James Madison Leaps To No. 1 In The AGS Top-25 FCS Poll

Special to College Sports Journal

 

MISSOULA, MT. — For the second time in three weeks, there is a new team atop the Any Given Saturday FCS Top-25 poll in seventh-week voting as James Madison vaulted into first place Monday after North Dakota State’s shocking 24-21 loss to South Dakota on Saturday.

 

James Madison, which has been gaining support each week since its 48-45 victory against SMU last month, soared into the top spot with 46 first place votes after demolishing Elon, 51-0, on the road in Colonial Athletic Association action on Saturday.

 

The Dukes improved to 7-0, the best record in FCS this season.

 

Four-time defending national champion North Dakota State, which has dropped two games in the same season for the first time since 2010 — before its title run — fell all the way to eighth in the poll and did not receive a first-place vote for the first time this season.

 

 

The Bison (4-2) had been the consensus No. 1 team in the country in preseason voting, but dropped out of the top spot after a season-opening loss to current-22nd-ranked Montana. 

 

The loss by NDSU on Saturday in Missouri Valley Conference play at the Fargodome, which came on a 33-yard field goal by South Dakota’s Miles Bergner as time expired, was the second loss in the final seconds for the Bison.

 

Jacksonville State, which had been ranked No. 1 earlier this season until being displaced by NDSU two weeks ago, stayed at No. 2 as JMU leapfrogged the Gamecocks. The Gamecocks (5-1) received 31 of 85 first-place votes after handling Tennessee State, 42-13, Saturday in Ohio Valley Conference play on the road.

 

Illinois State (5-1) moved up one position to No. 4 and picked up four first-place votes following Saturday’s MVFC road beating of Missouri State, 38-2.

 

Coastal Carolina (6-0) jumped one slot to No. 4 and received the other four first-place votes. The Chanticleers had a bye last week.

 

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 7 – 2015

 

Results for 10/19/2015 AGS Poll:

Previous Wk.	Rank	Team:	Total Points	First Place Votes
3	1	James Madison Dukes	2061	46
2	2	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	2039	31
4	3	Illinois State Redbirds	1976	4
5	4	Coastal Carolina Chanticleers	1827	4
7	5	South Dakota State Jackrabbits	1712
6	6	Chattanooga Mocs	1649
8	7	Eastern Washington Eagles	1515
1	8	North Dakota State Bison	1510
11	9	Portland State Vikings	1455
10	10	McNeese State Cowboys	1397
12	11	Fordham Rams	1077
15	12	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	1060
14	13	Sam Houston State Bearkats	1044
16	14	Richmond Spiders	1032
17	15	William & Mary Tribe	1015
23	16	Western Illinois Leathernecks	866
21	17	Indiana State Sycamores	683
19	18	Harvard Crimson	657
13	19	Youngstown State Penguins	463
31	20	Southern Utah Thunderbirds	386
9	21	Northern Iowa Panthers	373
26	22	Dartmouth Big Green	345
22	23	Montana Grizzlies	329
34T	24	Charleston Southern Buccaneers	210
18	25	Montana State Bobcats	184
		Most Significant Win:
		South Dakota Coyotes
		Most Significant Loss:
		North Dakota State Bison
		ORV:
NR	26	The Citadel Bulldogs	113
32	27	Villanova Wildcats	96
NR	28	South Dakota Coyotes	86
24	29	New Hampshire Wildcats	65
NR	30	Weber State Wildcats	65
NR	31	North Carolina A&T Aggies	64
20	32	Southeastern Louisiana Lions	45
28	33	Cal Poly Mustangs	38
40	34	Dayton Flyers	32
NR	35	Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks	29
34T	36T	Jacksonville Dolphins	26
38	36T	Furman Paladins	26
33	38T	North Dakota	21
30	38T	Southern Illinois Salukis	21
NR	40	Western Carolina Catamounts	11
		Fell Out Of Poll:
	36T	Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
	39	Campbell Fighting Camels
	29	Lamar Cardinals
	25	Liberty Flames
	36T	Princeton Tigers
	27	Samford Bulldogs