Lenoir-Rhyne, Notre Dame (Ohio), Colorado Mines, Northwest Missouri State and Texas A&M-Commerce.

Ferris State was the only team from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) ranked in the publication's top 30.

College Football America also selected FSU senior offensive tackle Dylan Pasquali (Trenton) as a member of its' Starting Lineup Preseason First-Team All-America squad. He was the only player from the GLIAC on the publication's Preseason All-America list.

The College Football America 2020 Yearbook features more than 930 college football teams from the United States and Canada in more than 250 striking, full-color pages. It includes every team from the NCAA (FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III), NAIA, NJCAA, CCCAA and U Sports (Canada). It also includes updates on club football, one-year postgraduate prep/sports academies and Mexican college football, along with dozens of action shots and stadium photos taken by the CFA staff.

The Bulldogs are slated to begin their 112th season of varsity competition this coming fall with their sights set on making a seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Ferris State reached the national semifinals for the third time in four years in 2019. Last fall, along with reaching the national semifinals, FSU also claimed a second-straight GLIAC Championship with an unblemished league record. Last year marked the Bulldogs' fourth-straight trip to the national quarterfinals or beyond, which is the longest streak in the country. Over the past two seasons, the Bulldogs have compiled a 27-2 mark.

Over the last six seasons at Ferris State, the Bulldogs have compiled a 72-9 overall record and claimed four conference championships, posted four unbeaten regular-seasons, captured three regional titles and reached the national quarterfinals four times. Ferris State has also accumulated three Harlon Hill National Player of the Year trophies, twice had a student-athlete tabbed as the nation's National Scholar-Athlete of the Year and won 12 postseason games in addition to an appearance in the 2018 National Championship game.

The Bulldogs are one of only four teams in all of college football at any NCAA level to win 11 games each of the last six years along with Alabama, Ohio State and North Dakota State. FSU is also the only D2 team in the country to reach the national quarterfinals for four consecutive years and the Bulldogs' six-straight playoff appearances is the second-longest longest streak in the nation.

Ferris State also holds the GLIAC's best mark and the best overall record of all 21 collegiate programs in Michigan at 87-16 overall since the arrival of Tony Annese as head coach in 2012.