The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Preseason polls were announced yesterday, with South Dakota State and South Dakota projected to finish top-three, despite both having new head coaches this season.
SDSU was picked to finish 2nd this coming season. The Jackrabbits earned a share of the MVFC title last season with a 7-1 league record. The Jackrabbits have placed first or second in the preseason poll in each of the last five seasons and eight times in the last nine years.
USD is projected to finish 3rd this season after also sharing the MVFC Championship last season. The Coyotes were the only team besides top-ranked North Dakota State to earn first-place votes entering the 2025 season. The third-place prediction matches the highest-predicted finish since joining the MVFC in 2012.
Between SDSU and USD, 21 players were selected to the preseason conference player of the year watchlist. Notable among them are USD’s Aidan Bouman and Charles Pierre Jr, and SDSU’s Chase Mason, who takes over for Mark Gronowski at Quarterback, and Koby Bretz. Also recognized for SDSU was University of Nebraska transfer Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda.
The full MVFC Preseason poll is available below. Numbers listed after the team indicate first-place votes:
MVFC Preseason Poll:
- North Dakota State (39)
- South Dakota State
- South Dakota (3)
- Illinois State
- Youngstown State
- Southern Illinois
- North Dakota
- Northern Iowa
- Indiana State
- Murray State
Yankton Post 12 Legion Baseball will host Sturgis tomorrow afternoon in game one of a best-of-three series.
Yankton is the #2 seed in Class A entering the postseason, holding a 14-5 record against Class A opponents this season, with 10 wins in their last 12 league games.
Sturgis enters the postseason as the #14 team with a 2-16 Class A record. Yankton and Sturgis did not play each other in the regular season.
First pitch tomorrow night is scheduled for 5:00 PM. Pregame coverage on KYNT and KYNTV begins at 4:15 with Bryce Ladwig and Brayden Butler on the call. Games two and three, if necessary, will be held on Thursday, beginning at 11:00 AM.
Full first-round matchups in Class A are available below. The higher seed will host the lower seed in a best-of-three series.
Class A Legion Baseball First Round Matchups:
- #1 Rapid City Post 22 vs #15 Spearfish.
- #2 Yankton vs #14 Sturgis.
- #3 Watertown is an automatic qualifier as this year’s hosts.
- #4 Brandon Valley vs #13 Aberdeen.
- #5 Renner vs #12 Sioux Falls West.
- #6 Sioux Falls East vs #11 Rapid City Post 320.
- #7 Pierre vs #10 Huron.
- #8 Harrisburg Gold vs #9 Brookings.
The South Dakota Coyotes and South Dakota State Jackrabbits Volleyball programs have both earned the AVCA Team Academic Award.
This is the 14th time SDSU has earned the recognition, while the Coyotes were selected for the 11th straight year and the 12th time in program history.
The award recognizes volleyball teams that maintain a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.
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