EIU Moves Up to No. 17 in FCS Coaches Top 25

The top ten teams in the FCS rankings all remained in place as only a handful of nationally ranked Top 25 teams lost last weekend.  Eastern Illinois was able to take advantage of a few of those losses as the Panthers made a small climb in all three polls following their 35-34 win over No. 25 Tennessee State on Saturday night.
 
EIU moved up to No. 17 in the FCS Coaches Top 25 and HERO Sports Media Top 25 rankings while moving up to No. 18 in the STATS FCS Media Top 25 rankings.  The Panthers return to the road this weekend as they play Saturday night at Tennessee Tech.
 
EIU is now 4-2 on the season, 2-1 in the OVC.
 
EIU made its biggest jump in the FCS Coaches Top 25 poll moving up three spots from No. 20 last week.  North Dakota State was a consensus No. 1 followed by Sam Houston State, Chattanooga, Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, James Madison, Richmond, Charleston Southern, The Citadel and Montana as the top ten remained unchanged from last week.  Villanova moved up to No. 11 after Northern Iowa was upset over the weekend.  Youngstown State was ranked 12th followed by Western Illinois, South Dakota State, Harvard, North Carolina A&T, Eastern Illinois, North Dakota, Albany and Cal Poly in the top 20.  The final five ranked schools included Northern Iowa, Central Arkansas, Grambling State, Samford and New Hampshire.  Samford and New Hampshire both joined the top 25 rankings this week.
 
EIU climbed two spots in the HERO Sports Media Top 25 poll to number 17 after being ranked 19th last week.  The top ten teams were the same from last week led by North Dakota State, Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, Chattanooga, Richmond, James Madison, Charleston Southern, The Citadel and Montana.  South Dakota State, Villanova, Western Illinois and Youngstown State all moved up one spot to occupy 11th through 14th.  North Carolina A&T was ranked 15th with Albany, Eastern Illinois, Coastal Carolina, Northern Iowa, Harvard, Central Arkansas, Cal Poly, North Dakota, Samford and New Hampshire rounding out the poll.   The final three schools were all new to the rankings this week.
 
EIU moved up only one spot in the FCS STATS Media Top 25 going from No. 19 to No. 18 this week.  North Dakota State was number one as the top ten was static with Sam Houston State, Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, Chattanooga, Richmond, James Madison, The Citadel, Charleston Southern and Montana completing the top ten.  South Dakota State moved up to 11th followed by Western Illinois, Villanova, Youngstown State, North Carolina A&T, Coastal Carolina, Albany, Eastern Illinois, Cal Poly and Harvard in the top 20.  The final five schools included Northern Iowa, North Dakota, Central Arkansas, Samford and Grambling State.  Samford and Grambling State were new additions to this week’s Top 25.