FCS champ North Dakota State is No. 1

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Defending FCS national champion North Dakota State is back to No. 1 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25. No doubt the Bison believed they had never left the top perch. The national voting panel reacted to North Dakota State beating yet another FBS program on Saturday by moving the Bison past Sam Houston State in the new poll on Monday. NDSU (2-0) collected 94 of the 161 first-place votes and 3,946 points. Sam Houston State (1-0), which had been atop the poll since the preseason, received 61 first-place votes and 3,897 points. Sam Houston State had 22 more first-place votes after the first week of the season. This week's switch occurred as a result of the Bison's 22-7 win at Colorado State on Saturday. Sam Houston State opened its season with a 54-7 win over Division II Incarnate Word - a tuneup for Saturday's visit to Baylor. "You're going to play as you practice. Our guys are about business," North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl said after his Missouri Valley Football Conference program earned its sixth win over an FBS opponent since 2006 - the most among FCS schools. "I want to be real clear, this didn't happen by chance. It was a methodical plan that those guys put together all week long and came out and performed really well." The Citadel coach Kevin Higgins probably was thinking the same about his team Saturday after it beat then-No. 3 Georgia Southern, 23-21, in a Southern Conference opener. On Monday, The Citadel made one of the poll's other significant moves by entering the rankings at No. 21 - the Bulldogs' first appearance in the Top 25 since the Oct. 13, 2008 rankings. After Georgia Southern dropped eight spots, Montana State (2-0) moved up one spot to No. 3. The Bobcats struggled past Drake, 34-24, in coach Rob Ash's return game against the Bulldogs program he guided from 1989-2006. Also moving up one spot each were No. 4 James Madison (2-0), which plays Virginia Tech this weekend; No. 5 Youngstown State (2-0); No. 6 Old Dominion (2-0); and No. 7 Northern Iowa (1-1). Appalachian State (1-1) moved up three spots to No. 8 after its 35-27 victory over fellow FCS power Montana. It was the Mountaineers' first win over Montana in a series that includes two wins by the Grizzlies in the playoffs. No. 9 Wofford (2-0) and No. 10 Eastern Washington (1-1) rounded out the Top 10. They were followed by No. 11 Georgia Southern (1-1), No. 12 Towson (0-1), No. 13 Delaware (2-0), No. 14 Montana (1-1), No. 15 Illinois State (2-0), No. 16 Lehigh (2-0), No. 17 Stony Brook (2-0), No. 18 New Hampshire (1-1), No. 19 McNeese State (2-0) and No. 20 Eastern Kentucky (1-1). After No. 21 The Citadel (2-0), the Top 25 wrapped up with No. 22 Indiana State (1-1), No. 23 Stephen F. Austin (1-1), No. 24 Jacksonville State (1-1) and No. 25 Maine (0-1). The only team to fall from the Top 25 was Central Arkansas. The Bears, No. 25 a week ago, received the most votes among teams outside the rankings. A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the Top 25. 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 will be released every Monday afternoon, except for the final weekend of the regular season, when it will be released Sunday morning, Nov. 18, prior to the selection of the FCS playoff field. The Sports Network will release a final Top 25 following the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas.

The Sports Network FCS Top 25
College Football Poll
Team (First-place votes)		2012 Record	Points	Previous Rank
1.	North Dakota State Bison (94)	2-0	3946	2
2.	Sam Houston State Bearkats (61)	1-0	3897	1
3.	Montana State Bobcats (1)	2-0	3485	4
4.	James Madison Dukes (1)	2-0	3398	5
5.	Youngstown State Penguins (4)	2-0	3367	6
6.	Old Dominion Monarchs	2-0	3037	7
7.	Northern Iowa Panthers	1-1	2884	8
8.	Appalachian State Mountaineers	1-1	2796	11
9.	Wofford Terriers	2-0	2554	10
10.	Eastern Washington Eagles	1-1	2431	9
11.	Georgia Southern Eagles	1-1	2201	3
12.	Towson Tigers	0-1	1987	13
13.	Delaware Blue Hens	2-0	1900	15
14.	Montana Grizzlies	1-1	1756	12
