EIU Remains On Teams Also Receiving Votes In Poll

CHARLESTON -- Following its win over No. 18 Eastern Kentucky Saturday, Eastern Illinois remained among the teams also receiving votes in both the FCS Coaches Top 25 and the Sports Network Top 25 poll.  The Panthers will play at Tennessee Tech this Saturday with a 1:30 p.m. kick off in Cookeville, Tenn.

EIU was the fourth team also receiving votes in the Sports Network rankings landing at No. 29 this week.  The 24-7 win over EKU was the first Panthers win over a ranked team since the 2009 season.  EIU is now tied with Tennessee State and UT Martin for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference race with all three teams owning 4-1 OVC records.  EIU and TSU do not meet on the field this season.

EIU was the eighth team also receiving votes in the FCS Coaches Poll landing at No. 33 in the nation.

The two polls were split on the number one team in the nation this week following Eastern Washington’s loss to Southern Utah.  Georgia Southern was the FCS Coaches No. 1 team receiving 17 first place votes.  North Dakota State was the Sports Network No. 1 with 59 first place votes.  The two schools were ranked second in the opposite polls.

Montana State was third in both polls followed by Sam Houston State and Old Dominion in the top five.  Lehigh, the nation’s last unbeaten FCS school was sixth in the Coaches Poll and eight in the Sports Network rankings.

Wofford, Eastern Washington, Lehigh, Stony Brook and James Madison rounded out the Sports Network top ten.  Teams ranked 11 through 20 were led off by New Hampshire followed by Northern Arizona, Central Arkansas, Indiana State, Appalachian State, Cal Poly, Illinois State, Tennessee State, Towson and Albany.

The final five schools in the Sports Network Top 25 were South Dakota State, Richmond, Delaware, Villanova and Eastern Kentucky.  In the FCS Coaches poll Harvard (21) and Bethune-Cookman (24) were ranked instead of Richmond and Villanova.

FCS Coaches Poll - http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/FCS/polls/2012/2012_FCS_Coaches_Poll/index.html

Sports Network Poll - http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&;page=cfoot2/misc/cfoot225poll.aspx