SPARTANBURG, S.C.--After being voted the preseason favorite, Eastern Washington maintained its No. 1 ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll. The Eagles, who won the 2010 National Championship game, received 22 out of 28 first-place votes.

North Dakota State (1-0) jumped to No. 8 in this week's FCS Coaches Top 25. The Bison host Saint Francis, Pa. (0-1) at 6:07 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, in the Fargodome.

Eastern Washington opened the 2011 season on the road at Washington where it fell narrowly to the Huskies, 30-27. Eastern Washington's quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell recorded the second-best passing performance in Eagle history with 473 yards.

Georgia Southern jumped one spot to No. 2 after defeating Southern Conference foe Samford, 31-17 Saturday night. The Eagles received 666 points and the remaining six first-place votes.

Appalachian State and Northern Iowa finished opening week tied at No. 3 with 557 votes. The Mountaineers fell to Virginia Tech, 66-13 in Blacksburg, Va. Northern Iowa almost knocked off in-state rival Iowa State, but dropped their season opener, 20-19. Appalachian State, which was No. 2 in the pre-season, dropped one spot, while Northern Iowa jumped four.

William & Mary, which lost to Virginia 40-3, fell one spot to No.5, while Montana State maintained its ranking at No. 6.

Rounding out the top 10 are Delaware, North Dakota State, Wofford and Jacksonville State.

The biggest jump in the rankings was made by Richmond. The Spiders began the season at No. 19, but after defeating Duke Saturday evening, 23-21, they jumped eight spots to No. 11. This marks the third consecutive victory for Richmond over the Blue Devils in the past six seasons.  Richmond quarterback Aaron Corp threw for 193 yards and a touchdown and wide receiver Tre Gray notched a career-high 129 yards.
New to the poll this week is Sacramento State (No. 18). The Hornets shocked Oregon State with their 29-28 overtime win after wide receiver Brandyn Reed followed his 6-yard touchdown with a two-point conversion.

Nine conferences are represented in the poll. The Colonial Athletic Association leads the way with six teams, followed by the Southern Conference and Big Sky with four ranked teams. The Southland and Missouri Valley have three teams in the Top 25 and the Mid-Eastern Atlantic has two. The Big South, Ohio Valley and Patriot League are all represented with one team in this week's poll.
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.

Week 1 FCS Coaches Poll - September 6, 2011

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Massachusetts (54), Pennsylvania (47), Eastern Kentucky (26), Murray State (26), South Dakota State (23), Sam Houston State (21), Stony Brook (17), Florida A&M (14), Eastern Illinois (13), Southeast Missouri (12), Grambling State (12), The Citadel (11), Cal Poly (11), Colgate (10), Indiana State (10), UC Davis (9), Harvard (8), Central Connecticut (8), Dayton (8), Coastal Carolina (8), Jackson State (5), Morgan State (4), Jacksonville (2), Northwestern State (1).