15.	Illinois State Redbirds	2-0	1692	18
16.	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	2-0	1639	16
17.	Stony Brook Seawolves	2-0	1460	17
18.	New Hampshire Wildcats	1-1	1422	14
19.	McNeese State Cowboys	2-0	962	22
20.	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	1-1	704	21
21.	The Citadel Bulldogs	2-0	649	NR
22.	Indiana State Sycamores	1-1	571	23
23.	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	1-1	564	19
24.	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	1-1	509	24
25.	Maine Black Bears	0-1	472	20
Others receiving votes: Central Arkansas 462, Norfolk State 256, Bethune-Cookman 207, Harvard 159, Northern Arizona 158, Sacramento State 149, North Dakota 123, UT Martin 71, Tennessee Tech 64, Cal Poly 52, Albany 50, Samford 41, South Dakota State 36, Tennessee State 29, Richmond 24, Alabama State 23, Eastern Illinois 21, Penn 17, Southern Utah 16, South Carolina State 15, Western Illinois 11, Lafayette 9, Coastal Carolina 9, William & Mary 7, Southeast Missouri State 7, Georgetown 6, Liberty 6, Villanova 4, Alcorn State 3, Alabama A&M 2, Murray State 1, Monmouth 1, Drake 1, Cornell 1, Chattanooga 1.... The Sports Network FCS Top 25 Voters - The Sports Network: Aaron Corrill; Craig Haley; Tim McDonnell; Phil Sokol; Kevin Spiegel. Big Sky Conference: Brian Berger; Brad Bugger; Eric Burdick; Dave Cook Neil Gardner; Matt Gerrish; Paul Grua; Jeremy Hoeck; Mick Holien; Jon Kasper; Doug Kelly; Heather Kennedy; Bill Lamberty; Mike Lund; Scott Marsh; Fritz Neighbor; Ryan Powell; Mike Robles; Steve Schaack; Randy Scovil; Steve Shaff; Mitch Strohman. Big South: Zeke Beam; Wade Branner; Mike Cawood; Matthew Clark; Adam Gutes; Matt Hogue; Chris Lang; Marc Rabb; Mark Simpson; Eric Thacker; Todd Wetmore; Alan York. CAA Football: Ted Alexander; Scott Burns; Pete Clawson; Dave Cohen; Glenn Frazer; Dean Kenefick; Allen Lessels; Andrew Mahoney; John Martin; Scott Meyer; Mike Murphy; Dan O'Connell; Scott Selheimer; Mike Stoss; Kevin Tresolini; Kimberly Zivkovich. Ivy League: Rick Bender; Eric Dolan; Jeremy Hartigan; Chris Humm; Craig Larson; Dan Loney; Craig Sachson; Kurt Svoboda; Ron Vaccaro. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Thomas Grant; Bill Hamilton; Ed Hill Jr.; Brian Holloway; Chris Hooks; Ronnie Johnson; Dennis Jones; Matt Michalec; Patricia Porter; Dan Ryan; Michael Stambaugh; Maurice Williams; Brent Woronoff. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Bryan Boettcher, John Bohnenkamp; Scott Gierman; Todd Golden; Jeremy Hoeck; Jason Hove; Todd Hefferman; Ace Hunt; Mike Kern; Rick Kindhart; Jeff Kolpack; Colin McDonough; Patrick Osterman; Trevor Parks; Randy Reinhardt; Jeff Schwartz; Mike Williams; Terry Vandrovec. Northeast Conference: Lizzie Barlow; Matt Harmon; Spencer Kowitz; Andrew Santillo; Chris Shovlin; Jason Sullivan; Jeff Symonds; Ralph Ventre; Greg Viscomi. Ohio Valley Conference: Neal Bradley; John Brush; Michael Clark; Wallace Dooley; Jeff Honza; James Horne; Brad Kirtley; Travis Kriens; Joe Lofaro; Rich Moser: Brian Nielsen: Karl Park: Mike Parris: Rob Schabert: Kyle Schwartz: Greg Seitz. Patriot League: Charles Bare; Bill Bowman; Joe DiBari; Matt Dougherty; Keith Groller; Phil LaBella; Steve Lomangino; Eric Malanowski; Matt Markus. Pioneer Football League: Ty Patton, Mark Brumbaugh; Cody Bush; Jack Cronin; Mike Ferraro; Ted Gosen; Doug Hauschild; James Nasella; Paul Oren; Matt Schabert; Matt Segal; Jason Williams; Ryan Wronkowicz. Southern Conference: Jay Blackman; Tommy Bowman; Mike Flynn; Barrett Gilham; Don Heath; Mike Hoffman; David Jackson; Joey Mullins; Tyler Norris Goode; Chris Rash; Hunter Reid; Todd Shanesy; Adam Smith; Brent Williamson. Southland Conference: Jason Barfield; Louis Bonnette; Matthew Bonnette; Jamie Bustos; Erik Cox; James Dixon; Kevin Gore; Alex Hickey; Doug Ireland; Todd Lamb; David McCollum; Brent St. Germain; Gene Shallenberg; Matt Sullivan. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Antoine Bell; Santoria Black; Rodney Bush; Natalie Hicks; Chris Jones; Duane Lewis; Leonard Moon; Edrin Nicholson; Wesley Peterson; Brandon Willis. Other Representatives: Rolf Bertulies; Brian Brennan; Josh Buchanan; Jim Seman.