Penguins picked third in Missouri Valley preseason poll
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The 2026-27 FCS college football season is right around the corner, and Tuesday's Missouri Valley Football Conference media day served as the unofficial start of the season before teams begin fall camp in August.
To start the day, the conference released its preseason poll, which saw Youngstown State picked to finish third behind first-place South Dakota State and second-place Illinois State.
It's the highest preseason standing for the Penguins since they were picked third in 2017. YSU is also the only team in the top-six in the poll to not receive a first-place vote.
"Those rankings mean absolutely nothing. It's great to see on paper, but we've gotta get it done on the field," head coach Doug Phillips said during YSU's press conference at MVFC media day. "How do you do that? You've gotta have trust and belief in what you're doing each and every day, whether it's in the weight room or on the field in your preparation, then you've gotta take care of it for 60 minutes in a football game.
"Do we have the confidence and belief that we can beat anyone in the country? We do. But we have to be consistent. Put that together, and you tie that in with the discipline and fundamentals, and that's the focus."
A new era begins for the MVFC this season after 12-time conference champion North Dakota State departed the league this offseason to move up to the FBS level and join the Mountain West Conference.
Without its perennial power atop the conference, the MVFC seems to be as wide open as it's ever been. Two-time national champion South Dakota State is favored atop the league after going 9-5 last year, and Illinois State is coming off a run to the FCS national title game.
But YSU returns a lot of experience, including Walter Payton Award-winning quarterback Beau Brungard, while North Dakota, South Dakota and Southern Illinois all expect to factor into the conference title chase, as well.
As the conference announced its preseason poll, Stats Perform also unveiled its preseason watch lists and the Penguins are well-represented.
Five YSU players were named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team on Monday, including Brungard, DL Mike Wells, OL Desmeal Leigh and PK Andrew Lastovka. Brungard and Wells received First-Team honors, Leigh was picked for the Second-Team, while Lastovka was listed on the Third-Team.
After winning the award last season, Brungard was named to the Walter Payton Award's preseason watch list. He aims to be just the third two-time recipient of the award after former Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards and Sam Houston State quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe.
"As a college football player, there's always pressure. There's pressure no matter what," Brungard said at MVFC media day. "As a freshman, there was pressure to beat guys out. Every single year, I had to beat guys out. My first year as a starter, there was pressure to perform. There's pressure to prove people wrong, saying 'I can't throw' or 'I'm too little.' There's always pressure."
Wells was named to the Buck Buchanan Award preseason watch list after a breakout 2025 campaign and was one of five MVFC players listed. The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded to the FCS' national defensive player of the year.
YSU opens the 2026 season on Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. against Mercyhurst at Stambaugh Stadium.
"I'm excited to see how it all comes together this year," Phillips said. "It's challenging every day. You want the offense to be good, you want the defense to do good. There's days that the defense will beat the offense, then there's days the offense beats the defense. But iron sharpens iron. That's the No. 2 standard of ours, and every day, we get to challenge each other to be the best version of ourselves. That's what I look forward to as we head into camp."