JSU Continues Stranglehold At No. 1, JMU Moves Up After Upset In AGS FCS Poll
Special to College Sports Journal
MISSOULA, MT. — Jacksonville State retained its hold on first place and James Madison used its win over SMU to shoot into the top five as Any Given Saturday released its Football Championship Subdivision Top-25 poll on Monday.
The Gamecocks, who have been ranked No. 1 since the first week of the season, received 50 of 85 first-place votes after its tight, 48-41 victory over Tennessee-Martin to open Ohio Valley Conference play.
The rest of the top four in the poll remained the same.
Four-time defending national champion North Dakota State is No. 2 after a bye week and picked up six first-place votes. Coastal Carolina, which struggled at times in its 31-17 victory over Bryant, is third with 12 No. 1 votes.
South Dakota State thumped Robert Morris 34-10 to receive six first-place votes and is fourth.
James Madison displaced Northern Iowa at No. 5 after blowing a late lead, but coming from behind for its 48-45 victory on the road over Football Bowl Subdivision foe SMU. UNI was idle and dropped to sixth.
No. 6 Illinois State earned one first-place vote, but fell one spot to No. 7 in an off week, while Portland State received the other first-place vote and moved from 12th to 10th after dispatching Division II Western Oregon, 31-0.
No. 8 Chattanooga, a 21-0 winner over Presbyterian, and No. 10 Eastern Washington, which earned an important, come-from-behind Big Sky victory at Sacramento State, completed the top 10.
The AGS poll has been widely recognized as the most accurate in FCS since its debut as a fan-based voting service over a decade ago.
Readers can read more about the poll and other FCS topics at www.anygivensaturday.com.
Results for 09/28/2015 AGS Poll:
| Previous Week | Rank | Team | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | 1 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 2064 | 50 |
| 2 | 2 | North Dakota State Bison | 1926 | 6 |
| 3 | 3 | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 1895 | 12 |
| 4 | 4 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1871 | 6 |
| 8 | 5 | James Madison Dukes | 1821 | 9 |
| 5 | 6 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 1681 | |
| 6 | 7 | Illinois State Redbirds | 1667 | 1 |
| 11 | 8 | Chattanooga Mocs | 1419 | |
| 10 | 9 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1338 | |
| 12 | 10 | Portland State Vikings | 1272 | 1 |
| 18 | 11 | Montana State Bobcats | 1090 | |
| 13 | 12 | Montana Grizzlies | 1004 | |
| 19 | 13 | William & Mary Tribe | 1001 | |
| 14 | 14 | Fordham Rams | 964 | |
| 16 | 15 | Youngstown State Penguins | 888 | |
| 9 | 16 | Liberty Flames | 695 | |
| 17 | 17 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 671 | |
| 7 | 18 | Villanova Wildcats | 515 | |
| 20 | 19 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 490 | |
| 21 | 20 | Indiana State Sycamores | 470 | |
| 24 | 21 | McNeese State Cowboys | 469 | |
| 23 | 22 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 448 | |
| 25 | 23 | Harvard Crimson | 356 | |
| 28 | 24 | Richmond Spiders | 224 | |
| 27 | 25 | New Hampshire Wildcats | 195 | |
| Most Significant Win: | ||||
| James Madison Dukes | ||||
| Most Significant Loss: | ||||
| Villanova Wildcats | ||||
| ORV: | ||||
| 15 | 26 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 187 | |
| 29 | 27 | Lamar Cardinals | 148 | |
| 30 | 28 | Furman Paladins | 147 | |
| NR | 29 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 119 | |
| 22 | 30 | Stony Brook Seawolves | 114 | |
| 26 | 31 | Samford Bulldogs | 97 | |
| 31 | 32 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 77 | |
| 35T | 33 | Dartmouth Big Green | 62 | |
| 35T | 34 | North Dakota | 54 | |
| 37 | 35 | Jacksonville Dolphins | 34 | |
| 38 | 36 | Wofford Terriers | 34 | |
| NR | 37 | Princeton Tigers | 28 | |
| 39 | 38 | South Dakota Coyotes | 25 | |
| NR | 39 | Weber State Wildcats | 18 | |
| NR | 40 | Yale Bulldogs | 14 | |
| Fell Out Of Poll: | ||||
| 34 | Bryant Bulldogs | |||
| 32 | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | |||
| 40 | Southern Jaguars | |||
| 33 | Towson Tigers | |||
