smallcollegefbfan
September 21st, 2009, 02:05 PM
Richmond continues hold on No. 1
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Richmond used an overwhelming 47-0 victory over Hofstra on Saturday to retain its stranglehold on The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll on Monday.
The Spiders (3-0) grabbed 132 of 150 first-place votes to out-distance second- place Villanova in the poll by 207 points, 3,688 to 3481. It was the third straight week that Richmond has held down the No. 1 spot, after starting the season in the second slot, behind Appalachian State.
Villanova (3-0) received six first-place votes, while No. 3 Northern Iowa (2-1) was named first on five ballots and No. 5 William & Mary (3-0) earned two first-place votes. Montana (3-0) completed the top five in fourth place, but didn't receive any first-place votes.
Villanova edged Penn 14-3, Northern Iowa stopped St. Francis 30-0, Montana toppled Portland State 49-17 and William & Mary slipped by Norfolk State 27-15.
The top-10 remained completely unchanged from the previous week, with James Madison, New Hampshire, McNeese State, Southern Illinois and Appalachian State retaining positions six through 10.
JMU (1-1) stopped VMI 44-16, McNeese State throttled Savannah State 56-0 and Southern Illinois blitzed Southwest Baptist 59-7. New Hampshire and Appalachian State were idle.
The Colonial Athletic Association claimed a record five of the first seven spots in the poll for the second week in a row, with Richmond, Villanova, William & Mary, James Madison and New Hampshire holding down their positions.
Elon, a 35-7 loser to FBS opponent Wake Forest, was the first poll casualty. The Phoenix (2-1) fell from 11th to 13th in the new poll.
Cal Poly, which dropped a 28-10 decision to Ohio University in another FCS game, tumbled from No. 12 to 16.
Those losses made room for Weber State and Central Arkansas to rise.
Weber State (1-2) opened Big Sky Conference play with a 44-17 thrashing of Idaho State after two narrow losses to Wyoming and Colorado State of the FCS ranks in the previous two weeks. The Wildcats were rewarded by moving up two spots to No. 11.
Central Arkansas (1-1), who lost in the final seconds to Hawaii in its opener, rebounded for an impressive 28-7 victory over Western Kentucky, a former FCS champion (2002) now residing in the Sun Belt. The Bears received a boost from 16th to 13th in the poll.
South Carolina State (2-0) popped up one place from No. 15 to 14 in a bye week as Wofford (1-2) crashed from No. 14 to 18 in the poll, following a 44-14 pounding by Wisconsin.
Massachusetts (2-1) gained two positions, moving from No. 17 to 15 after beating Rhode Island 30-10 in CAA play.
South Dakota State (2-0) climbed one slot from 18th to 17th with a 41-0 blanking of Indiana State in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
Eastern Washington and Eastern Kentucky squeezed into the top 20 with tight wins. EWU held off Northern Colorado 16-0 in Big Sky play to move from 21st to 19th and EKU used a 17-7 decision over Tennessee Tech in Ohio Valley Conference action to go from 22nd to 20th.
The final five teams in the poll are Holy Cross, Texas State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois and Liberty.
Holy Cross (3-0) jumped from 23rd to 21st by handling previously-25th-ranked Harvard (0-1) 27-20 in the only game of the weekend involving top-25 teams. Harvard fell out of the poll after being listed since the preseason.
Jacksonville State moved up two positions from No. 24 to 22 by crushing Alabama A&M 45-13, while Texas State (1-1) came up short to Texas Christian 56-21 and slid from 19th to 23nd.
Eastern Illinois (3-0) makes its first appearance in the poll this season at No. 24 with a 23-14 win against Southeast Missouri State in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Liberty (2-1) also joined the poll for the first time this season at No. 25 by completing an impressive 19-13 victory at Lafayette.
Maine, which was ranked No. 20 last week, joined Harvard as the two schools falling out of the top-25. The Black Bears (2-1) dropped a 20-16 decision to Albany, giving up 17 points in the fourth quarter after holding a 16-3 lead.
Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Richmond Spiders (132) 3-0 3,688 1
2. Villanova Wildcats (9) 3-0 3,481 2
3. Northern Iowa Panthers (6) 2-1 3,385 3
4. Montana Grizzlies 3-0 3,162 4
5. William & Mary Tribe (2) 3-0 3,064 5
6. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) 2-0 2,787 6
7. James Madison Dukes 1-1 2,767 7
8. McNeese State Cowboys 3-0 2,664 8
9. Southern Illinois Salukis 1-1 2,402 9
10. Appalachian State Mountaineers 0-2 2,107 10
11. Weber State Wildcats 1-2 1,997 13
12. Central Arkansas Bears 1-1 1,894 16
13. Elon Phoenix 2-1 1,857 11
14. South Carolina State Bulldogs 2-0 1,629 15
15. Massachusetts Minutemen 2-1 1,551 17
16. Cal Poly Mustangs 1-1 1,512 12
17. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 2-0 1,436 18
18. Wofford Terriers 1-2 1,226 14
19. Eastern Washington Eagles 2-1 841 21
20. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1-1 770 22
21. Holy Cross Crusaders 3-0 726 23
22. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1-2 656 24
23. Texas State Bobcats 1-1 646 19
24. Eastern Illinois Panthers 3-0 395 NR
25. Liberty Flames 2-1 297 NR
Others receiving votes: Florida A&M 295, Delaware 218, Maine 215, Colgate 155, Grambling State 114, Youngstown State 89, Samford 73, Northern Arizona 72, Harvard 65, Penn 57, Montana State 56, Stephen F. Austin 52, Furman 50, Prairie View 46, Gardner-Webb 34, South Dakota 23, Albany 20, The Citadel 20, Tennessee State 18, Southern 14, North Dakota State 13, Tennessee-Martin 13, Butler 12, Georgia Southern 12, Hampton 12, North Dakota 8, Alabama State 6, Missouri State 6, Tennessee Tech 6, North Carolina A&T 5, Old Dominion 5, Hofstra 4, Western Illinois 4, Cornell 3, Portland State 3, Drake 2, Jackson State 2, Yale 2, Chattanooga 1, Lafayette 1, Sam Houston State 1, San Diego 1, Southeastern Louisiana 1, UC Davis 1.
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Richmond used an overwhelming 47-0 victory over Hofstra on Saturday to retain its stranglehold on The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll on Monday.
The Spiders (3-0) grabbed 132 of 150 first-place votes to out-distance second- place Villanova in the poll by 207 points, 3,688 to 3481. It was the third straight week that Richmond has held down the No. 1 spot, after starting the season in the second slot, behind Appalachian State.
Villanova (3-0) received six first-place votes, while No. 3 Northern Iowa (2-1) was named first on five ballots and No. 5 William & Mary (3-0) earned two first-place votes. Montana (3-0) completed the top five in fourth place, but didn't receive any first-place votes.
Villanova edged Penn 14-3, Northern Iowa stopped St. Francis 30-0, Montana toppled Portland State 49-17 and William & Mary slipped by Norfolk State 27-15.
The top-10 remained completely unchanged from the previous week, with James Madison, New Hampshire, McNeese State, Southern Illinois and Appalachian State retaining positions six through 10.
JMU (1-1) stopped VMI 44-16, McNeese State throttled Savannah State 56-0 and Southern Illinois blitzed Southwest Baptist 59-7. New Hampshire and Appalachian State were idle.
The Colonial Athletic Association claimed a record five of the first seven spots in the poll for the second week in a row, with Richmond, Villanova, William & Mary, James Madison and New Hampshire holding down their positions.
Elon, a 35-7 loser to FBS opponent Wake Forest, was the first poll casualty. The Phoenix (2-1) fell from 11th to 13th in the new poll.
Cal Poly, which dropped a 28-10 decision to Ohio University in another FCS game, tumbled from No. 12 to 16.
Those losses made room for Weber State and Central Arkansas to rise.
Weber State (1-2) opened Big Sky Conference play with a 44-17 thrashing of Idaho State after two narrow losses to Wyoming and Colorado State of the FCS ranks in the previous two weeks. The Wildcats were rewarded by moving up two spots to No. 11.
