On Monday, this year's team took it a step
further by reaching the No. 1 ranking in The Sports Network/Fathead.com
FCS Top 25 for the first time. NDSU has been ranked No. 1 in the FCS Coaches Poll for eight weeks during its history, the last time coming Sept. 8, 2008.
The Bison, coming off a huge
victory over Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Football Conference,
received 133 of the 158 first-place votes and 3,918 points from the
poll's national panel of sports information and media relations
directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries.
"The No. 1
ranking is tremendous recognition for our football program, our
university, the Missouri Valley Football Conference, our state and our
region," head coach Craig Bohl said. "The No. 1 ranking is the result of
a great deal of hard work by our players and our coaching staff.
However, there are three games remaining on our schedule, including two
on the road. We have a lot more to play for and there is still a great
deal of work to be done."
North Dakota State (8-0), one of only
two remaining unbeaten teams in the FCS, could have been considered the
biggest winner on Super Saturday. As the No. 3- ranked team, they
defeated then-No. 2 Northern Iowa, 27-19, to take first place in the
MVFC. Meanwhile, their path to the top of the rankings was cleared when
then-No. 1 Georgia Southern fell at then-No. 5 Appalachian State, 24-17,
in the Southern Conference.
Also benefiting from the weekend's
action was Big Sky Conference leader Montana State (8-1), which moved up
two spots to No. 2. The Bobcats, who defeated Idaho State, 54-13,
received 19 first-place votes and 3,671 points.
Appalachian State
(6-2) moved up to No. 3 following its win over Georgia Southern,
gaining five first-place votes. At No. 4 was Sam Houston State (8-0),
the Southland Conference leader which received one first-place vote.
Ironically, the two unbeaten teams - North Dakota State and Sam Houston
State - are linked by wins over Bowl Subdivision opponents and defenses
that have surrendered the fewest points nationally - Sam Houston State,
12.4 per game, and North Dakota State, 12.5.
Georgia Southern (7-1) and Northern Iowa (6-2) both fell four spots to No. 5 and 6, respectively, following Saturday's losses.
The rest of the Top 10 was No. 7 Maine (7-1), No. 8 Lehigh (7-1), No. 9 New Hampshire (6-2) and No. 10 Montana (7-2).
Wofford (6-2), which owns a SoCon win over Appalachian State but has
yet to play Georgia Southern, moved up to No. 11. Then it was three
straight CAA Football teams - No. 12 Old Dominion (7-2) followed by No.
13 James Madison (5-3), which the Monarchs beat on Saturday, and then
No. 14 Towson (6-2).
Jackson State (7-1), which is ineligible for
the Southwestern Athletic Conference title because of a subpar Academic
Progress Rate, moved up to No. 15, ahead of No. 16 Delaware (5-4) and
No. 17 Illinois State (6-3).
No. 18 Jacksonville State (5-3) sat two
spots higher than No. 20 Tennessee Tech (5-2) despite losing to the
Golden Eagles in Ohio Valley Conference action on Saturday. In between
was No. 19 William & Mary (4-4), which had a bye in Week 9.
Rounding out the rankings were No. 21 Indiana State (5-3), No. 22
Liberty (6-3), No. 23 Harvard (6-1), No. 24 South Dakota (5-4) and No.
25 Central Arkansas (6-3), which had fallen out after the Week 2 poll of
Sept. 12.
Alabama State, which was No. 16 last week, fell out of the Top 25 after a loss to Alabama A&M.
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.
