Rising in the Missouri Valley, Youngstown State is No. 6

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - 09/03 13:13:54 ET  The ranked teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference performed so well this past weekend that Northern Iowa lost its game but still rose in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 on Monday. It didn't hurt that the Panthers put a scare into reigning Big Ten champion Wisconsin during the opening weekend of college football. And the biggest move in the Top 25 belonged to Youngstown State, which moved up seven spots to No. 6 on the heels of its 31-17 triumph at Pittsburgh - the Missouri Valley's first win against a Big East school. Along with No. 2 North Dakota State, which opened defense of its 2011 FCS national title with a 52-0 rout of Robert Morris, and No. 8 Northern Iowa, which fell at Wisconsin, 26-21, the Missouri Valley has three teams among the top eight in the poll. Overall, the Missouri Valley has five teams in the Top 25 - one fewer than CAA Football. Illinois State moved up one spot to No. 18 after beating Dayton, 56-14, while Indiana State remained at No. 23 following a 24-17 loss at Big Ten member Indiana. The top five teams in the poll were unchanged from the preseason poll, each representing a different conference. No. 1 Sam Houston State was the lone team in that group to have a bye in Week 1. The Bearkats, who lost to North Dakota State in the national championship game last season, received 87 of 164 first-place votes and 3,985 points to hold onto the top spot. The defending Southland Conference champions will open their season on Saturday by hosting Incarnate Word. After North Dakota State (1-0) remained at No. 2, Georgia Southern (1-0) was at No. 3 following a 58-0 victory over Jacksonville. Then it was No. 4 Montana State (1-0), which beat Chadron State, 33-6, and No. 5 James Madison (1-0), which handled St. Francis (Pa.), 55-7. No. 6 Youngstown State (1-0), which received seven first-place votes in Monday's poll, never trailed in its win over Pittsburgh. Kurt Hess threw for two touchdowns and Andre Stubbs rushed for one and caught one. The Penguins won four FCS (then Division I-AA) national championship during the 1990s, and Monday's ranking was their highest since they were No. 6 in the Sept. 10, 2007 poll. "We've got to move on. We've got bigger fish to fry. And that's what we're measured by," coach Eric Wolford said after the win over Pittsburgh. Old Dominion (1-0) was ranked No. 7, followed by No. 8 Northern Iowa (0-1); No. 9 Eastern Washington (1-0), which impressed with a 20-3 win at Western Athletic Conference member Idaho; and No. 10 Wofford (1-0). Next up were No. 11 Appalachian State (0-1) and No. 12 Montana (1-0), two perennial national powers who will meet in the regular season for the first time Saturday in Boone, N.C. They were followed by No. 13 Towson (0-1), No. 14 New Hampshire (1-0), No. 15 Delaware (1-0), No. 16 Lehigh (1-0), No. 17 Stony Brook (1-0), No. 18 Illinois State (1-0), No. 19 Stephen F. Austin (1-0) and No. 20 Maine, which will begin its season Saturday at Boston College. Rounding out the Top 25 were No. 21 Eastern Kentucky (0-1); No. 22 McNeese State (1-0), which moved into the ranking after posting a 27-21 win at Sun Belt Conference member Middle Tennessee; No. 23 Indiana State (0-1); No. 24 Jacksonville State (0-1); and No. 25 Central Arkansas (0-1). UT Martin, the fourth and final FCS team to beat an FBS school this past weekend - 20-17 over Conference USA member Memphis - collected the third-most votes outside the Top 25. 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.	Sam Houston State Bearkats (87)	0-0	3985	1
2.	North Dakota State Bison (65)	1-0	3947	2
3.	Georgia Southern Eagles (4)	1-0	3651	3
4.	Montana State Bobcats (1)	1-0	3457	4
5.	James Madison Dukes	1-0	3269	5
6.	Youngstown State Penguins (7)	1-0	2988	13
7.	Old Dominion Monarchs	1-0	2842	8
8.	Northern Iowa Panthers	0-1	2727	9
9.	Eastern Washington Eagles	1-0	2505	12
10.	Wofford Terriers	1-0	2488	10
11.	Appalachian State Mountaineers	0-1	2484	6
12.	Montana Grizzlies	1-0	2240	11
13.	Towson Tigers	0-1	2236	7
14.	New Hampshire Wildcats	1-0	2063	14
15.	Delaware Blue Hens	1-0	1779	15
16.	Lehigh Mountain Hawks	1-0	1530	16
17.	Stony Brook Seawolves	1-0	1484	17
18.	Illinois State Redbirds	1-0	1229	19
19.	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks	1-0	1082	20
20.	Maine Black Bears	0-0	743	21
21.	Eastern Kentucky Colonels	0-1	689	18
22.	McNeese State Cowboys	1-0	594	NR
23.	Indiana State Sycamores	0-1	531	23
24.	Jacksonville State Gamecocks	0-1	443	22
25.	Central Arkansas Bears	0-1	356	24
Others receiving votes: Harvard 327, Liberty 213, UT Martin 173, South Carolina State 169, William & Mary 168, Norfolk State 146, Bethune-Cookman 134, Cal Poly 84, Chattanooga 76, Tennessee Tech 52, Eatern Illinois 48, Northern Arizona 43, North Dakota 43, Murray State 40, Albany 38, Portland State 34, South Dakota State 34, Penn 17, Samford 17, Alabama State 16, Tennessee State 16, Dayton 12, Morgan State 9, SE Missouri State 8, Idaho State 7, Southern Utah 7, Duquesne 7, Richmond 5, Georgetown 4, Furman 4, Alabama A&M 3, Alcorn State 3, Jackson State 3, Villanova 2, The Citadel 2, Cornell 2, San Diego 2, Western Illinois 1, Drake 1, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1, UC Davis 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; Jeff Lasky; 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; Simon Whitaker; 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; Tyler Merriam; 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; Terry Norvelle; 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.