Ferris State Tabbed As Nation's Preseason #3 Team By Lindy's Sports With Two Preseason All-Americans

Big Rapids, Mich. - The first NCAA Division II preseason national poll of the 2021 campaign has been announced and the Ferris State University Bulldogs will begin the year tabbed as the nation's #3 team by Lindy's Sports.

The annual college football national preview magazine picked FSU third overall entering this fall's slate as the publication recently hit the newsstands across the country.

Lindy's Sports, which is billed as the nation's leading football authority, highlighted the top 25 teams in the country based on expert opinions and also featured a preseason All-America team. The top five teams nationally in the magazine's preseason listing included defending national champion West Florida (#1) along with Lenoir-Rhyne (#2), FSU (#3), Minnesota State (#4) and Slippery Rock (#5) in the top five overall.

Ferris State was picked the highest of all teams in Super Region Three with fellow region member Northwest Missouri State also in the top 10 overall at #6 in the listing. The Bulldogs were one of two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) teams featured in addition to 18th-ranked Grand Valley State. 

Lindy's Sports also tabbed a pair of Bulldogs as Preseason All-Americans, including senior offensive tackle Dylan Pasquali (Trenton) as a first-team honoree and junior wide receiver Sy Barnett (Willamston) as a second-team choice. FSU had two of the three GLIAC representatives on either of the two Preseason All-America squads.

Additionally, the magazine also chose the Bulldogs' Mylik Mitchell (Cleveland, Ohio), a transfer quarterback from NCAA Division I Kent State (Ohio), as the publication's choice as the Preseason National Newcomer of the Year. The Anchor-Bone Classic between FSU and GVSU, slated for Oct. 16 in Allendale, was picked as one of Lindy's Sports Top Five Games of the Year.

The Bulldogs, who did not compete in the fall 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic when no NCAA Championships were held, are expected to return a strong nucleus from their 2019 national semifinal squad.

FSU will open the 2021 season at home against the Findlay Oilers on Thursday, Sept. 2, at Top Taggart Field with the kickoff time slated to be announced soon.

The Bulldogs have won each of the last two GLIAC Championships in unbeaten fashion and reached the national quarterfinals four consecutive years, which is the longest streak in the country. Over the past two seasons of action, not counting the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season, in 2018 and 2019, the Bulldogs have compiled a 27-2 mark. FSU ranks as the country's winningest program over the past six full seasons in NCAA Division II football.

Over the last six full 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 under Annese. 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' 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 head coach Tony Annese in 2012.

Stay tuned to FerrisStateBulldogs.com for additional information on the 2021 campaign, including start times and ticket details. Fans are also encouraged to help support the Bulldogs by joining the FSU Gridiron Club, which is beginning its membership drive. Visit FerrisStateBulldogs.com or call Jake Daugherty at (231) 591-2862 for more information.

Below are the Lindy's Sports D2 Preseason Top 25 National Rankings:

1. West Florida
2. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)
3. Ferris State
4. Minnesota State
5. Slippery Rock (Pa.)
6. Northwest Missouri State
7. Texas A&M Commerce
8. Valdosta State (Ga.)
9. Colorado School of Mines
10. Notre Dame (Ohio)
11. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
12. Colorado State-Pueblo
13. Tiffin
14. Indianapolis
15. Bowie State (Md.)
16. Shepherd (W.Va.)
17. Lindenwood (Mo.)
18. Grand Valley State
19. Harding (Ark.)
20. Indiana (Pa.)
21. Tusculum (Tenn.)
22. Wingate (N.C.)
23. Augustana (S.D.)
24. Central Missouri
25. Virginia Union