FCS Coaches Poll- Week 10

[smallcollegefbfan]

Dukes Regain Unanimous No. 1 Ranking

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After No. 2 Appalachian State downed then-No. 5 Wofford, 70-24, Friday night, the James Madison Dukes are again the FCS Coaches Poll’s unanimous No. 1 team.

The Dukes kept their ranking after defeating Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware, 41-7, Saturday.

Also keeping its same position in the poll top 5 were No. 3 Cal Poly, which defeated Idaho State, 49-10, and No. 4 Northern Iowa, which defeated No. 19 Western Illinois 30-6.

Moving into the top 5 this week following the No. 12 Terriers’ loss, is No. 5 Montana, which beat then-No. 18 Northern Arizona, 45-10.

Rounding out the top 10 were No. 6 Richmond, No. 7 New Hampshire, No. 8 Villanova, No. 9 Southern Illinois and No. 10 Weber State. The Salukis and Wildcats are making their first appearances in the FCS Coaches Poll top 10 this season.

After taking a week off, Tennessee State returned to the poll this week after a 41-14 victory over Tennessee Tech. The Tigers replaced Lafayette in the poll, as the Leopards dropped out after a 21-13 loss to Colgate.

Falling the furthest in the poll was No. 25 Liberty, which lost to Presbyterian, 31-28, and fell eight spots. No. 17 Furman made the biggest leap in the poll, jumping four spots after defeating Samford, 28-27.

The CAA continues to lead all conferences with six teams ranked, including four in the top 10. The Southern Conference and the Missouri Valley Football Conference each have four teams ranked in the top 25.

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. James Madison (28) 8-1 700 1
2. Appalachian State 7-2 669 2
3. Cal Poly 6-1 635 3
4. Northern Iowa 7-2 611 4
5. Montana 8-1 585 6
6. Richmond 6-3 548 7
7. New Hampshire 7-1 513 8
8. Villanova 6-2 482 10
9. Southern Illinois 6-2 455 11
10. Weber State 8-2 433 13
11. Elon 7-2 411 12
12. Wofford 6-2 396 5
13. Massachusetts 6-3 378 15
14. Central Arkansas 7-2 300 9
15. McNeese State 5-3 283 16
16. William and Mary 6-2 267 19
17. Furman 7-3 243 21
18. South Carolina State 7-2 206 20
19. Western Illinois 5-3 191 14
20. Tennessee Martin 7-2 137 23
21. Harvard 6-1 97 T24
22. Tennessee State 7-2 90 NR
23. North Dakota State 5-4 84 T24
24. Northern Arizona 6-3 70 18
25. Liberty 7-2 60 17

Other receiving votes (pts. in parentheses): Colgate (47), Jacksonville State (38), Grambling State (31), Prairie View A&M (27), Maine (24), Georgia Southern (20), Lafayette (14), South Dakota State (12), Dayton (11), Brown (9), Holy Cross (7), Hampton (5), Morgan State (4), UC Davis (3), Northwestern State (3), Albany (1).

[Rob Iola]

The sad thing is that W&M could beat Richmond, end up with 3 losses, and still be left out of the playoffs while a 4 loss Richmond team makes it based on poll strength...

[spdram]

Why is that sad? xsmiley_wix

[appst97]

this poll makes no sense JMU is a unanimous no. 1 based on the head to head w/ App over 40 days ago, yet Elon is ahead of Wofford after just getting crushed by the little dogs just over a week ago.

[wideright82]

this poll makes no sense JMU is a unanimous no. 1 based on the head to head w/ App over 40 days ago, yet Elon is ahead of Wofford after just getting crushed by the little dogs just over a week ago.

that and W&M being 9 spots below UNH and Richmond 2 ahead of Nova

[mango43]

How is NDSU still ranked?? I know they won this weekend but it wasn't exactly a convincing win. They are only 5-4 and 3-3 in conference, I just don't see them being ranked.

