Massachusetts maintained its position at No. 8 following a bye while New Hampshire jumps up to No. 16 in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 College Football Poll for Week 7.
The Wildcats moved from No. 22 to No. 16 following their 17-0 win at home against Richmond on Saturday. New Hampshire took advantage of six Spider interceptions and quarterback R.J. Toman was 20-of-29 for 166 yards and a touchdown.
The top-eight teams remain unchanged for Week 7, with Appalachian State strengthening its position as the No. 1 team in the country following their 34-31 win against then-No. 24 Elon -- the Mountaineers received 106 of a possible 146 first-place votes.
In fact, all eight teams in the FCS Top 10 that played won (No. 6 Villanova also had a bye).
Full rankings of The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll for Week 7 (as voted on by the sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters and writers) are as follows (first-place votes included):
1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (106)
2. Delaware Blue Hens (29)
3. Jacksonville State Gamecocks (10)
4. William & Mary Tribe
5. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1)
6. Villanova Wildcats
7. James Madison Dukes
8. Massachusetts Minutemen
9. Montana State Bobcats
10. South Carolina State Bulldogs
11. Montana Grizzlies
12. Eastern Washington Eagles
13. Cal Poly Mustangs
14. Wofford Terriers
15. North Dakota State Bison
16. New Hampshire Wildcats
17. Southern Illinois Salukis
18. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
19. Liberty Flames
20. Richmond Spiders
21. Georgia Southern Eagles
22. Northern Iowa Panthers
23. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
24. Elon Phoenix
25. Penn Quakers
The Colonial Athletic Conference remains the strongest in the country: seven of the top-20 teams are from the CAA, including five of the top-eight and six of the top-16. A complete FCS Top-25 conference break down:
- Colonial Athletic, 7: Delaware, W&M, Villanova, JMU, UMass, New Hampshire, Richmond);
- Southern, 4: Appalachian State, Wofford, Georgia Southern, Elon
- Missouri Valley, 3: North Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa
- Big Sky, 3: Montana State, Montana, Eastern Washington
- Ohio Valley, 2: Jacksonville State, Southeast Missouri State
- MEAC, 2: South Carolina State, Bethune-Cookman
- Southland: Stephen F. Austin
- Great West: Cal Poly
- Ivy: Pennsylvania
- Big South: Liberty
As you might expect, the CAA is prominently involved in Week 7's key games: No. 16 New Hampshire travels to No. 7 JMU and No. 8 UMass hosts a struggling No. 20 Richmond team.
Complete CAA Football Standings (conference record/overall record):
Delaware (3-0, 6-0)
Massachusetts (2-0, 4-1)
William & Mary (3-1, 5-1)
James Madison (1-1, 4-1)
Villanova (1-1, 3-2)
Rhode Island (1-1, 2-3)
New Hampshire (1-2, 3-3)
Maine (1-2, 2-4)
Richmond (0-2, 2-3)
Towson (0-3, 1-5)