Dec. 19, 2005

Dec. 19, 2005 -

NCAA Division I-AA national champion Appalachian State (12-3) garnered all 78 first-place votes in The Sports Network Top 25 and all 25 first-place votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Top 25 to claim the No. 1 spot. The Mountaineers are at No. 1 for the first time in school history.

Cal Poly was the lone Great West Football Conference team in the top 25 polls and finished at No. 6 in both national rankings. The Mustangs (9-4), GWFC co-champions, advanced to the second round of the NCAA I-AA playoffs.

Two other GWFC teams received votes toward both top 25 polls. North Dakota State (7-4) had 111 points toward The Sports Network final ranking and 38 points toward the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, while league co-champion UC Davis (6-5) received 10 and two points, respectively.

The full The Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today Coaches I-AA final rankings are included below:

The Sports Network 2005 I-AA Top 25 Poll (Dec. 19)
Team (First-place votes) 2005 Record Points Previous
1. Appalachian State (78) 12-3 1,950 5
2. Northern Iowa 11-4 1,871 7
3. Furman 11-3 1,741 3
4. Texas State 11-3 1,734 4
5. New Hampshire 11-2 1,637 1
6. Cal Poly 9-4 1,506 10
7. Southern Illinois 9-4 1,442 8
8. Richmond 9-4 1,370 12
9. Georgia Southern 8-4 1,118 6
10. Hampton 11-1 1,113 2
11. Grambling State 11-1 1,097 11
12. Montana 8-4 1,093 9
13. Eastern Washington 7-5 967 15
14. Youngstown State 8-3 845 13
15. Brown 9-1 746 16
16. Eastern Illinois 9-3 683 19
17. Nicholls State 6-4 607 21
18. Montana State 7-4 602 17
19. Massachusetts 7-4 494 18
20. South Carolina State 9-2 468 21
21. Lafayette 8-4 446 25
22. Illinois State 7-4 380 2323. Colgate 8-4 340 24
24. Coastal Carolina 9-2 328 2025. James Madison 7-4 220 NR
Dropped Out: No. 22 Lehigh
Others receiving votes (in order of points, minimum of five required): Lehigh 194, North Dakota State 111, Hofstra 104, San Diego 39, Western Kentucky 28, Portland State 20, Alabama A&M 14, UC Davis 10, Delaware 6, Harvard 6.


#ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA Top 25 Final Poll#
The ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA Top 25 college football coaches final poll, with number of first-place votes, record in parentheses, total points and previous rankings: (Records through December 19, 2005)
TEAM PTS PVS
1. APPALACHIAN ST (25) (12-3) 625 4
2. NORTHERN IOWA (11-4) 600 6
3. FURMAN (11-3) 564 3
4. TEXAS STATE (11-3) 559 5
5. NEW HAMPSHIRE (11-2) 514 1
6. CAL POLY (9-4) 483 9
7. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (9-4) 457 8
8. RICHMOND (9-4) 437 12
9. GA SOUTHERN (8-4) 386 7
10. HAMPTON (11-1) 378 2
11. MONTANA (8-4) 354 10
12. GRAMBLING (11-1) 347 11
13. EASTERN WASH (7-5) 327 15
14. YOUNGSTOWN ST (8-3) 241 13
15. EASTERN ILLINOIS (9-3) 227 19
16. NICHOLLS ST (6-4) 212 21
17. MONTANA ST (7-4) 196 16
18. BROWN (9-1) 184 17
19. S CAROLINA ST (9-2) 169 14
20. LAFAYETTE (8-4) 152 25
21. MASSACHUSETTS (7-4) 149 18
22. COLGATE (8-4) 128 24
23. COASTL CAROLINA (9-2) 122 20
24. ILLINOIS ST (7-4) 76 23
25. LEHIGH (8-3) 60 22

Others Receiving Votes: JMU 56, NO DAKOTA ST 38, HOFSTRA 36, WESTRN KENTUCKY 13, PORTLAND ST 12, MCNEESE ST 6, ALABAMA A&M 6, DELAWARE 4, SAN DIEGO 3, WEBER ST 2, UC DAVIS 2.