North Dakota State Claims No. 1 Spot After National Championship
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The North Dakota State Bison finished the 2011 football season as the No.1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll after their 17-6 win over Sam Houston State in the National Championship game Saturday afternoon. It was the first Division I title for the program. The Bison were a unanimous choice for the top spot, receiving 25 first-place votes and 625 points overall.
North Dakota State finished the regular season poll at No.4 and gained home field advantage throughout the playoffs until the title game in Frisco, Texas.
The Bison and Sam Houston State, which finishes the season at No. 2, had never played in a Division I title game before Saturday. North Dakota State won five NCAA Division II championship games before moving up to FCS in 2004.
Georgia Southern, which finished the regular season at No. 2, made a run to the semifinals and earned the No.3 spot. Montana, which lost to Sam Houston State in the semifinals, was ranked fourth, while Northern Iowa rounded out the top five.
Montana State finished the season at No.7, while Maine jumped five spots to No.8. Towson and Old Dominion completed the top 10.
There are 13 conference represented in the final poll. Leading the way is the Colonial Athletic Association with six teams. The Missouri Valley and Southern Conference both have three ranked teams, while the Big Sky, Big South, Ohio Valley, and Southland Conferences all have two ranked teams. The Ivy and Patriot Leagues, Big South, Great West, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Northeast, and Southwestern Conferences are represented with one team each.
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.
