Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Richmond needed a blocked field goal with 38 seconds left by Kevin Grayson to beat Delaware Saturday on the road, but things were not nearly as tight for the Spiders as they retained the No. 1 spot Monday in the latest Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll.
Richmond, the defending national champion, received 122 of 146 first-place votes and finished with 3,042 points to edge out Villanova by 238 points for the top spot. The Spiders (2-0) had to hang on for a 16-15 win over Delaware to start Colonial Athletic Association play.
Villanova (2-0), a 38-17 winner over Lehigh, received 13 first-place ballots. Other teams receiving first-place votes were No. 3 Northern Iowa with six and No. 5 William & Mary with two, while No. 6 New Hampshire, No. 8 McNeese State and No. 15 South Carolina State were given one each.
The Colonial Athletic Association holds down five of the top seven spots in the poll and seven of the top 20, with James Madison clocking in at No. 7, Massachusetts at No. 17 and Maine at No. 20.
Northern Iowa (1-1) recovered from its heart-breaking one-point loss at Iowa with 66-7 victory over South Dakota to jump one spot in the poll, while Montana advanced one position by coming back for a 17-10 road victory over UC Davis.
William & Mary (2-0), which was ranked 14th in the preseason, continued its rise, moving up two spots from seventh to fifth during an off-week. The Tribe stunned BCS school Virginia 26-14 the previous week.
New Hampshire (2-0) won its fifth game over an FBS opponent in six years with a 23-16 triumph against Ball State and jumped from ninth to sixth.
James Madison (0-1) dropped a 38-35 decision to another FBS opponent, Maryland, in overtime and fell one spot in the poll.
The biggest leap of the week was experienced by McNeese State (2-0), which bounced from 16th to eighth with its 40-35 victory at Appalachian State.
ASU, the No. 1 ranked team in the preseason for the fourth consecutive year, lost its second straight game in the final seconds and plummeted from No. 2 to No. 10.
Southern Illinois (0-1), which had a week to regroup after a tough 31-28 loss to Marshall, slipped one spot to No. 9.
Elon fell out of the top-10, despite a 41-7 road victory against Presbyterian. The 11th-ranked Phoenix, who have out-scored Presbyterian and Davidson 97-7 in two games, slid one spot.
Following Elon is Cal Poly at No. 12 and Weber State at No. 13. Cal Poly won its opener 38-19 over Sacramento State to retain its spot.
Weber State stumbled from 11th to 13 when it fumbled a snap in the final minute at Colorado State when it was in position for an upset and lost 24-23. It was the second narrow FBS loss in a row for the Wildcats, who fell 29-22 at Wyoming.
The rest of the top 20 is made up of Wofford, South Carolina State, Central Arkansas, Massachusetts, South Dakota State, Texas State and Maine.
South Dakota State leaped from 21st to 18th following a 44-6 blasting of Georgia Southern at home.
Finishing out the poll is Eastern Washington at No. 21, followed by Eastern Kentucky, Holy Cross, Jacksonville State and Harvard.
Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll
|
Team (First-place votes) |
Record |
Points |
Previous Rank |
|
1. Richmond Spiders (122) |
2-0 |
3,607 |
1 |
|
2. Villanova Wildcats (13) |
2-0 |
3,369 |
3 |
|
3. Northern Iowa Panthers (6) |
1-1 |
3,271 |
4 |
|
4. Montana Grizzlies |
2-0 |
3,075 |
5 |
|
5. William & Mary Tribe (2) |
2-0 |
2,865 |
7 |
|
6. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) |
2-0 |
2,701 |
9 |
|
7. James Madison Dukes |
0-1 |
2,618 |
6 |
|
8. McNeese State Cowboys (1) |
2-0 |
2,358 |
16 |
|
9. Southern Illinois Salukis |
0-1 |
2,296 |
8 |
|
10. Appalachian State Mountaineers |
0-2 |
2,241 |
2 |
|
11. Elon Phoenix |
2-0 |
2,219 |
10 |
|
12. Cal Poly Mustangs |
1-0 |
1,885 |
12 |
|
13. Weber State Wildcats |
0-2 |
1,719 |
11 |
|
14. Wofford Terriers |
1-1 |
1,612 |
14 |
|
15. South Carolina State Bulldogs (1) |
2-0 |
1,515 |
15 |
|
16. Central Arkansas Bears |
0-1 |
1,503 |
13 |
|
17. Massachusetts Minutemen |
1-1 |
1,346 |
17 |
|
18. South Dakota State Jackrabbits |
1-0 |
1,089 |
21 |
|
19. Texas State Bobcats |
1-0 |
977 |
19 |
|
20. Maine Black Bears |
2-0 |
973 |
20 |
|
21. Eastern Washington Eagles |
1-1 |
572 |
18 |
|
22. Eastern Kentucky Colonels |
0-1 |
505 |
22 |
|
23. Holy Cross Crusaders |
2-0 |
476 |
25 |
|
24. Jacksonville State Gamecocks |
0-2 |
471 |
23 |
|
25. Harvard Crimson |
0-0 |
267 |
24 |
|
Others receiving votes: Eastern Illinois 241, Liberty 205, Florida A&M 182, Delaware 177, Furman 124, Colgate 100, Grambling St. 89, Hofstra 82, Alabama A&M 77, Samford 71, Montana St. 64, Youngstown St. 53, Pennsylvania 52, Northern Arizona 45, Gardner-Webb 42, Brown 36, Prairie View A&M 33, Stephen F. Austin 28, Western Illinois 26, Valparaiso 23, Sam Houston St. 19, Southern 18, Georgia Southern 15, Tennessee St. 15, Tennessee-Martin 13, Butler 12, Lafayette 8, Southeastern Louisiana 8, North Carolina A&T 7, North Dakota State 7, Alabama State 6, Jackson State 6, North Dakota 6, The Citadel 5, Albany 4, Drake 4, Rhode Island 4, Northern Colorado 3, Tennessee Tech 3, Missouri St. 2, Saint Francis 2, Murray St. 1, San Diego 1, Yale 1 |