Defending national champion North Dakota State is the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley Football Conference title this season. The Bison, who won the Football Championship Subdivision championship last year, shared the conference title last season with Northern Iowa, which is second in the preseason poll conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors. NDSU returns six starters on offense and seven on defense from a team that finished 14-1. The Bison received 37 of 38 first-place votes in the preseason poll. The other went to Illinois State. Youngstown State is third in the poll, Illinois State fourth and Indiana State fifth. The rest of the top ten is South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, South Dakota, Western Illinois and Missouri State.