Reigning National Champion Villanova landed the top spot garnering 81 first place votes in the seventh annual preseason AnyGivenSaturday.com (AGS) Poll of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) released today. The AGS Poll has been the first released national poll each year since it’s inception in 2004.Following the Wildcats in the top ten were (in order): Montana, Appalachian State, William & Mary, Southern Illinois, New Hampshire, Elon, Richmond, South Dakota State, and South Carolina State.
The full results are listed below.
Four other teams received first place votes including Montana (7), William and Mary (3), Appalachian State (2), and Southern Illinois (1).
A total of 25 squads received more than the five votes required to receive mention outside of the top 25.
The Colonial Athletic Association lead the way with six teams in the Top 25; the Big Sky Conference had four; the Missouri Valley Football and Southern Conferences had three each; the Ohio Valley and Southland Conferences had two each; and the Big South, Great West Football and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conferences plus the Ivy and Patriot Leagues were each represented with one squad.
The pollsters also named Delaware as the biggest rising team from 2009 and Richmond as the biggest falling team.
In comparison to other polls, the AGS Poll had as many or more of it’s preseason top 25 on it’s final regular season poll than either of the other two polls (coaches and media) had on their’s since their inception five years ago. The AGS Poll also had as many or more of it’s preseason top 25 on it’s final regular season poll make the playoffs than either of the other two polls the past five years.
AGS is the world’s largest online community devoted to all of the FCS. The AGS Poll was created in 2004 to give distinguished members of the AGS community a place to voice their opinion, vote for the top 25 FCS programs in the nation, and provide the media and coaches of FCS a valuable resource to gauge general sentiment. In order to ensure that the poll is accurate and fair, a committee of AGS veteran members has established guidelines for voter eligibility and accountability.
The AGS Poll will be announced weekly throughout the season on Mondays and a final poll will be announced shortly after the National Championship game.
2010 Any Given Saturday Poll Preseason Top 25
(First place votes in parenthesis), Points
1. Villanova (81), 2344
2. Montana (7), 2106
3. Appalachian State (2), 1965
4. William & Mary (3), 1909
5. Southern Illinois (1), 1825
6. New Hampshire, 1644
7. Elon, 1578
8. Richmond, 1414
9. South Dakota State, 1359
10. South Carolina State, 1352
11. Stephen F. Austin, 1218
12. Northern Iowa, 1028
13. McNeese State, 1011
14. Eastern Washington, 1002
15. Delaware, 885
16. James Madison, 871
17. Jacksonville State, 720
18. Weber State, 639
19. Liberty, 582
20. Furman, 491
21. Eastern Illinois, 480
22. Montana State, 377
23. Cal Poly, 319
24. Pennsylvania, 277
25. Holy Cross, 262
Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Prairie View A&M (43), Texas State (41), Northern Arizona (36), Massachusetts (31), Maine (30), Colgate (25), Wofford (22), Eastern Kentucky (20), Lafayette (19), UC Davis (17), Chattanooga (15), Illinois State (15), Florida A&M (14), Georgia Southern (14), North Dakota State (13), Central Arkansas (11), Youngstown State (11), Harvard (10), Lehigh (10), Stony Brook (10), Southeastern Louisiana (9), Albany (8), Grambling State (7), Dayton (5), Missouri State (5)
