Sep 10, 2007, 23:42 GMT
Philadelphia, PA - Appalachian State was a unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll for the second week in a row and two other teams, Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois, made major strides in the national rankings announced on Monday.
Appalachian State (2-0), coming off a 48-7 pasting of Division II Lenoir-Rhyne in front of a record crowd of 28,802 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., received all 77 first-place votes.
Northern Iowa (2-0) moved from eighth to fourth in the poll after a solid 24-13 victory over FBS Iowa State on Saturday.
Southern Illinois skyrocketed from 11th to seventh following a dramatic 34-31 win over FBS Northern Illinois this past weekend. The Salukis (2-0) scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, including two TDs in the final two minutes, to overcome a 31-13 deficit.
For the second week in a row, Montana and Massachusetts swapped places. Montana moved back from No. 3 to No. 2 after beating Fort Lewis 49-0, while UMass fell back to No. 3 despite its 35-17 victory over Colgate.
With Northern Iowa's rise, North Dakota State slipped one position to fifth, even though the Bison opened their season with a 28-19 win over Stephen F. Austin.
Youngstown State (1-1) remained at No. 6 after dispatching South Dakota State 23-17, while idle McNeese State fell one spot from seventh to eighth.
James Madison (1-1) improved one position, from 10th to ninth, after its impressive 41-24 victory over previously fifth-ranked New Hampshire. New Hampshire skidded to No. 12 with the loss in its season opener.
Delaware (2-0) used a 41-14 victory over West Chester to climb three spots to No, 10.
Wofford took advantage of a 52-24 victory over Charleston Southern to shoot up three spots from 14th to 11th, while Hampton's 28-21 win over Howard helped it move from 15th to 13th.
Nicholls State continued to gain poll support a week after its win at FCS Rice. The Colonels improved from 25th to 18th after beating Southern Arkansas 31-14.
Eastern Illinois, Furman, Sam Houston State, Illinois State and Montana State complete the other teams in the top 20.
Furman's 32-17 loss at Hofstra cost it six places from ninth to 15th in the poll, while Hofstra went from being unranked to entering the poll at No. 19.
Four teams fell out of the top 25 after suffering losses. Portland State (previously No. 18), Texas State (No. 19), Tennessee-Martin (No. 20) and Cal Poly (No. 22). That made room for Towson (No. 23), Delaware State (No. 24) and Lafayette (No. 25) to join Hofstra as newcomers in the poll.
Western Illinois moved up two slots from No. 24 to No. 22 despite a 21-0 loss at Illinois.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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