EIU Football Again Receiving Top 25 Votes

After knocking off No. 24 Tennessee State in double overtime on Saturday night in Nashville, Eastern Illinois football is again among the teams also receiving votes in this week’s FCS Top 25 polls released on Monday.  The Panthers improved to 3-2 overall, 2-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference as they will host Tennessee Tech this Saturday night at O’Brien Field for the annual Hall of Fame Game.  Tickets are available by calling 217-581-2106 or online at www.eiupanthertickets.com
 
EIU was the 11th team also receiving votes (No. 36 ranked) in the FCS Coaches Top 25 poll this week while landing as the 12th team also receiving votes (No. 37 ranked) in the STATS Media FCS Top 25 rankings.
 
James Madison was the number one team in both polls followed by North Dakota State, Youngstown State, Jacksonville State and Wofford.  The two polls differ slightly on the remaining twenty ranked teams.
 
South Dakota was ranked sixth in the FCS Coaches poll followed by Illinois State, Central Arkansas, South Dakota State and Eastern Washington in the top ten.  Sam Houston State dropped to 11th following last weekend’s loss to Central Arkansas.  North Carolina A&T moved up to 12th followed by New Hampshire, Richmond, Villanova, Weber State, The Citadel, Western Illinois, Grambling State and Samford.  Northern Iowa was ranked 21st with McNeese State, Elon, Stony Brook and Nicholls State rounding out the top 25.
 
Central Arkansas was sixth in the STATS Media FCS poll followed by South Dakota, South Dakota State, Sam Houston State and Eastern Washington in the top ten.  Illinois State was 11th with Villanova, New Hampshire, Richmond, Western Illinois, North Carolina A&T, The Citadel, Elon, Weber State and Samford in the top twenty.  The final five schools in the rankings were Grambling State, Western Carolina, Stony Brook, Albany and UT Martin.