Richmond Preserves its Hold on No. 1

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? Richmond turned four fumble recoveries into 24 points en route to a 47-0 victory over Hofstra Saturday, helping the Spiders to maintain their hold on the No. 1 ranking this week. The defending national champions have now won 12 straight games, a new school record. Richmond (3-0) received 25 first-place votes and 673 points overall.

 

There was little change to the top 10 this week, as all 10 teams either picked up victories or were idle. Villanova (3-0) remained at No. 2 after its 14-3 victory at Pennsylvania. The Wildcats received one first-place vote.

 

Montana (3-0), Northern Iowa (2-1) and William & Mary (3-0) rounded out the top 5.

 

Coming in at No. 6 was James Madison (1-1), followed by New Hampshire (2-0) at No. 7 and Southern Illinois (1-1) at No. 8.

 

The one change to the top 10 came with McNeese State (3-0). The Cowboys defeated Savannah State 56-0 Saturday and took over at No. 9 for idle Appalachian State (0-2). The Mountaineers fell one spot to No. 10. McNeese State also received one first-place vote.

 

Weber State (1-2) moved up one spot to No. 11 after its 44-17 win against Idaho State. Central Arkansas (1-1) also moved up a spot after it defeated Western Kentucky 28-7.

 

Massachusetts (2-1) defeated Rhode Island 30-10 and moved up two spots to No. 15. South Dakota State (2-0) made the biggest jump, moving three places, to No. 18 after it blanked Indiana State, 41-0. Jacksonville State (1-2), which defeated Alabama A&M 45-13, moved up one spot to No. 21. Eastern Kentucky also moved up a spot to No. 22 after its 17-7 win over Tennessee Tech.

 

Two new teams joined the poll this week. Holy Cross (3-0) defeated Harvard 27-20 Saturday and moved to No. 23, while Florida A&M (3-0) defeated Howard 48-10 Thursday to take over at No. 25.

 

Falling out of the poll were Maine (2-1), which fell to Albany 20-16 Saturday, and Harvard (0-1) which lost to Holy Cross.

 

The Colonial Athletic Association remains in control of the Top 25 with six ranked teams. Three of those teams are in the top 5 and five are in the top 10. The Big Sky, Missouri Valley, Southern and Southland Conferences each have three ranked teams, while the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Ohio Valley Conferences each have two. The Big South Conference, Great West Conference and Patriot League are each represented by one team.

 

The FCS Coaches Poll website can be viewed here and is updated each week after the release of the poll.

 

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.

 

2009 FCS Coaches Poll ? Week 3 (September 21, 2009)

 

      Team (No. 1 Votes)               2009 Record          Points     Previous Ranking
1. Richmond (25)                                 3-0                   673                     1

2. Villanova (1)                                     3-0                   627                     2

3. Montana                                          3-0                   609                     3

4. Northern Iowa                                  2-1                   581                     4

5. William & Mary                                3-0                   559                     5

6. James Madison                               1-1                   528                     6

7. New Hampshire                               2-0                   498                     7

8. Southern Illinois                               1-1                   484                     8

9. McNeese State (1)                           3-0                   464                    10

10. Appalachian State                          0-2                   414                     9

11. Weber State                                  1-2                   411                    12

12. Central Arkansas                           1-1                   393                    13

13. Elon                                              2-1                   334                    11

14. Cal Poly                                        1-1                   284                    14

15. Massachusetts                              2-1                   274                    17

16. South Carolina State                      2-0                   260                    16

17. Wofford                                         1-2                   226                    15

18. South Dakota State                        2-0                   204                    21

19. Texas State                                   1-1                   166                    18

20. Eastern Washington                       2-1                   157                    20

21. Jacksonville State                          1-2                   124                    22

22. Eastern Kentucky                          1-1                   109                    23

23. Holy Cross                                    3-0                    84                    NR

24. Liberty                                           2-1                    66                     24

25. Florida A&M                                  3-0                    56                    NR

 

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Maine (45), Eastern Illinois (33), Grambling State (16), Montana State (16), Harvard (11), North Dakota (11), Northern Arizona (10), Prairie View A&M (10), Delaware (8), Youngstown State (8), Pennsylvania (7), Colgate (6), Southeastern Louisiana (4), Hofstra (2), Stephen F. Austin (2), Missouri State (1).

