Bison Remain Ranked No. 3 in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (Sports Network)--For seven straight weeks, Georgia Southern and Northern Iowa have been ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25.

This weekend's games will put their lofty status to the test.

Not only are Georgia Southern and Northern Iowa playing conference rivals on the road, but their opponents are Top 5 teams.

On Monday, Georgia Southern's hold on the nation's top ranking remained strong when the Eagles collected 131 of the 159 first-place votes and 3,930 points from the poll's national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries.

On Saturday, No. 5 Appalachian State (5-2) hopes to change the script on Georgia Southern (7-0) when it hosts a Southern Conference showdown.

Northern Iowa, whose only loss was to FBS member Iowa State by one point, collected 17 first-place votes and 3,768 points to remain a strong No. 2. On Saturday, the Panthers (6-1) will visit No. 3 North Dakota State (7-0) in a meeting of the Missouri Valley Football Conference's top two teams.

Last year, Georgia Southern beat Appalachian State in overtime and Northern Iowa topped North Dakota State, with each game decided by a touchdown.

Montana State (7-1) could gain ground in the poll this weekend, although there isn't much room to move after the Big Sky Conference leader again checked in at No. 4.

The only FCS team to remain unbeaten besides Georgia Southern and North Dakota State is Sam Houston State (7-0), which held the No. 6 ranking for the second straight week.

The rest of the Top 10 consisted of No. 7 Lehigh (6-1) and three CAA Football squads, No. 8 Maine (6-1), No. 9 James Madison (5-2) and No. 10 New Hampshire (5-2).

After Montana (6-2) rallied to beat Portland State, 30-24, this past Saturday, the Grizzlies moved up one spot to No. 11. They are just ahead of Wofford (5-2), which lost at Furman, 26-21, then sunk seven spots to No. 12.

Up next were No. 13 Towson (6-1), No. 14 Jacksonville State (5-2), No. 15 Old Dominion (6-2), No. 16 Alabama State (6-1), No. 17 South Dakota (5-3), No. 18 William & Mary (4-4), No. 19 Jackson State (6-1) and No. 20 Indiana State (5-3).

Defending national runner-up Delaware (4-4) fell to No. 21 after it lost for the second straight weekend.

Illinois State (5-3), which slipped past Indiana State, 17-14, moved into the rankings for the first time this season at No. 22.

Rounding out the poll were No. 23 Liberty (5-3), which returned after a five- week absence; No. 24 Harvard (5-1), which entered for the first time this season; and No. 25 Tennessee Tech (4-2), which returned after falling out last week.

Richmond, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Norfolk State fell out of the rankings following losses.

During the regular season the Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon, except for the final weekend of games, when it will be released Sunday morning, Nov. 20, due to its use as an official tool by the NCAA Division I Football Committee in selecting the 20-team playoff field later that day.

The Sports Network and Fathead.com will release a final Top 25 following the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.

The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll

Team (First-place votes)	Record	Points	Previous Rank
1. Georgia Southern Eagles (131)	7-0	3,930	1
2. Northern Iowa Panthers (17)	6-1	3,768	2
3. North Dakota State Bison (10)	7-0	3,602	3
4. Montana State Bobcats (1)	7-1	3,548	4
5. Appalachian State Mountaineers	5-2	3,153	6
6. Sam Houston State Bearkats	7-0	3,104	7
7. Lehigh Mountain Hawks	6-1	2,850	8
8. Maine Black Bears	6-1	2,830	9
9. James Madison Dukes	5-2	2,515	11
10. New Hampshire Wildcats	5-2	2,340	13
11. Montana Grizzlies	6-2	2,334	12
12. Wofford Terriers	5-2	2,289	5
13. Towson Tigers	6-1	2,214	15
14. Jacksonville State Gamecocks	5-2	2,112	10
15. Old Dominion Monarchs	6-2	1,497	21
16. Alabama State Hornets	6-1	1,305	19
17. South Dakota Coyotes	5-3	930	25
18. William & Mary Tribe	4-4	896	14
19. Jackson State Tigers	6-1	863	23
20. Indiana State Sycamores	5-3	622	17
21. Delaware Blue Hens	4-4	513	16
22. Illinois State Redbirds	5-3	496	NR
23. Liberty Flames	5-3	480	NR
24. Harvard Crimson	5-1	388	NR
25. Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles	4-2	345	NR

