Illinois State Replaces James Madison At The Top Of AGS Poll
Special College Sports Journal
MISSOULA, MT. — A number one ranking seems to be a jinx to teams in the Any Given Saturday FCS Top-25 poll, with Illinois State jumping into the top spot in eighth-week voting after James Madison lost to Richmond, 59-49, on Saturday.
Illinois State received 48 of 88 first-place votes following its 48-28 home victory over Western Illinois in Missouri Valley Football Conference play to edge out Jacksonville State by 15 points.
The Redbirds (6-1) had been third in the previous week’s poll with only four first-place votes last week.
Jacksonville State (6-1) cruised to a 27-7 win over Austin Peay on the road in Ohio Valley Conference play and picked up 35 first-place votes.
Coastal Carolina (7-0) was the only other team to garner first-place support, with five top ballots after holding off Monmouth 23-20 in a Big South away game on a last-second field goal. That boosted the Chanticleers to third in the AGS poll.
Chattanooga (6-1) also had a close call, beating Wofford 20-17 on a final-play field goal in a Southern Conference road game.
Portland State (6-1) was a third top-10 team to win at the wire on a field goal for a road victory, beating Cal Poly 38-35 in Big Sky play. The Vikings, who hold two Football Championship Subdivision wins this season, continues their ascent up the poll by moving from ninth to fifth.
North Dakota State, which got back on the winning track by beating then-No. 17 Indiana State 28-14 at home in MVFC action, hopped up from No. 8 to No. 6.
JMU (7-1) dropped from first to seventh, inexplicably one position ahead of the Richmond (6-1) team that beat the Dukes on Saturday. Richmond rose from 14th to No. 8.
Reports out of JMU have said that JMU quarterback Vad Lee may be out for the season after suffering a foot injury in the second half.
McNeese State (7-0) advanced one slot to No. 9 with its 47-27 triumph at home in Southland Conference play against Northwestern State and Eastern Washington (5-2) fell from seventh to 10 after a close 43-41 win at Northern Colorado in another game decided by a late field goal.
By losing to then-No. 21 Northern Iowa 10-7 at home in a MVFC game, South Dakota State plummeted from No. 5 to No. 11. It was the second loss in three weeks for the Jackrabbits (5-2).
The fan-based and moderated 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.
AGS Poll Results – WEEK 8 – 2015
Results for 10/26/2015 AGS Poll:
| Previous Wk. | Rank | Team: | Total Points | First Place Votes |
| 3 | 1 | Illinois State Redbirds | 2152 | 48 |
| 2 | 2 | Jacksonville State Gamecocks | 2137 | 35 |
| 4 | 3 | Coastal Carolina Chanticleers | 1842 | 5 |
| 6 | 4 | Chattanooga Mocs | 1736 | |
| 9 | 5 | Portland State Vikings | 1684 | |
| 8 | 6 | North Dakota State Bison | 1674 | |
| 1 | 7 | James Madison Dukes | 1671 | |
| 14 | 8 | Richmond Spiders | 1658 | |
| 10 | 9 | McNeese State Cowboys | 1540 | |
| 7 | 10 | Eastern Washington Eagles | 1514 | |
| 5 | 11 | South Dakota State Jackrabbits | 1265 | |
| 12 | 12 | Eastern Kentucky Colonels | 1122 | |
| 15 | 13 | William & Mary Tribe | 1115 | |
| 13 | 14 | Sam Houston State Bearkats | 1103 | |
| 11 | 15 | Fordham Rams | 1039 | |
| 18 | 16 | Harvard Crimson | 726 | |
| 20 | 17 | Southern Utah Thunderbirds | 687 | |
| 21 | 18 | Northern Iowa Panthers | 529 | |
| 16 | 19 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | 526 | |
| 23 | 20 | Montana Grizzlies | 459 | |
| 24 | 21 | Charleston Southern Buccaneers | 447 | |
| 26 | 22 | The Citadel Bulldogs | 413 | |
| 22 | 23 | Dartmouth Big Green | 395 | |
| 17 | 24 | Indiana State Sycamores | 294 | |
| 25 | 25 | Montana State Bobcats | 218 | |
| Most Significant Win: | ||||
| Richmond Spiders | ||||
| Most Significant Loss: | ||||
| James Madison Dukes | ||||
| ORV: | ||||
| 28 | 26 | South Dakota Coyotes | 129 | |
| 31 | 27 | North Carolina A&T Aggies | 121 | |
| 19 | 28 | Youngstown State Penguins | 81 | |
| NR | 29 | Western Carolina Catamounts | 77 | |
| 34 | 30 | Dayton Flyers | 62 | |
| 38T | 31 | Southern Illinois Salukis | 61 | |
| 35 | 32 | Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks | 38 | |
| 32 | 33 | Southeastern Louisiana Lions | 24 | |
| NR | 34 | Eastern Illinois Panthers | 20 | |
| NR | 35 | Northern Arizona Lumberjacks | 13 | |
| NR | 36 | Towson Tigers | 10 | |
| NR | 37 | Bethune-Cookman Wildcats | 7 | |
| 33 | 38 | Cal Poly Mustangs | 4 | |
| NR | 39 | Grambling State Tigers | 3 | |
| NR | 40 | Brown Bears | 2 | |
| Fell Out Of Poll: | ||||
| 36T | Furman Paladins | |||
| 36T | Jacksonville Dolphins | |||
| 29T | New Hampshire Wildcats | |||
| 38T | North Dakota | |||
| 27 | Villanova Wildcats | |||
| 29T | Weber State Wildcats | |||