[mmiller_34]

Hmm.. NDSU losses to.. Wyoming (BCS), Western Illinois (top 15), Youngstown State (unranked), and Northern Iowa (Top 10).. i believe that was how they were ranked at the time. 5-4 (3-3)

SDSU... losses to Iowa St (BCS), Northern Iowa (top 10), McNeese.. 4 OT (top 5), Cal Poly (Top 5)... 5-4 (3-1)

I guess i just don't get why NDSU is ranked higher than SDSU. my opinion

[89rabbit]

Hmm.. NDSU losses to.. Wyoming (BCS), Western Illinois (top 15), Youngstown State (unranked), and Northern Iowa (Top 10).. i believe that was how they were ranked at the time. 5-4 (3-3)

SDSU... losses to Iowa St (BCS), Northern Iowa (top 10), McNeese.. 4 OT (top 5), Cal Poly (Top 5)... 5-4 (3-1)

I guess i just don't get why NDSU is ranked higher than SDSU. my opinion



Maybe some of the coaches are directionally challenged. xoopsx xnodx xlolx xbawlingx xnonono2x

[elon77]

this poll makes no sense JMU is a unanimous no. 1 based on the head to head w/ App over 40 days ago, yet Elon is ahead of Wofford after just getting crushed by the little dogs just over a week ago.

Makes sense to me.xconfusedx

[jackmd]

I'm not certain SDSU is a top 16 team and deserving of a playoff spot right now, but I'm pretty sure we are one of the top 25 teams in the nation. Of course, I'm biased. Its ridiculous that NDSU is ranked ahead of us. We should be where WIU is right now. Coaches polls need to be taken with a grain of salt, especially this one this week.

[UNIFanSince1983]

Yeah I have no idea how NDSU is still ranked and SDSU is so far down there...

[ccd494]

Holy schlamoly, Maine is behind some mediocre teams.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Holy schlamoly, Maine is behind some mediocre teams.


Step one is getting into the pole.

Maine (and some others) are paying for being unranked in preseason. Thru no fault of their own.
Now you've got their attention an have 3 weeks to get it done.xthumbsupx

[Woof]

this poll makes no sense JMU is a unanimous no. 1 based on the head to head w/ App over 40 days ago, yet Elon is ahead of Wofford after just getting crushed by the TERRIERS just over a week ago.


Guess the coaches were impressed at how well Elon handled "open date" ?....Smells like we are getting set up for another "woofing" ! xrulesx xrulesx xrulesx.

If I am not mistaken, the two voting coaches from the SoCon are Wagner (W. Carolina) and Lembo (Elon). Granted we got beaten badly by Appy in front of the world on Friday and deserved to fall some, but of all people, these two should know we don't belong below the flamin' flamingos. xnonox xnonox xmadx...Sure would like to know how they voted ?

[ElonPride]

Guess the coaches were impressed at how well Elon handled "open date" ?....Smells like we are getting set up for another "woofing" ! xrulesx xrulesx xrulesx.

If I am not mistaken, the two voting coaches from the SoCon are Wagner (W. Carolina) and Lembo (Elon). Granted we got beaten badly by Appy in front of the world on Friday and deserved to fall some, but of all people, these two should know we don't belong below the flamin' flamingos. xnonox xnonox xmadx...Sure would like to know how they voted ?

Well, Elon currently is sitting ahead of Wofford in the conference standings! xsmiley_wix

[Rob Iola]

Are we sure this isn't another outdated poll? Like, from 2002?

[JMU DUUUKES]

this poll makes no sense JMU is a unanimous no. 1 based on the head to head w/ App over 40 days ago, yet Elon is ahead of Wofford after just getting crushed by the little dogs just over a week ago.

Haha, "A team that beat us and has gone undefeated all year in FCS including 4 top 10 teams is ahead of us ... did i mention they beat us"

i can't imagine why

[rcny46]

that and W&M being 9 spots below UNH and Richmond 2 ahead of Nova

I can't deny that you make a valid observation,at least as far as UNH is concerned.

[gbhmt]

I've got no contention that JMU should be no. 1, but weren't there some arbitrary votes for App. in weeks past? Why would they disappear after App's performance last friday?

