7/1/2007 - FOOTBALL Beavers earn recognition as a Top-25 pick in national publication

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - With four months remaining before it kicks off the 2007 season in defense of its 2006 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship, the Bemidji State University football team is already garnering national attention. The Beavers have been tabbed as the No. 13 team in Lindy’s 2007 National College Football NCAA Division II Preseason Top-25 Poll.

The ranking is the highest BSU has ever been slotted in a national preseason poll and marks the first time the Beavers have cracked the Top-15 of any nation-wide poll.

Bemidji State’s No. 13 ranking in Lindy’s preseason publication marks the first time the Beavers have been tabbed in the poll since earning back-to-back laurels prior to the 2001 and 2002 seasons. In the team’s debut on Lindy’s list in 2001 it earned a No. 23 ranking while it garnered the 24 spot in 2002.

The Beavers are the only NSIC program to appear in the Lindy’s 2007 preseason poll although Minnesota State University Moorhead junior defensive back Josh Jones earned a spot as a Defensive First Team selection on it’s 2007 Preseason All-American squad.

Bemidji State is coming off a season in which it went 9-3 overall and posted a perfect 8-0 mark in league play. The team also captured the first outright conference championship in its history before falling 35-27 to No. 16 Pittsburg State (Kan.) in its first invitation to the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo.

Reigning NSIC coach of the Year Jeff Tesch, who is entering his 12th season as head coach, returns 17 starters including 10 of the 11 regulars on a defense that led all of NCAA Division II against the run in 2006, tied for third in sacks and finished tied for eighth with 22 interceptions. Offensively, the team has experienced veterans in place at quarterback, running back and returns its top receiver while it welcomes back an offensive line that is one of the best in the region.

The Beavers climbed into the national rankings at the conclusion of 2006. The team earned Top-25 honors in each of the final three American Football Coaches’ Association polls, ranking as high as 23rd, while it finished the season at No. 19 in the D2Footbal.com poll.

BSU lifts the lid on the 2007 campaign Sept. 1 when it travels to Duluth, Minn. to battle North Central Conference foe University of Minnesota Duluth in a 6 p.m. non-conference contest at Malosky Stadium.

Lindy’s 2007 NCAA Division II Preseason Top-25
1. Grand Valley State (Mich.)
2. Northwest Missouri State
3. Chadron State (Neb.)
4. North Dakota
5. Bloomsburg (Pa.)
6. Nebraska-Omaha
7. Delta State (Miss.)
8. Valdosta State (Ga.)
9. South Dakota
10. Indiana (Pa.)
11. West Chester (Pa.)
12. Midwestern State (Tex.)
13. Bemidji State
14. Shepherd (W.V.)
15. Pittsburg State (Kan.)
16. North Alabama
17. Newberry (S.C.)
18. Ferris State (Mich.)
19. West Texas A&M
20. Northwood (Mich.)
21. Arkansas Tech
22. Abilene Christian (Tex.)
23. Henderson State (Ark.)
24. Tiffin (Ohio)
25. Elizabeth City State (N.C.)

-bsu-