CSJ Top-25 Sees Juggling After Nine Ranked Teams Fall On Saturday

 

College Sports Journal Release

 

PHILADELPHIA, PA. — North Dakota State remained the unanimous No. 1 team for the third straight week in the fourth week of the College Sports Journal’s Football Championship Subdivision Top-25 poll, coming off a 66-7 home victory on Saturday against Prairie View.

 

The Bison (3-0) will get their first real FCS challenge on Saturday when they Missouri Valley Football Conference rival No. 18 Northern Iowa on the road at the UNI Dome in a must-win game for the Panthers.

 

North Dakota State, the defending national champion, has been on top all season in the College Sports Journal poll.

 

Northern Iowa, which lost 42-35 at Youngstown State in a game that went down to the final second of play, is 1-3, but the losses have been by a total of 23 points to BCS schools Wisconsin and Iowa and YSU, all on the road.

 

The Panthers fell 11 spots in the poll after being No. 7 last week, while the win vaulted Youngstown State up one spot from No. 3 to No. 2. 

 

Youngstown State, which is off to its first 4-0 start since 2001 is at its highest place in any poll since that season, when the Penguins start 6-0, but failed to reach the playoffs.

 

Another team that plummeted after a tough loss was Sam Houston State. The national-runner-up team last season fell for the second straight week, losing 24-20 at Central Arkansas in a key Southland Conference game.

 

Central Arkansas (3-1) jumped from No. 24 to No. 16 with the win, while Sam Houston State (1-2) fell from No. 2 to No. 17. The Bearkats were coming off a loss to BCS Baylor.

 

The Citadel (3-1) lost its BCS encounter to North Carolina State 52-14, but remained fifth in the poll. The Bulldogs had beaten two top-three teams, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, in the previous two weeks — the first time The Citadel had ever beaten both those traditional FCS powers in the same season.

 

There was major shuffling in the polls as nine of last week’s top 25 teams lost.

 

Montana (2-2) fell from No. 18 to No. 22 with a 41-31 loss at home to Northern Arizona — the first time the Lumberjacks had beaten Montana since 1997.

 

New Hampshire (2-2) dropped a wild 64-61 decision to No. 9 Old Dominion (4-0) and slid from No. 21 to No. 24 in the poll. The Wildcats blew a 47-24 lead in the third quarter.

 

McNeese State (3-1) was stunned 25-24 by Southeastern Louisiana in another Southland Conference upset and dropped from No. 15 to No. 25. Southeastern Louisiana came into the game 0-3 and had been throttled 23-0 by Tennessee-Martin (32nd in this week’s voting) nine days earlier.

 

Maine came into the week ranked 22nd, but a 30-20 loss at home to Albany dropped the Black Bears from the poll and jumped the Great Danes into the No. 23 spot. Albany (3-1) had narrowly the week before at Youngstown State.

 

Then-No. 20 Indiana State fell out of the rankings following a 24-10 home loss to South Dakota State, which just missed the top-25 by finishing 26th in the latest voting.

 

Bethune-Cookman (2-2) was removed from the No. 25 slot when it lost at home to Tennessee State 21-14. It was the second straight loss for the Wildcats, who dropped a 38-10 decision at Miami (FL.) the week before.

 

Tennessee State (4-0) narrowly missed out on a top-25 spot, finishing 27th in that balloting.

 

 

Position                     Team  Record  Previous Rank  Result

 

1: North Dakota State Bison 3-0 1 W vs Prairie View 66-7

2: Youngstown State Penguins 4-0  3  W vs Northern Iowa 42-35

3: Montana State Bobcats 4-0 4 W vs  Northern Colorado 41-16  

4: James Madison Dukes 3-1 6 W at Rhode Island 32-7

5: The Citadel Bulldogs 3-1 5 L at North Carolina State 52-14

6: Wofford Terriers 3-0 8 Did Not Play 

7: Eastern Washington Eagles 2-1 9 W at Weber State 32-26

8: Georgia Southern Eagles 2-1 1 W vs Elon 23-20

9: Old Dominion Monarchs 4-0 10 W vs New Hampshire 64-61

10: Towson Tigers 2-1 13 W vs St. Francis 46-17

11: Illinois State Redbirds 4-0 14 W at Western Illinois 23-3

12: Stony Brook Seawolves 3-1 12 W vs Colgate 32-31

13: Delaware Blue Hens 4-0 17 W at William & Mary 51-21

14: Lehigh Mountain Hawks 4-0 19 W at Liberty 28-26

15: Appalachian State Mountaineers 2-2  16 W at Tennessee-Chattanooga 34-17

16: Central Arkansas Bears 3-1 24 W vs Sam Houston State 24-20

17: Sam Houston State Bearkats 1-2 2 L at Central Arkansas 24-20

18: Northern Iowa Panthers 1-3  7 L at Youngstown State 42-35

19: Cal Poly Mustangs 2-0 23  W vs UC Davis 28-20

20: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 3-1 NR W at Montana 41-31

21: Eastern Kentucky Colonels 3-1 NR W vs Jacksonville State 51-21

22: Montana Grizzlies 2-2 18 L vs Northern Arizona 41-31

23: Albany Great Danes 3-1 NR W at Maine 30-20

24: New Hampshire Wildcats 2-2 21 L at Old Dominion 64-61

25: McNeese State Cowboys 3-1 15 L at Southeastern Louisiana 25-24

 

 

Also Received Votes (In Order Of Points):

 

South Dakota State, Tennessee State, North Dakota, Harvard, Maine, Monmouth, Tennessee-Martin, Indiana State, Samford, Lafayette, Southern Utah.

 

 

Falling Out Of The Poll

 

Indiana State (20), Maine (22), Bethune-Cookman (25).