Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - For a record fourth consecutive year, Appalachian State has been voted as the No. 1 team in The Sports Network FCS preseason top-25 poll.
The Mountaineers (11-3 last season) received 79 first-place votes out of a record 160 ballots cast to top No. 2 Richmond, the team that ended Appalachian State's unprecedented three-year reign as NCAA Division I national champion last fall.
Appalachian State, which finished fifth in last year's season-ending poll, tallied 3,853 points to beat out the Spiders (3,792) by 61 points. Richmond (13-3) received 72 first-place votes.
Montana, Northern Iowa and Villanova all received two first-place votes apiece, while James Madison, Weber State and South Carolina State each earned one first-place vote.
Montana, coming off an appearance in the 2008 national championship game, finished third in the balloting, followed by Northern Iowa and Villanova. The fifth-place result is Villanova's highest finish ever in the preseason poll.
Completing the rest of the top 10 were James Madison, Southern Illinois, New Hampshire, Weber State and Wofford.
The Colonial Athletic Association placed four teams - Richmond, Villanova, James Madison and New Hampshire - in the top 10 and seven of its 12 teams in the top 25.
William & Mary placed 14th, with Massachusetts at No. 17 and Maine at 19th. Three other CAA teams, Hofstra, Delaware and Towson, received votes.
Elon missed the top 10 by just seven points to place 11th, giving the Southern Conference three teams among the initial 11. Georgia Southern finished just out of the top-25, and was second among the teams that also received votes.
The Big Sky ended up with two teams in the top 10, Montana and Weber State, and three in the top 25, with Eastern Washington checking in at No. 18.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference matched the Big Sky with two teams in the top 10, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, and three in the top 25 with South Dakota State at No. 22.
The Southland Conference was the only other conference with three or more teams ranked, with Central Arkansas at No. 13, McNeese State at No. 15 and Texas State rated 20th.
Conference favorites in several other leagues made up most of the rest of the poll. Cal Poly of the Great West was 12th, South Carolina State of the Mid- Eastern Athletic Conference placed 16th, Harvard of the Ivy League was 23rd, and Eastern Kentucky of the Ohio Valley Conference finished 24th.
Grambling of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and Holy Cross of the Patriot League tied for 25th. Jacksonville State, which is ineligible for the OVC title because of NCAA sanctions, came in at 21.
Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll
|
Team (First-place votes) |
Record |
Points |
Previous Rank |
|
1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (79) |
0-0 |
3,853 |
5 |
|
2. Richmond Spiders (72) |
0-0 |
3,792 |
1 |
|
3. Montana Grizzlies (2) |
0-0 |
3,506 |
2 |
|
4. Northern Iowa Panthers (2) |
0-0 |
3,408 |
4 |
|
5. Villanova Wildcats (2) |
0-0 |
3,285 |
6 |
|
6. James Madison Dukes (1) |
0-0 |
3,069 |
3 |
|
7. Southern Illinois Salukis |
0-0 |
2,897 |
11 |
|
8. New Hampshire Wildcats |
0-0 |
2,544 |
8 |
|
9. Weber State Wildcats (1) |
0-0 |
2,525 |
7 |
|
10. Wofford Terriers |
0-0 |
2,169 |
9 |
|
11. Elon Phoenix |
0-0 |
2,162 |
17 |
|
12. Cal Poly Mustangs |
0-0 |
1,780 |
10 |
|
13. Central Arkansas Bears |
0-0 |
1,670 |
12 |
|
14. William & Mary Tribe |
0-0 |
1,635 |
20 |
|
15. McNeese State Cowboys |
0-0 |
1,453 |
21 |
|
16. South Carolina State Bulldogs (1) |
0-0 |
1,379 |
13 |
|
17. Massachusetts Minutemen |
0-0 |
1,055 |
NR |
|
18. Eastern Washington Eagles |
0-0 |
1,038 |
NR |
|
19. Maine Black Bears |
0-0 |
1,033 |
18 |
|
20. Texas State Bobcats |
0-0 |
860 |
22 |
|
21. Jacksonville State Gamecocks |
0-0 |
808 |
23 |
|
22. South Dakota State Jackrabbits |
0-0 |
707 |
NR |
|
23. Harvard Crimson |
0-0 |
504 |
15 |
|
24. Eastern Kentucky Colonels |
0-0 |
394 |
19 |
|
25. Grambling State Tigers |
0-0 |
382 |
24 |
|
25. Holy Cross Crusaders |
0-0 |
382 |
NR |
|
Others receiving votes: Georgia Southern 335, Liberty 330, Colgate 319, North Dakota State 252, Montana State 217, Hofstra 206, Delaware 202, Florida A&M 194, Tennessee-Martin 192, Furman 171, Northern Arizona 169, Youngstown State 145, Eastern Illinois 93, Albany 64, UC Davis 63, Western Illinois 61, Penn 56, Coastal Carolina 52, Prairie View A&M 52, Samford 49, Tennessee State 47, Jackson State 46, Southern 39, Hampton 38, Bethune-Cookman 37, Brown 32, Northwestern State 30, San Diego 20, Lafayette 17, Delaware State 16, Jacksonville 16, Lehigh 16, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 15, Western Carolina 14, Charleston Southern 12, North Dakota 12, Fordham 10, Norfolk State 10, Stony Brook 10, The Citadel 10, Towson 10, Morgan State. 8, Monmouth 5, Yale 4, Alabama A&M 2, Illinois State 2, Missouri State 2, Murray State 2, Presbyterian 2, Gardner-Webb 1, Portland State 1, Robert Morris 1, Southeastern Louisiana 1 |