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Sports

In the FCS Huddle: New Hampshire's No. 1; NDSU No. 4

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - The FCS "playoffs" are underway.

Well, the 24-team playoff field won't be announced until Nov. 23 and the first round of games won't begin until Nov. 29, but the race to be No. 1 in the nation is as wide open as it has been in some time.

North Dakota State, which has won the last three national championships, had its FCS-record 33-game winning streak end Saturday with a 23-3 thumping by Northern Iowa. As a result Monday, the Bison fell to No. 4 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and New Hampshire moved up one spot to reach No. 1 for the first time since the weekly media poll on Oct. 9, 2006.

It's become quite the race for No. 1 and it will be that way in the playoffs. There are two weekends remaining for teams to jockey for postseason spots.

Four teams received at least 13 first-place votes in the new rankings.

New Hampshire (8-1), which defeated Rhode Island, 41-14, on Saturday for its eighth straight win since an opening loss at Toledo, collected 70 of the 157 first-place votes and 3,800 points. The leaders from CAA Football were followed by Big South co-leader Coastal Carolina (10-0), which received 55 first-place votes and 3,747 points. The Chanticleers are one of only two unbeaten teams remaining in the FCS.

Ohio Valley Conference leader Jacksonville State (8-1) checked in at No. 3 after gaining 13 first-place votes and 3,547 points. North Dakota State (9-1), which still has a share of first place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, received 19 first-place votes and 3,483 points.

New Hampshire will host its final home game Saturday against Delaware, whose offensive coordinator, Sean Devine, was a long-time assistant under New Hampshire 16th-year head coach Sean McDonnell. The Wildcats will then finish the regular season by visiting rival Maine, last year's CAA champion, on Nov. 22.

The Wildcats are a Top 25 staple, having appeared in the last 152 polls, and they are seeking a playoff berth for the 11th straight season.

The No. 1 ranking, McDonnell said on Monday, "just means that you've done some pretty good work within a certain timeframe.

"We do truly crown a champion. North Dakota State's been the champion. And people keep asking me this morning and the other day about rankings. They're the best team in the country. We have a great league, we have a great, great opportunity in the next couple weeks to possibly make the playoffs again. That's what we have to be focusing on and finishing up that way."

Eastern Washington (9-2), which got its star quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. back on Saturday after he missed four games with a broken right foot, remained at No. 5 in the poll. Each of the top five teams reached at least the national quarterfinals in last year's playoffs.

The rest of the Top 10 was No. 6 Villanova (8-2), No. 7 Fordham (9-1), No. 8 Illinois State (8-1), No. 9 Chattanooga (7-3) and No. 10 Southeastern Louisiana (7-3). This past weekend, Fordham, from the Patriot League, and Chattanooga, from the Southern Conference, were the first two teams to clinch their respective conference's automatic bid to the playoffs.

Northern Iowa (6-4) moved up eight spots to No. 11 after its big win over North Dakota State. The Panthers were followed by No. 12 Montana State (7-3), No. 13 McNeese State (6-3), No. 14 Richmond (7-3), No. 15 Youngstown State (7-3), No. 16 Montana (6-4), No. 17 Harvard (8-0), No. 18 Eastern Kentucky (8-2), No. 19 South Dakota State (6-4) and No. 20 Bethune-Cookman (8-2).

Rounding out the Top 25 were No. 21 Bryant (8-1), No. 22 Northern Arizona (7-3), No. 23 Indiana State (6-4), No. 24 William & Mary (6-4) and No. 25 James Madison (7-3), which entered the rankings for the first time this season, replacing Cal Poly.

A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the Top 25. In the voting, a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.

During the regular season, the Top 25 is released every Monday afternoon, except for the final weekend of the regular season, when it will be released Sunday morning, Nov. 23, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field.

The Sports Network will release a final Top 25 following the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 10 in Frisco, Texas.