North Dakota State Unanimous No. 1 in CSJ Top-25 Poll
College Sports Journal News Release
PHILADELPHIA, PA. — North Dakota State stayed on top of the College Sports Journal Football Championship Subdivision Top-25 for the second week of the season, this time in unanimous fashion after Saturday's 22-7 victory over Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Colorado State.
The defending-national-champion Bison improved to 2-0 with its first road win of the season as they continued their success against FBS foes. North Dakota State beat Minnesota 37-24 last year and Kansas 6-3 in 2010.
Georgia Southern (1-1), the only other team to get first-place votes in the first week's poll, fell from second to ninth with a 23-21 loss at The Citadel (2-0). The Citadel entered the poll for the first time, tied with Eastern Kentucky (1-1) at No. 25.
Sam Houston State (1-0) replaced Georgia Southern at No. 2 with a season-opening, 54-7 victory over Incarnate Word, a school that was recently admitted into the SHSU's own Southland Conference in 2013.
Appalachian State (1-1) used a 35-27 home victory over Montana to climb from fifth to third. Montana (1-1) fell just one slot from No. 14 to No. 15 with the loss in one of the most highly-anticipated non-conference games in FCS history.
James Madison (2-0) rose three spots to No. 5 with a 42-3 win at home over Alcorn State, while Eastern Washington actually jump one spot to No. 9 with an impressive 24-20 loss at Washington State — a week after beating FBS Idaho 20-3.
Stony Brook (2-0) completed the top-10 by hopping two slots with a 77-7 win over the Pace.
Wofford (2-0) skyrocketed three spots to No. 12 with an 82-0 triumph against Lincoln and Old Dominion (2-0) fell three place to No. 13 despite a 45-7 win against Hampton. Lehigh (2-0) also fell one place to No. 14, even though the Mountain Hawks beat Central Connecticut State 35-14.
McNeese State hurdled one slot to No. 16 by beating McMurry, 69-7 and Illinois State leaped three places to No. 17 with its 31-14 FBS win over Eastern Michigan.
Delaware rose one spot to No. 18 by beating Delaware State, 35-14, and Indiana State took two steps forward with a 44-0 win over Quincy.
New Hampshire had the second farthest fall, dropping four spots after a 44-7 loss to Minnesota, to cap off the top 20. Maine fell three places to No. 21 with a 34-3 defeat to Boston College.
Three new teams entered the poll this week. Joining The Citadel, Norfolk State came in at No. 22 after beating previously-No. 25-ranked Liberty on the road, 34-24, and Bethune-Cookman burst in at No. 24 after knocking off Alabama State and South Carolina in back-to-back weeks.
In all, six teams (North Dakota State, Montana State, Northern Iowa, Youngstown State, Towson and Central Arkansas) remained in the same place in the poll.
Position Team Record Previous Rank Result
1: North Dakota State Bison 2-0 1 W at Colorado State 22-7
2: Sam Houston State Bearkats 1-0 3 W vs Incarnate Word 54-7
3: Appalachian State Mountaineers 1-1 5 W vs Montana 35-27
4: Montana State Bobcats 2-0 4 W vs Drake 34-24
5: James Madison Dukes 2-0 8 W vs Alcorn State 42-3
6: Northern Iowa Panthers 1-1 6 W vs Central State 59-0
7: Youngstown State Penguins 2-0 7 W Valparaiso 59-0
8: Eastern Washington Eagles 1-1 9 L at Washington State 24-20
9: Georgia Southern Eagles 1-1 2 L at The Citadel 23-21
10: Stony Brook Seawolves 2-0 12 W vs Pace 77-7
11: Towson Tigers 0-1 11 Did Not Play
12: Wofford Terriers 2-0 15 W vs Lincoln 82-0
13: Old Dominion 2-0 10 W vs Hampton 45-7
14: Lehigh Mountain Hawks 2-0 13 W Central Connecticut State 35-14
15: Montana Grizzlies 1-1 14 L at Appalachian State 35-27
16: McNeese State Cowboys 2-0 17 W vs McMurry 69-7
17: Illinois State Redbirds 2-0 20 W at Eastern Michigan 31-14
18: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 2-0 19 W vs Delaware State 38-14
19: Indiana State Sycamores 1-1 21 W vs Quincy 44-0
20: New Hampshire Wildcats 1-1 16 L at Minnesota 44-7
21: Maine Black Bears 0-1 18 L at Boston College 34-3
22: Norfolk State 2-0 NR W at Liberty W at Liberty 34-24
23: Central Arkansas Bears 1-1 23 W at Murray State 42-20
24: Bethune-Cookman 2-0 NR at South Carolina State 27-14
25: The Citadel 2-0 13 NR W vs Georgia Southern 23-21
25: Eastern Kentucky 1-1 24 W vs Morehead State 24-17
Also Received Votes (In Order Of Points):
Stephen F. Austin, Jacksonville State, Georgetown, Cal Poly, Sacramento State, Tennessee Tech, Albany, Harvard, North Dakota.
Falling Out Of The Poll
Stephen F. Austin (22), Liberty (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.
