College Sports Journal
Press Release
PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Eastern Washington remained the No. 1 team for the second week in the ninth week of the College Sports Journal's Football Championship Subdivision Top-25 poll, coming off a tough 31-28 victory at home against Sacramento State in a key Big Sky Conference game.
The Eagles edged out Georgia Southern and North Dakota State, the two other teams to receive first-place votes in the poll. Georgia Southern and North Dakota State moved up one spot each to second and third in the rankings after wins.
Georgia Southern defeated rival Furman 38-17 on the road in Southern Conference play, while North Dakota State hammered South Dakota 54-0 in Missouri Valley Football Conference action at a neutral site.
A week after almost losing to William & Mary in a double-overtime thriller, James Madison tumbled from second to eighth with a 35-29 loss at Richmond in a CAA encounter. Richmond, with wins over ranked teams from Villanova and JMU, enters the poll for the first time at No. 25.
The Dukes were one of eight teams in the top 25 to lose on Saturday.
Southern Illinois made it first appearance in the poll at No. 24 with a 38-21 MVFC win at Youngstown State, which fell out of the rankings with its third consecutive loss.
Harvard dropped from 22nd with its 39-35 loss at Princeton and McNeese State fell from the poll after a 45-10 loss to Sam Houston State, which moved to No. 9 in this week's poll.
Appalachian State dropped from ninth to 15th with a 38-28 Southern Conference loss to Wofford, which moved back up to No. 7.
Illinois State plummeted from 16th to 19th with a stunning 24-17 loss to Missouri State and South Dakota State lost ground from 14th to 20th with a 27-6 loss at Northern Iowa, both in MVFC play.
Towson fell to 21st with a 31-20 loss at home to Old Dominion in CAA play, while ODU moved back to 12th.
Position Team Record Previous Rank Result
1: Eastern Washington Eagles (6-1, 5-0) 1 W vs Sacramento State 31-28
2: Georgia Southern Eagles (6-1, 5-1) 3 W at Furman 38-17
3: North Dakota State Bison (6-1, 3-1) 4 W vs South Dakota 54-0
4: Cal Poly Mustangs (7-0, 5-0) 5 W vs Portland State 37-25
5: Stony Brook Seawolves (7-1, 3-0) 6 W vs Gardner-Webb 41-10
6: Montana State Bobcats (6-1, 3-1) 7 L vs Eastern Washington 27-24
7: Wofford Terriers (6-1, 4-1) 8 W at Appalachian State 38-28
8: James Madison Dukes (5-1, 3-0) 2 L at Richmond 35-29
9: Sam Houston State Bearkats (5-2, 3-1) 10 W vs McNeese State 45-10
10: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (6-1, 4-0) 12 W vs UC Davis 21-7
11: Lehigh Mountain Hawks (8-0, 2-0) 11 W vs Bucknell 42-14
12: Old Dominion Monarchs (6-1, 3-1) 15 W at Towson 31-20
13: Central Arkansas Bears (5-2, 3-1) 17 W at Lamar 24-10
14: New Hampshire Wildcats (6-2, 4-1) 18 W at Maine 28-21
15: Appalachian State Mountaineers (5-3, 3-2) 9 L vs Wofford 38-28
16: Villanova Wildcats (6-2, 4-1) 23 W at Georgia State 49-24
17: Albany Great Danes (6-1, 4-0) 20 Did Not Play
18: Indiana State (6-2, 3-1) 24 W at Western Illinois 23-7
19: Illinois State Redbirds (5-2, 3-2) 16 L vs Missouri State 24-17
20: South Dakota State Jackrabbits (5-2, 3-1) 14 L at Northern Iowa 27-6
21: Towson Tigers (3-3, 2-1) 13 L vs Old Dominion 31-20
22: Tennessee State Tigers (7-0, 4-0) 21 W at Southeast Missouri State 40-28
23: Eastern Kentucky (5-2, 3-1) 25 W vs Austin Peay 45-14
24: Southern Illinois Salukis (5-3, 4-1) NR W 38-21 at Youngstown State
25: Richmond Spiders (5-3, 3-2) NR W vs James Madison 35-29
Also Received Votes (In Order Of Points):
Youngstown State, Harvard, Princeton, Tennessee-Martin, Delaware, Bethune-Cookman, Sacramento State, Samford, The Citadel, Northern Iowa.
Falling Out Of The Poll
Youngstown State Penguins (4-3, 1-3) 19, Harvard (5-1, 3-1) 22, McNeese State Cowboys (4-3, 1-3) 25.
About College Sports Journal
College Sports Journal is selecting weekly national players of the week and releasing a national top-25 poll for the first time this season, but it is not the first time that the people behind the selections have chosen players of the week and administered polls at the FCS level.
The weekly selections are made by a panel of FCS experts that include the co-owners of College Sports Journal, David Coulson and Chuck Burton.
Coulson is a 35-year veteran of covering college football at every level from Division I to the junior college ranks, including 20 years as the leading written voice of FCS. He authored an award-winning, coffee-table book on Appalachian State's run to the 2005 national championship, entitled "Magic on the Mountain."
A 1980 graduate of Fresno State, Coulson also spent two years as sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times, three seasons running the FCS awards program as the executive director of The Sports Network and was one of the pioneers of College Sporting News in 2001.
Burton cut his teeth in FCS as a student at Lehigh. After graduating, he began the popular blog, Lehigh Sports Nation, covering the Mountain Hawks and the Patriot League in depth.
Burton also spent nearly a decade writing a successful FCS column for College Sporting News before beginning the College Sports Journal web site with Coulson last year.
College Sports Journal also publishes preseason and postseason All-America teams for FCS, national awards honoring offensive and defensive players of the year, a lineman of the year and a special teams player of the year and released the first All-FCS Freshman squad last season, besides its work covering other NCAA sports.
This season, College Sports Journal will also publish weekly freshmen of the week, leading up to the release of the freshman of the year and All-FCS Freshman team in January.
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