The Central Michigan football program continues to garner preseason recognition from college football preview publications across the country.

Athlon Sports, Lindy’s and Sporting News have all released their season preview magazines, and each had high praise for the Chippewas.

Both Athlon and Lindy’s have picked the Chippewas to win the Mid-American Conference West Division for the third time in the last four seasons. Antonio Brown, who led the nation in punt return yardage in 2008, was named a preseason first team All-American as a punt returner by Athlon and a second team All-American by Sporting News.

Athlon ranked the CMU receivers and tight ends as the No. 9 receiving corps in the country. The Chippewas return a pair of All-MAC first team selections in Bryan Anderson and Brown at the receiver position; the pair ranks first and second, respectively, in school history in receptions, and both Anderson and Brown have a 1,000-receiving-yard season during their careers. Kito Poblah (43 receptions, 532 yards, three touchdowns in 2008) also returns to the CMU lineup in 2009.

Athlon tabbed CMU’s quarterbacks, receivers/tight ends, defensive linemen and linebackers as the best among their position groups in the Mid-American Conference.

Lindy’s rated senior quarterback Dan LeFevour as the No. 8 quarterback in the country. LeFevour enters his senior season with 11,702 yards of total offense, the 14th-highest total in NCAA history. He has led the Chippewas in rushing the last two seasons while also becoming the first CMU quarterback to throw for at least 2,500 yards in three different seasons. He has ranked in the top 10 nationally in total offense both of the last two seasons.

A number of Chippewas earned special recognition from Lindy’s and Sporting News in the publications’ conference preview sections. Lindy’s tabbed LeFevour as its preseason conference MVP and junior linebacker Nick Bellore as its preseason defensive player of the year in the MAC. LeFevour also was selected by Lindy’s as the MAC’s Most Accurate Passer, Best Scrambler and Coolest in the Clutch.

Lindy’s named Anderson as the MAC’s Most Dangerous Deep Threat, senior defensive end Frank Zombo as the Best Pass Rusher and senior cornerback Josh Gordy as the Best Cover Corner.

Sporting News chose LeFevour as the Best Running Quarterback, Bellore as the Hardest Hitter and Brown as having the Best Hands in the conference. Sporting News also named Chippewa fans as the Best Fans in the MAC; CMU led the conference in home attendance in 2008, and a sellout crowd of 30,302 was on hand for CMU’s 38-28 win over Western Michigan last season.

Athlon, Lindy’s and Sporting News also released preseason all-conference teams in each of their publications:

Athlon Sports
All-MAC first team: Dan LeFevour, Bryan Anderson, Antonio Brown (receiver and punt returner), Jeff Maddux, Frank Zombo, Nick Bellore
All-MAC second team: Sean Murnane

Lindy’s
All-MAC first team: Dan LeFevour, Antonio Brown (receiver and all-purpose), Frank Zombo, Nick Bellore
All-MAC second team: Bryan Anderson, Andrew Aguila, Sean Murnane, Sam Williams, Josh Gordy

Sporting News
All-MAC first team: Antonio Brown, Frank Zombo, Nick Bellore