(STATS) – The Citadel Bulldogs are ranked 16
th in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25 released on Monday. The Bulldogs received 1,645 points in the poll and are ranked just behind Central Arkansas in the preseason rankings.
The Citadel is coming off consecutive SoCon Championships and back-to-back FCS Playoff berths. The Bulldogs went 8-0 in SoCon play last season under now second-year Head Coach
Brent Thompson. The '17 squad returns the SoCon Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in safety
Kalik Williams and senior quarterback
Dominique Allen.
The Bulldogs were one of four SoCon teams ranked in the poll along with Wofford (11), Chattanooga (12), and Samford (19).
Defending national champion James Madison collected 134 of the 163 first-place votes and is the preseason favorite in the poll. NDSU was picked second in the preseason poll, followed in the Top 5 by Sam Houston State, South Dakota State and Eastern Washington. The Missouri Valley Football Conference had a poll-high six teams and the CAA was second with five.
The rest of the Top 10 was Ohio Valley Conference champion Jacksonville State (10-2); Richmond (10-3); Big Sky co-champ North Dakota (9-3); Youngstown State (12-4), 2016 the national runner-up; and Villanova (9-4).
Wofford (10-4) held the No. 11 ranking, followed by Chattanooga (9-4), New Hampshire (8-5), Big South co-champ Charleston Southern (7-4), Central Arkansas (10-3), Southern Conference champ The Citadel (10-2), Patriot League champ Lehigh (9-3), Northern Iowa (5-6), Samford (7-5) and Illinois State (6-6).
Rounding out the Top 25 were SWAC champ Grambling State (11-1), Fordham (8-3), Cal Poly (7-5), Albany (7-4) and Western Illinois (6-5).
A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. 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.
The Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 19, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.
|
STATS FCS Top 25 |
|
| Rank |
School |
Votes |
| 1 |
James Madison (0-0) |
4034 (134) |
| 2 |
North Dakota State (0-0) |
3874 (19) |
| 3 |
Sam Houston State (0-0) |
3610 (7) |
| 4 |
South Dakota State (0-0) |
3385 (2) |
| 5 |
Eastern Washington (0-0) |
3270 |
| 6 |
Jacksonville State (0-0) |
3081 (1) |
| 7 |
Richmond (0-0) |
3041 |
| 8 |
North Dakota (0-0) |
2871 |
| 9 |
Youngstown State (0-0) |
2658 |
| 10 |
Villanova (0-0) |
2628 |
| 11 |
Wofford (0-0) |
2543 |
| 12 |
Chattanooga (0-0) |
1995 |
| 13 |
New Hampshire (0-0) |
1741 |
| 14 |
Charleston Southern (0-0) |
1710 |
| 15 |
Central Arkansas (0-0) |
1685 |
| 16 |
The Citadel (0-0) |
1545 |
| 17 |
Lehigh (0-0) |
1369 |
| 18 |
UNI (0-0) |
924 |
| 19 |
Samford (0-0) |
893 |
| 20 |
Illinois State (0-0) |
876 |
| 21 |
Grambling State (0-0) |
692 |
| 22 |
Fordham (0-0) |
604 |
| 23 |
Cal Poly (0-0) |
427 |
| 24 |
Albany (0-0) |
418 |
| 25 |
Western Illinois (0-0) |
367 |
Others: North Carolina Central (326) , Weber State (322) , Northern Arizona (307) , McNeese (261) , San Diego (250) , Montana (215) , North Carolina A&T (198) , Kennesaw State (154) , Liberty (134) , Tennessee State (102) , UT Martin (90) , South Dakota (87) , Harvard (36) , Saint Francis U (31) , Delaware (27) , Princeton (23) , South Carolina State (22) , Nicholls (21) , Southeastern Louisiana (20) , Southern Utah (17) , Penn (14) , Duquesne (14) , Stony Brook (13) , Maine (11) , Montana State (6) , Mercer (6) , Southern Illinois (5) , Alcorn State (4) , William & Mary (4) , Eastern Illinois (3) , ETSU (3) , Wagner (3) , Eastern Kentucky (2) , Indiana State (1) , Bethune-Cookman (1) , Dayton (1)