Others receiving votes: Central Arkansas 303, Massachusetts 300, Richmond 297, Furman 256, Chattanooga 231, North Dakota 203, Cal Poly 200, Eastern Washington 141, Norfolk State 139, Brown 136, Albany 90, Jacksonville 79, Texas State 56, Alabama A&M 48, San Diego 29, Samford 27, Penn 23, Florida A&M 20, Southern Utah 20, Portland State 19, Georgetown 18, Sacramento State 16, Stony Brook 14, South Dakota State 12, UT Martin 12, Southern Illinois 10, Elon 10, Eastern Kentucky 8, McNeese State 6, Bethune-Cookman 5, South Carolina State 5, Duquesne 4, The Citadel 4, Youngstown State 3, Holy Cross 3, Northwestern State 2, Drake 1, Lafayette 1. The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 Voters: The Sports Network: Aaron Corrill; Craig Haley; Sean Shapiro; Phil Sokol; Kevin Spiegel. Big Sky: Brian Berger; Brad Bugger; Dave Cook; Matt Gerrish; Paul Grua; Mick Holien; Jon Kasper; Heather Kennedy; Bill Lamberty; Jeff Lasky; Mike Lund; Scott Marsh; Fritz Neighbor; Steve Schaack; Steve Shaff; Mitch Strohman. Big South: John Avery; Wade Branner; Mike Cawood; Adam Gutes; Matt Hogue; Chris Lang; Marc Rabb; Mark Simpson; Todd Wetmore; Alan York. CAA Football: Ted Alexander; Mike Barber; Pete Clawson; Mike DeGeorge; Glenn Frazer; Dean Kenefick; Allen Lessels; Andrew Mahoney; John Martin; Scott Meyer; Mike Murphy; Dan O'Connell; Rich Radford; Scott Selheimer; Kevin Tresolini; Matt Vautour; Kimberly Zivkovich. Great West: Eric Burdick; Ryan Burns; Jacque Cottrell; Neil Gardner; Ed Grom; Jeremy Hoeck; Doug Kelly; Ryan Powell; Randy Scovil; Kit Strief. Independents: Dave Cohen; Brian Fremund; Rick Poulter; Kyle Stephens; Tyler Mayforth. Ivy League: Rick Bender; Eric Dolan; Chris Humm; Craig Larson; Dan Loney; Craig Sachson; Kurt Svoboda; Ron Vaccaro. MEAC: Thomas Grant; Leonard Hayes IV; Bill Hamilton; Ed Hill Jr.; Chris Hooks; Ronnie Johnson; Dennis Jones; Matt Michalec; Eric Moore; Patricia Porter; Dan Ryan; Maurice Williams; Brent Woronoff. Missouri Valley Football Conference: John Bohnenkamp; Jason Hove; Todd Hefferman; Ace Hunt; Mike Kern; Rick Kindhart; Colin McDonough; Tyler Merriam; Patrick Osterman; Trevor Parks; Randy Reinhardt; Jeff Schwartz; Tom Weber; Mike Williams; Terry Vandrovec. Northeast Conference: Brian DePasquale; Jim Duzyk; Matt Harmon; John McCarthy; Andrew Santillo; Chris Shovlin; Jason Sullivan; Ralph Ventre; Greg Viscomi. Ohio Valley Conference: Neal Bradley; John Brush; Michael Clark; Wallace Dooley; Jeff Honza; Brad Kirtley; Joe Lofaro; Russell Luna; Rich Moser: Brian Nielsen: Karl Park: Mike Parris: Rob Schabert: Kyle Schwartz: Greg Seitz: James Horne. Patriot League: Charles Bare; Bill Bowman; Joe DiBari; Matt Dougherty; Keith Groller; Jeremiah Hergott; Phil LaBella; Steve Lomangino; Eric Malanowski; Matt Markus. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush; Jack Cronin; Mike Ferraro; Marc Gignac; Ted Gosen; Doug Hauschild; Paul Kirk; James Nasella; Terry Norvelle; Joe Prisco; Matt Schabert; Ryan Wronkowicz. Southern Conference: Jay Blackman; Tommy Bowman; Mike Flynn; Barrett Gilham; Don Heath; David Jackson; Joey Mullins; Tyler Norris Goode; Noelle Orr-Blaney; Chris Rash; Adam Smith; Brent Williamson. Southland Conference: Jason Barfield; Louis Bonnette; Jamie Bustos; James Dixon; Kevin Gore; Alex Hickey; Doug Ireland; Todd Lamb; Brent St. Germain; Matt Sullivan. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Santoria Black; Rodney Bush; Natalie Hicks; Ryan McGinty; Leonard Moon; Wesley Peterson; Brandon Willis. Other Representatives: Rolf Bertulies; Brian Brennan; Josh Buchanan; LeCounte Conaway; Jim Seman.

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