Aug. 20, 2007

Elmhurst, Ill. - Three Great West teams were listed in the first 19 teams ranked in the preseason Coaches Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) poll, released today by the Southern Conference.

North Dakota State received 609 votes, narrowly missing out on the third position in the rankings behind New Hampshire, Cal Poly was listed 14th and South Dakota State was 19th.

Ranked atop the poll is two-time defending national champion Appalachian State, who received 27 of a possible 28 first-place votes. Coach Jerry Moore's Mountaineers posted a 14-1 record in 2006 and open the 2007 campaign at Michigan on Sept. 1. Montana received 656 votes and is ranked second in the preseason poll. Massachusetts, which advanced to the championship game in 2006, received one first-place vote and is ranked third.

North Dakota State, New Hampshire, Youngstown State, James Madison, Illinois State, Northern Iowa and Furman round out the rest of the top 10.

A FCS Coaches Top 25 weekly Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

The poll is available on the newly-created FCS web page that features the poll, conference scores and standings, and features on FCS programs and players. The Southern Conference will oversee the poll and maintain the web site.

FCS Coaches Poll (Aug. 20, 2007) 1. Appalachian State (27) 699 2. Montana 656 3. Massachusetts (1) 612 4. North Dakota State 609 5. New Hampshire 559 6. Youngstown State 550 7. James Madison 477 8. Illinois State 471 9. Northern Iowa 424 10. Furman 416 11 Southern Illinois 406 12. McNeese State 365 13. Portland State 313 14. Cal Poly 302 15. Wofford 265 16. Hampton 242 17. Eastern Illinois 203 18. UT-Martin 202 19. South Dakota State 198 20. Coastal Carolina 191 21. Delaware 172 22. Montana State 168 23. Sam Houston State 130 24. Yale 76 25. Princeton 50

FCS Coaches Poll voting panel: Stacy Adams (Valparaiso), Rob Ash (Montana State), David Bennett (Coastal Carolina), Bob Biggs (UC-Davis), Don Brown (Massachusetts), Kevin Callahan (Monmouth), Rich Ellerson (Cal Poly), Bob Ford (Albany), Henry Frazier (Prairie View A&M), Tom Gilmore (Holy Cross), J.C. Harper (Stephen F. Austin), Danny Hope (Eastern Kentucky), Denver Johnson (Illinois State), Anthony Jones (Alabama A&M), Kevin Kelly (Georgetown), Bobby Lamb (Furman), Pete Lembo (Elon), Mike Lucas (Southeastern Louisiana), Mickey Matthews (James Madison), Tripp Merritt (Davidson), Jay Mills (Charleston Southern), Tim Murphy (Harvard), Don Patterson (Western Illinois), Oliver Pough (South Carolina State), Tony Samuel (Southeast Missouri State), Jack Siedlecki (Yale), Jerome Souers (Northern Arizona), Joe Taylor (Hampton)