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The Villanova Wildcats football squad jumped up to #9 in the newest STATS FCS Top 25 following their 26-7 victory on the road over the Maine Black Bears this weekend.
Undefeated Sam Houston State (9-0) remains at #1 in the FCS Poll. Jacksonville State, Eastern Washington, North Dakota State, and the Citadel round out the top five and remain unchanged.
The CAA is also represented by James Madison at #6, Richmond at #8, and New Hampshire at #21.
Stony Brook fell from the rankings, leaving CAA Football in a tie with the Big Sky and Missouri Valley conferences for the most Top 25 teams with four each. Eleven conferences had at least one ranked team.
A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. In the voting, a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.
Villanova approaches a mega matchup as they host those sixth-ranked Dukes from JMU. Kickoff is slated for 1p ET.
FCS Top 25
| RANK | SCHOOL | VOTES | RECORD | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Houston State (113) | 3940 | 9-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Jacksonville State (19) | 3781 | 8-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Eastern Washington (19) | 3728 | 8-1 | 3 |
| 4 | North Dakota State (4) | 3618 | 8-1 | 4 |
| 5 | Citadel (7) | 3432 | 9-0 | 5 |
| 6 | James Madison | 3334 | 8-1 | 7 |
| 7 | Chattanooga | 2981 | 8-1 | 9 |
| 8 | Richmond | 2774 | 7-2 | 6 |
| 9 | Villanova | 2609 | 7-2 | 10 |
| 10 | North Carolina A&T | 2377 | 8-1 | 11 |
| 11 | South Dakota State | 2371 | 6-3 | 13 |
| 12 | North Dakota | 2112 | 8-2 | 16 |
| 13 | Central Arkansas | 2051 | 8-1 | 17 |
| 14 | Charleston Southern | 1785 | 5-3 | 8 |
| 15 | Coastal Carolina | 1505 | 7-2 | 18 |
| 16 | Cal Poly | 1445 | 6-3 | 14 |
| 17 | Youngstown State | 1368 | 6-3 | 15 |
| 18 | Montana | 1350 | 6-3 | 19 |
| 19 | Western Illinois | 1228 | 6-3 | 12 |
| 20 | Grambling State | 1061 | 6-1 | 21 |
| 21 | New Hampshire | 866 | 6-3 | 22 |
| 22 | Samford | 855 | 6-3 | 20 |
| 23 | Lehigh | 688 | 8-2 | 24 |
| 24 | Harvard | 649 | 7-1 | 23 |
| 25 | Liberty | 153 | 6-3 | NR |
| Others receiving votes: Wofford (127) , North Carolina Central (123) , Saint Francis U (47) , Northern Arizona (42) , UT Martin (39) , Illinois State (38) , UNI (37) , San Diego (34) , Stony Brook (25) , Maine(18) , Eastern Illinois (14) , Tennessee State (10) , Nicholls (10) , Fordham (6) , Kennesaw State (6) , Southern Utah (4) ,Princeton (3) , Duquesne (2) , Southern University (2) , Weber State (1) , Dayton (1) | ||||