 

 

 

Richmond continues hold on No. 1

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Richmond used an overwhelming 47-0 victory over Hofstra on Saturday to retain its stranglehold on The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll on Monday.

The Spiders (3-0) grabbed 132 of 150 first-place votes to out-distance second- place Villanova in the poll by 207 points, 3,688 to 3481. It was the third straight week that Richmond has held down the No. 1 spot, after starting the season in the second slot, behind Appalachian State.

Villanova (3-0) received six first-place votes, while No. 3 Northern Iowa (2-1) was named first on five ballots and No. 5 William & Mary (3-0) earned two first-place votes. Montana (3-0) completed the top five in fourth place, but didn't receive any first-place votes.

Villanova edged Penn 14-3, Northern Iowa stopped St. Francis 30-0, Montana toppled Portland State 49-17 and William & Mary slipped by Norfolk State 27-15.

The top-10 remained completely unchanged from the previous week, with James Madison, New Hampshire, McNeese State, Southern Illinois and Appalachian State retaining positions six through 10.

JMU (1-1) stopped VMI 44-16, McNeese State throttled Savannah State 56-0 and Southern Illinois blitzed Southwest Baptist 59-7. New Hampshire and Appalachian State were idle.

The Colonial Athletic Association claimed a record five of the first seven spots in the poll for the second week in a row, with Richmond, Villanova, William & Mary, James Madison and New Hampshire holding down their positions.

Elon, a 35-7 loser to FBS opponent Wake Forest, was the first poll casualty. The Phoenix (2-1) fell from 11th to 13th in the new poll.

Cal Poly, which dropped a 28-10 decision to Ohio University in another FCS game, tumbled from No. 12 to 16.

Those losses made room for Weber State and Central Arkansas to rise.

Weber State (1-2) opened Big Sky Conference play with a 44-17 thrashing of Idaho State after two narrow losses to Wyoming and Colorado State of the FCS ranks in the previous two weeks. The Wildcats were rewarded by moving up two spots to No. 11.

Central Arkansas (1-1), who lost in the final seconds to Hawaii in its opener, rebounded for an impressive 28-7 victory over Western Kentucky, a former FCS champion (2002) now residing in the Sun Belt. The Bears received a boost from 16th to 13th in the poll.

South Carolina State (2-0) popped up one place from No. 15 to 14 in a bye week as Wofford (1-2) crashed from No. 14 to 18 in the poll, following a 44-14 pounding by Wisconsin.

Massachusetts (2-1) gained two positions, moving from No. 17 to 15 after beating Rhode Island 30-10 in CAA play.

South Dakota State (2-0) climbed one slot from 18th to 17th with a 41-0 blanking of Indiana State in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

Eastern Washington and Eastern Kentucky squeezed into the top 20 with tight wins. EWU held off Northern Colorado 16-0 in Big Sky play to move from 21st to 19th and EKU used a 17-7 decision over Tennessee Tech in Ohio Valley Conference action to go from 22nd to 20th.

The final five teams in the poll are Holy Cross, Texas State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois and Liberty.

Holy Cross (3-0) jumped from 23rd to 21st by handling previously-25th-ranked Harvard (0-1) 27-20 in the only game of the weekend involving top-25 teams. Harvard fell out of the poll after being listed since the preseason.

Jacksonville State moved up two positions from No. 24 to 22 by crushing Alabama A&M 45-13, while Texas State (1-1) came up short to Texas Christian 56-21 and slid from 19th to 23nd.

Eastern Illinois (3-0) makes its first appearance in the poll this season at No. 24 with a 23-14 win against Southeast Missouri State in Ohio Valley Conference action.

Liberty (2-1) also joined the poll for the first time this season at No. 25 by completing an impressive 19-13 victory at Lafayette.

Maine, which was ranked No. 20 last week, joined Harvard as the two schools falling out of the top-25. The Black Bears (2-1) dropped a 20-16 decision to Albany, giving up 17 points in the fourth quarter after holding a 16-3 lead.

 

Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll