Looking to bounce back from the 2021 season, Weber State football will enter 2022 as a ranked team.

The Wildcats were voted No. 20 in the STATS FCS preseason media poll released Monday.

The honor marks the fifth consecutive season WSU has appeared in the preseason Top 25 after the Wildcats finished the 2017 season ranked No. 5, though WSU appeared in the Top 10 in each of the last four preseason rankings.

North Dakota State was an obvious, overwhelming No. 1, garnering 52 of 54 first-place votes. South Dakota State got the other two first-place votes.

Montana checks in at No. 3 as the first of six from the Big Sky to be voted to the preseason Top 25, giving the league the most ranked teams in the country. The Griz edged No. 4 Montana State by only 15 points.

Defending conference champion Sacramento State is No. 8, Eastern Washington was voted 13th and UC Davis eked into the poll at No. 25.

Weber State faces all five of those ranked Big Sky opponents this season, hosting Eastern Washington, Montana and Sacramento State at home, while playing UC Davis and Montana State on the road.

Weber State went 6-5 last season and missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. The Wildcats begin the 2022 season on Sept. 1 by hosting Western Oregon as the first of six home games, opening the ninth season with Jay Hill as head coach.

STATS PRESEASON TOP 25

1. North Dakota State, 1,348 (52)

2. South Dakota State, 1,285 (2)

3. Montana, 1,218

4. Montana State, 1,203

5. Missouri State, 1066

6. Villanova, 997

7. Sacramento State, 991

8. Kennesaw State, 959

9. Southern Illinois, 915

10. Stephen F. Austin, 813

11. ETSU, 750

12. Chattanooga, 562

13. Eastern Washington, 538

14. Incarnate Word, 533

15. Jackson State, 515

16. Holy Cross, 503

17. SE Louisiana, 440

18. UT Martin, 404

19. Delaware, 401

20. Weber State, 391

21. Northern Iowa, 289

22. Rhode Island, 242

23. Mercer, 215

24. Richmond, 166

25. UC Davis, 153

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