[Dallas Demon]

Northwestern St. only 3 votes? 6-3 and tied for 1st in the Southland. Beat Grambling pretty handily, who then hammered Prairie View - yet those two teams are about to crack the top 25. xnonono2x

[mainejeff]

Step one is getting into the pole.

Maine (and some others) are paying for being unranked in preseason. Thru no fault of their own.
Now you've got their attention an have 3 weeks to get it done.xthumbsupx

Yeah......thankfully, Maine still has 2 ranked teams to play.

[clenz]

Northwestern St. only 3 votes? 6-3 and tied for 1st in the Southland. Beat Grambling pretty handily, who then hammered Prairie View - yet those two teams are about to crack the top 25. xnonono2x
And yet NDSU has yet to leave the poll. It is a shame.

[Dallas Demon]

And yet NDSU has yet to leave the poll. It is a shame.

Also, Northwestern's three losses came to a very good FBS Baylor team who has been very competitive in the Big 12 this year, to a #3 Cal Poly team who is having an outstanding year, and to Southeastern; that one went down to the wire playing away in a very competitive Southland Conference game where every team takes a turn beating up on each other because they know each other so well. I really don't think people do their homework, some of the team's rankings seem to be based on reputation alone.

[blackfordpu]

Hmm.. NDSU losses to.. Wyoming (BCS), Western Illinois (top 15), Youngstown State (unranked), and Northern Iowa (Top 10).. i believe that was how they were ranked at the time. 5-4 (3-3)

SDSU... losses to Iowa St (BCS), Northern Iowa (top 10), McNeese.. 4 OT (top 5), Cal Poly (Top 5)... 5-4 (3-1)

I guess i just don't get why NDSU is ranked higher than SDSU. my opinion

East Coast bias..... xsmiley_wix :p xlolx

[DOME]

Coaches are funny, they get paid to worry about their own team and who they're playing and don't take that much time to scope out every other team in the country for the poll. Thus if you aren't preseason ranked/currently ranked its hard to get their attention. Especially without constant media coverage given to FBS teams. That said, the FCS coaches poll will never be perfect but sure gives folks something to witch and moan about :)

[purplepeopleeaterv2]

I've got no contention that JMU should be no. 1, but weren't there some arbitrary votes for App. in weeks past? Why would they disappear after App's performance last friday?

Maybe due to JMU's thrashing of Delaware? Who knows.

[DetroitFlyer]

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/ud/2008/11/07/ddn110708spudfb.html

Florian stays hot

UD QB Rob Florian has been on a rampage since a brief benching against Drake on Oct. 11. In his last three games, he's completed a Colt McCoy-like 79-of-98 passes (80.7 percent) for 839 yards, six TDs and two interceptions.

This is the poll that Dayton is ranked the highest in among the "major" polls.... Why? Because coaches really do understand the game a bit.

Dayton did lose to a poor Duquesne team in Pittsburgh. QB Rob Florian did not play well, and frankly, some of the play calling left much to be desired. Well, Rob has turned it around. This is his first year as the starter, as a 5th year senior. Rob has settled into the flow of Dayton's spread offense. Granted, he is no Kevin Hoyng, but he is improving every week, and as the article above mentions, especially in the last three weeks. Dayton has enjoyed a strong defense since game one, now the offense is starting to click as well.

Coaches know, Dayton is a rising team and if we keep it up, a top 25 ranking, (if not higher), will come for the Flyers in this poll.

If we do win out and are shafted again and forced to play in the Gridiron Classic, Albany had better not be counting on the Duquesne game as an indicator of the Flyer team they might be playing. Still, the Flyers have a tough road to finish the season. At Butler on Saturday, (currently second in the PFL at 4-1, host Morehead State the following Saturday, (only team to beat the Flyers in 2007), and then we go to Jacksonville, a team that has vastly improved since the defeat at App State, (also currently tied for 2nd in the PFL at 4-1). If the Flyers are going to finish at 11-1 in the regular season, they are going to have to earn it on the field!