South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier is unapologetically stubborn when it comes to the unprecedented upcoming Missouri Valley Football Conference season.
“We’re calling it fall camp,” Stiegelmeier said, “not winter or spring.”
Yet even Stiegelmeier admits his Jackrabbits and the rest of the MVFC are in for an unusual journey when an eight-game Valley schedule opens in two and a half weeks.
“I can’t think of one thing that has been the same as the year before,” he said.
The league’s preseason poll was released Wednesday with defending FCS national champion North Dakota State first, Northern Iowa second, South Dakota State third, Illinois State fourth and Southern Illinois fifth in the 10-team conference.