Central Arkansas (1-1), who lost in the final seconds to Hawaii in its opener, rebounded for an impressive 28-7 victory over Western Kentucky, a former FCS champion (2002) now residing in the Sun Belt. The Bears received a boost from 16th to 13th in the poll.
South Carolina State (2-0) popped up one place from No. 15 to 14 in a bye week as Wofford (1-2) crashed from No. 14 to 18 in the poll, following a 44-14 pounding by Wisconsin.
Massachusetts (2-1) gained two positions, moving from No. 17 to 15 after beating Rhode Island 30-10 in CAA play.
South Dakota State (2-0) climbed one slot from 18th to 17th with a 41-0 blanking of Indiana State in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
Eastern Washington and Eastern Kentucky squeezed into the top 20 with tight wins. EWU held off Northern Colorado 16-0 in Big Sky play to move from 21st to 19th and EKU used a 17-7 decision over Tennessee Tech in Ohio Valley Conference action to go from 22nd to 20th.
The final five teams in the poll are Holy Cross, Texas State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Illinois and Liberty.
Holy Cross (3-0) jumped from 23rd to 21st by handling previously-25th-ranked Harvard (0-1) 27-20 in the only game of the weekend involving top-25 teams. Harvard fell out of the poll after being listed since the preseason.
Jacksonville State moved up two positions from No. 24 to 22 by crushing Alabama A&M 45-13, while Texas State (1-1) came up short to Texas Christian 56-21 and slid from 19th to 23nd.
Eastern Illinois (3-0) makes its first appearance in the poll this season at No. 24 with a 23-14 win against Southeast Missouri State in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Liberty (2-1) also joined the poll for the first time this season at No. 25 by completing an impressive 19-13 victory at Lafayette.
Maine, which was ranked No. 20 last week, joined Harvard as the two schools falling out of the top-25. The Black Bears (2-1) dropped a 20-16 decision to Albany, giving up 17 points in the fourth quarter after holding a 16-3 lead.
Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Richmond Spiders (132) 3-0 3,688 1
2. Villanova Wildcats (9) 3-0 3,481 2
3. Northern Iowa Panthers (6) 2-1 3,385 3
4. Montana Grizzlies 3-0 3,162 4
5. William & Mary Tribe (2) 3-0 3,064 5
6. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) 2-0 2,787 6
7. James Madison Dukes 1-1 2,767 7
8. McNeese State Cowboys 3-0 2,664 8
9. Southern Illinois Salukis 1-1 2,402 9
10. Appalachian State Mountaineers 0-2 2,107 10
11. Weber State Wildcats 1-2 1,997 13
12. Central Arkansas Bears 1-1 1,894 16
13. Elon Phoenix 2-1 1,857 11
14. South Carolina State Bulldogs 2-0 1,629 15
15. Massachusetts Minutemen 2-1 1,551 17
16. Cal Poly Mustangs 1-1 1,512 12
17. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 2-0 1,436 18
18. Wofford Terriers 1-2 1,226 14
19. Eastern Washington Eagles 2-1 841 21
20. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1-1 770 22
21. Holy Cross Crusaders 3-0 726 23
22. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 1-2 656 24
23. Texas State Bobcats 1-1 646 19
24. Eastern Illinois Panthers 3-0 395 NR
25. Liberty Flames 2-1 297 NR
Others receiving votes: Florida A&M 295, Delaware 218, Maine 215, Colgate 155, Grambling State 114, Youngstown State 89, Samford 73, Northern Arizona 72, Harvard 65, Penn 57, Montana State 56, Stephen F. Austin 52, Furman 50, Prairie View 46, Gardner-Webb 34, South Dakota 23, Albany 20, The Citadel 20, Tennessee State 18, Southern 14, North Dakota State 13, Tennessee-Martin 13, Butler 12, Georgia Southern 12, Hampton 12, North Dakota 8, Alabama State 6, Missouri State 6, Tennessee Tech 6, North Carolina A&T 5, Old Dominion 5, Hofstra 4, Western Illinois 4, Cornell 3, Portland State 3, Drake 2, Jackson State 2, Yale 2, Chattanooga 1, Lafayette 1, Sam Houston State 1, San Diego 1, Southeastern Louisiana 1, UC Davis 1.