Redbirds Drop To No. 12 in National FCS Polls

[November 04, 2014]  SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After suffering its first loss of the 2014 season to No. 22 Northern Iowa, Illinois State (7-1, 4-1 MVFC) dropped in the national Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) polls to No. 12 overall when both listings were released Monday.

Illinois State has maintained a spot in the national rankings for eight-consecutive weeks and fell to 7-1 to start the season, after the road defeat at UNI. The Redbirds dropped six spots to No. 12 in the FCS Coaches Poll and dropped five spots to No. 12 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25, but still remain as one of 12 teams in FCS football with one loss or less.

North Dakota State extended its FCS-record winning streak to 33 games and remained the unanimous No. 1 selection in this week’s FCS Coaches Poll. The MVFC led all conferences once again with seven teams in the Top 25, as the Bison were followed by the No. 12 Redbirds, No. 13 Youngstown State (6-2), No. 19 Indiana State (6-3), No. 20 Northern Iowa (5-4), No. 22 South Dakota State (5-4) and No. 24 Southern Illinois (5-4).

The Bison were also a unanimous first-place selection in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 and led a group of six teams from the MVFC to be ranked. No. 10 Youngstown State was the next representative, followed by the Redbirds at No. 12, Indiana State at No. 17 and Northern Iowa at No. 19. Rounding out the Valley Football representatives in the Top 25 was No. 22 South Dakota State, as Southern Illinois remained just out of the Top 25.

Illinois State will return home Saturday to host No. 10 Youngstown State (7-2, 4-1 MVFC) in a matchup to determine sole possession of second place in the conference standings. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3 at 1 p.m., with Scott Warmann, Danan Hughes and Teryn Schaefer calling the action from Hancock Stadium.

[Michael Williams, Illinois State University]