Weber State will enter the 2017 football season nationally ranked. The Wildcats are No. 22 in the country in the FCS Coaches preseason poll that was released Tuesday.
WSU totaled 102 points in the poll to finish 22nd. Defending national champion James Madison was ranked first, with Big Sky schools Eastern Washington fourth and North Dakota 10th ahead of Weber State. Cal Poly came in 23rd.
The Wildcats are coming off a 7-5 season in which they finished third in the Big Sky and advanced to the FCS Playoffs for the first time in seven years. WSU was ranked 24th in the nation in the final FCS Coaches poll last season.
This marks the first time the Wildcats have been nationally ranked in the preseason since 2010.
Weber State returns 34 letterwinners and 15 starters off last year’s team.
Among the returners are All-American tight end Andrew Vollert, senior cornerback Taron Johnson, junior linebacker Landon Stice and senior punter Jacob DeMaio who all were named to the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference team. WSU has six All-Conference players returning from last season. Vollert, Johnson and DeMaio were also preseason Al-American selections.
— The Salt Lake Tribune