New Hampshire moved up from No. 17 to No. 14 in the newest Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll after they knocked off the-No. 9 Wildcats at Villanova on Saturday, 31-24. The win improved New Hampshire to 6-4 overall, and 4-3 in the Colonial Athletics Association.
Massachusetts fell to then-No.2 Delaware, 45-27, dropping the Minuteman (6-4, 4-3) five spots to No. 19 in the Week 12 FCS Top-25 poll. The Blue Hens took over the No. 1 spot with the win, coupled with William & Mary's loss at James Madison.
With the loss, the Tribe was dropped to No. 6; JMU received 253 votes, which has them 24 points behind No. 25 Grambling State (technically, the Dukes are ranked No. 27).
Villanova, the defending FCS National Champion, falls to No. 15 in the poll. They have a key matchup this week when they go on the road to battle new No. 1 Delaware in their regular season finale.
With one week left to play, the CAA has six teams ranked in the top-25, all of which are in contention for the playoffs. Delaware and William & Mary are locks to get in (with one of them earning the conference's auto-bid), but New Hampshire, Villanova, Richmond and UMass -- all four teams are 6-4 -- will likely all need wins on Saturday for consideration.
The complete poll is as follows (first-place votes in parenthesis):
1. Delaware Blue Hens (116)
2. Appalachian State Mountaineers (28)
3. Eastern Washington Eagles (8)
4. Jacksonville State Gamecocks (2)
5. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
6. William & Mary Tribe
7. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (4)
8. Montana State Bobcats (1)
9. Wofford Terriers
10. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks
11. Montana Grizzlies
12. South Carolina State Bulldogs
13. Northern Iowa Panthers
14. New Hampshire Wildcats
15. Villanova Wildcats
16. Penn Quakers
17. North Dakota State Bison
18. Richmond Spiders
19. Massachusetts Minutemen
20. Jacksonville Dolphins
21. Liberty Flames
22. Lehigh Mountain Hawks
23. Cal Poly Mustangs
24. Dayton Flyers
25. Grambling State Tigers