2008 FCS Coaches Poll

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 8, 2008

 

Bison Hold No. 1 Spot For Second Consecutive Week

 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The North Dakota State Bison retained its No. 1 spot in the FCS Coaches Poll after defeating Central Connecticut State, 50-14, Saturday. The Bison received 20 out of a possible 27 first-place votes and 668 total points to stay at No. 1.

 

After defeating Jacksonville, 56-7, Saturday, Appalachian State retained its No. 2 ranking. The Mountaineers received the remaining seven first-place votes and 648 total points.

 

Rounding out the top five were Montana, Richmond and Massachusetts.

 

The Grizzlies moved up from No. 6 to No. 3 after defeating then No. 11 Cal Poly, 30-28, in San Louis Obispo, Calif.

 

Richmond dropped a spot after it was shutout by Virginia, 16-0, in Charlottesville, Va.

 

The Minutemen also dropped a spot after narrowly edging Holy Cross, 45-42.

 

Two teams entered the poll this week for the first time. The Furman Paladins moved into the No. 23 slot after losing to Virginia Tech, 24-7, in Blacksburg. The Paladins trailed the Hokies 3-0 at halftime. Also entering the poll this week was Delaware State after it defeated Florida A&M, 35-28, on Thursday.  

 

Dropping out of the poll this week were Eastern Kentucky and Harvard. The Colonels lost Saturday to Western Kentucky, 37-13. The Crimson have yet to play a game with its first game scheduled for September 19 when they host Holy Cross.

 

Three conferences continue to dominate the polls as the Colonial Athletic Association, the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Southern Conference each have six teams in the top 25. The CAA leads the way with five teams in the top 10.

 

The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference. Two head coaches from each of the 14 FCS conferences participate in the voting.

 

The FCS Coaches Poll website can be viewed here and is updated every week after the release of the poll.  

 

 

Team (1st Votes)                       Record             Points              Previous Ranking

1. North Dakota State (20)          2-0                    668                                 1

2. Appalachian State (7)             1-1                    648                                 2

3. Montana                                1-0                    582                                 6

4. Richmond                              1-1                    572                                 3

5. Massachusetts                      2-0                    567                                 4

6. Delaware                               0-1                    493                                 7

7. James Madison                      1-1                    484                                 8

8. Northern Iowa                         1-1                    477                                 5

9. McNeese State                      1-1                    432                                 9

10. New Hampshire                    1-0                    382                               15

11. Wofford                                2-0                    369                               13        

12. Cal Poly                              1-1                    365                               11

13. Southern Illinois                    1-0                    361                               12

14. Eastern Washington             0-2                    352                               10

15. Georgia Southern                 1-1                    260                               16

16. Western Illinois                    1-1                    254                               17

17. South Dakota State              1-1                    243                               20t.

18. Elon                                    1-1                    183                               19

19. Central Arkansas                  2-0                    178                               24

20. Eastern Illinois                     0-2                    152                               18

21. Villanova                              0-1                    130                               20t.

22. The Citadel                          1-1                     75                               23

23. Furman                                1-1                      72                               NR

24. Youngstown State                0-2                      66                               14

25. Delaware State                     1-0                      54                               NR

 

 

Other receiving votes (pts in parentheses): Northern Arizona (40), Liberty (37), Harvard (35), Jacksonville State (24), Eastern Kentucky (23), Sam Houston State (22), Prairie View A&M (21), South Carolina State (19), Fordham (19), Holy Cross (17), Tennessee State (16), Montana State (15), Hampton (11), San Diego (9), Hofstra (9), Grambling State (8), Texas State (8), North Carolina A&T (5), Sacramento State (3), Weber State (3), UC Davis (3), Yale (3), William & Mary (2), Florida A&M (1), Dayton (1), Coastal Carolina (1), Lehigh (1).