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Montana, Montana State left out of HERO sports top 25; put players on All-American list

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(Editor’s note: release from Big Sky Conference)

With teams reporting to campus and preseason camps to start in a little over a month, HERO SPORTS has announced its FCS Top 25 Preseason Poll and All-America Teams. The Big Sky has four teams ranked in the preseason poll and 14 players named to the All-America teams.

Eastern Washington is the highest ranked Big Sky team in the top 25 poll coming in at No. 4 with 64 votes. The Eagles finished 2017 with a 7-4 overall record. Weber State, a FCS Playoff and co-Big Sky Champion squad with 11 wins last season, received 23 votes for 18th. UC Davis, who had its best record since 2013 tallied 12 votes for 22nd, while newcomer Idaho received 11 votes for 23rd. Four Big Sky teams – Montana, Sacramento State, Montana State, Northern Arizona – all finished in the top half of the league standings in 2017 and received votes in the preseason poll.

Headlining the HERO SPORTS Preseason All-America team were a trio of Big Sky senior players. Montana linebacker Josh Buss, UC Davis wide receiver and Walter Payton Award finalist Keelan Doss, and Weber State special teams player Brady May were all voted to the first team. The Big Sky had five players named to the second team and six to the third team.

The Big Sky season kicks off on Thursday, August 30 with three conference teams set to hit the field. Montana State versus Western Illinois, Weber State at Utah, and UC Davis at San Jose State.

2018 HERO SPORTS FCS Top 25 Preseason Poll
1. North Dakota St. (3) 75
2. James Madison 72
3. Kennesaw 69
4. Eastern Washington 64
5. South Dakota State 58
6. Samford 57
7. New Hampshire 56
8. Sam Houston State 54
9. Delaware 48
10. Jacksonville St. 45
11. Elon 38
12. Illinois State 37
13. Northern Iowa 34
14. Wofford 33
15. Nicholls 32
16. Furman 25
17. Villanova 24
18. Weber State 23
19. Yale 22
20. Youngstown State 16
21. North Carolina A&T 13
22. UC Davis 12
23. Idaho 11
24. Stony Brook 10
25. Austin Peay 9

ALSO RECEIVED VOTES:
Montana 7
Sacramento State 7
San Diego 6
Montana State 4
Northern Arizona 3
South Dakota 2
Grambling 2
Southern Illinois 2
Howard 1
Colgate 1

2018 HERO SPORTS FCS Preseason All-America Team
First Team
Josh Buss, Sr., LB, Montana
Keelan Doss, Sr., WR, UC Davis
Brady May, Sr., ST, Weber State

Second Team
Zach Larsen, Jr., OL, Southern Utah
Chris Murray, Jr., ATH, Montana State
Iosua Opeta, Sr., OL, Weber State
Wes Preece, Jr., TE, UC Davis
LeGrand Toia, Sr., LB, Weber State

Third Team
Emmanuel Butler, Sr., WR, Northern Arizona
Gage Gubrud, Sr., QB, Eastern Washington
George Obinna, Sr., DL, Sacramento State
Joe Protheroe, Sr., FB, Cal Poly
Trey Tuttle, So., PK, Weber State
Rashid Shaheed, So., RS, Weber State