SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The top five teams in the FCS Coaches Poll remained unchanged and nine of the top 10 teams picked up wins or were idle last week, leaving the top 10 virtually unchanged.
James Madison remained the No. 1 team following a bye week. The Dukes, however, did lose a first-place vote. They received 27 out of a possible 28 first-place votes and 699 points overall.
Picking up the final first-place vote this week was No. 6 Wofford, which received 557 total points. The Terriers defeated Western Carolina, 42-14, on Saturday. Their only loss this season came at the hands of SEC member South Carolina on Sept. 20, 23-13.
Appalachian State survived a close contest in Statesboro, Ga., Saturday at the hands of Georgia Southern, to remain at No. 2. The Mountaineers won, 37-36.
Following ASU, the rest of the top 10 includes Cal Poly, Northern Iowa, Montana, Wofford, Elon, Richmond, Villanova and New Hampshire. The only team to drop out of the top 10 was Massachusetts, following its 30-15 loss to No. 8 Richmond. The Minutemen fell to No. 16.
The only undefeated team left in the FCS Coaches Poll last week picked up a loss Saturday, as Liberty was beaten by Lafayette, 35-21.
A pair of teams entered the poll this week as William and Mary and South Carolina State broke into the poll. The No. 23 Tribe won at Delaware, 27-3, while the Bulldogs had a bye week.
Dropping out were South Dakota State and Georgia Southern. The Jackrabbits lost to No. 3 Cal Poly, 42-28, while the Eagles were beaten by No. 2 Appalachian State, 37-36.
The Colonial Athletic Conference continues to lead the way with six teams ranked in the top 25, with four of those being top 10. The Southern Conference has three teams in the top 10.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference. Two head coaches from each of the 14 FCS conferences participate in the voting.
The FCS Coaches Poll website can be viewed here and is updated every week after the release of the poll.
Team (1st Votes) Record Points Previous Ranking
1. James Madison (27) 6-1 699 1
2. Appalachian State 5-2 664 2
3. Cal Poly 4-1 622 3
4. Northern Iowa 5-2 601 4
5. Montana 6-1 567 5
6. Wofford (1) 5-1 557 6
7. Elon 7-1 518 8
8. Richmond 5-3 501 9
9. Villanova 5-1 472 10
10. New Hampshire 5-1 429 11
11. McNeese State 4-2 415 12
12. Central Arkansas 6-1 396 13
13. Southern Illinois 4-2 346 14
14. Western Illinois 5-2 317 17
15. Northern Arizona 6-1 303 18
16. Massachusetts 4-3 278 7
17. Weber State 6-2 248 20
18. Furman 6-2 245 19
19. Tennessee State 6-1 180 21
20. Jacksonville State 5-2 149 23
21. Liberty 6-1 118 15
22. Hampton 5-1 116 24
23. William and Mary 4-2 62 NR
24. South Carolina State 5-2 52 NR
25. North Dakota State 3-4 37 16
Other receiving votes (pts. in parentheses): Lafayette (35), San Diego (29), Eastern Washington (29), Harvard (27), Georgia Southern (15), South Dakota State (9), Florida A&M (9), Grambling State (9), UT Martin (8), Prairie View A&M (7), Southern (7), The Citadel (6), Maine (5), UC Davis (3), Colgate (3), Dayton (3), Stephen F. Austin (3), Brown (1).