FARGO, N.D. -- Five-time defending national champion North Dakota State has been tabbed as the favorite to win this years Missouri Valley Football Conference title.The Bison earned 37 of a possible 39 first-place votes in the preseason poll conducted among the leagues coaches, sports information directors and select media representatives.Northern Iowa received the other two first-place votes to finish second in the poll, followed by South Dakota State, Illinois State and Youngstown State.Rounding out the top 10 are Western Illinois, South Dakota, Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Missouri State.NDSU captured its fifth consecutive Football Championship Subdivision crown in January with a 37-10 win over Jacksonville State.This is the fifth straight season that the Bison have topped the conference preseason poll.Allen Iverson Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. Tyler Lydon Nuggets Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/Dikembe-Mutombo-Jersey/ Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Paul Millsap Jersey . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets.Defending champion Serena Williams did not need to work too hard to earn her 300th career Grand Slam match win and move into the fourth round at Wimbledon, overwhelming 43rd-ranked Annika Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-0 on Sunday.The victory pushed Williams past Chrissie Evert into second for career Slam victories in the Open era. Williams trails only Martina Navratilova, who went 306-49 in her career.Williams said she?wasnt aware of the milestone until she was asked about it in a postmatch interview.Was it? Cool. Oh, nice, she said with a laugh. I had no idea. Thats awesome, right? Thats good, right? I think thats a lot of matches.It took all of 51 minutes at Centre Court for Williams to advance. Williams, who has won six of her 21 Grand Slam titles at the All England Club, compiled a 25-2 edge in winners.Williams, who is bidding to equal Steffi Grafs Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, was asked about the pressure of being expected to win all the time.Every time I step out on the court, if I dont win, its major national news, she said. But if I do win, its just like a small tag in the corner. ... I dont look at it as a burden. I look at it almost like something thats really awesome to be in that position.For only the fourth time in Wimbledons 139-year history, play was scheduled on the middle Sunday, which is the traditional rest day, because of rain delays in the first week that caused a backlog of matches.?All 22,000 tickets for Sundays play were snapped up in 27 minutes when they went on sale online Saturday.Obviously I love having that Sunday off, but Im a little behind in my matches, so I guess I had to play an extra day, Williams said.After falling an early break behind at 2-1, Williams won 11 of the final 12 games and 24 of the second sets 28 points. She finished the first set with one of her seven aces and served out the match at love.I still want to get out to a little bit of a faster start, Williams said. But I was really focused and calm today.ddddddddddddThe No. 1-ranked Williams improved to 300-42 at major tournaments.Williams will next face two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who put aside a warning for getting coached and erased a big deficit in the third set to edge 18th-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-7 (1), 6-2, 8-6.Kuznetsova, who won the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, needed almost 2? hours to get past Stephens.Early in the third set, Kuznetsova argued with chair umpire Mariana Alves about whether she was receiving help from her coach, which is not allowed at Grand Slam matches.Stephens served for the match at 5-3, but Kuznetsova broke, part of a stretch in which she took five of the final six games.Williams has a 9-3 career record against Kuznetsova, but the two-time Grand Slam champion from Russia beat her this year on the hard court in Miami.She knows my game, I know her game, Williams said. Its just really down to whos really going to fight to win it.Also, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time. The 23rd-seeded Russian beat No. 11 Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.Bacsinszky made it to the quarterfinals last year but failed to break serve once on Sunday.Pavlyuchenkova will next face No. 27 Coco Vandeweghe, who beat No. 7 Roberta Vinci 6-3, 6-4 to improve to 4-0 vs. top-10 players this season.Robertas a really tough opponent, Vandeweghe said. She has a lot of craftiness to her game that you dont see too much. She makes you beat her. So thats what I tried to do, stay focused and keep pressing.Also advancing was 50th-ranked Elena Vesnina, who beat 225th-ranked American qualifier Julia Boserup 7-5, 7-5. Shell next play fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over No. 24 Barbora Strycova.ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report. ' ' '