College Football Rankings, Week 7: Led By Appalachian State, FCS Top-Eight Remains Unchanged

The top-eight teams in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 College Football Poll 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. They are 5-0 for the first time since 1998.

In fact, all eight teams in the FCS Top 10 that played won (No. 6 Villanova and No. 8 Massachusetts had byes); the only “shake-up” was No. 9 Montana State and No. 10 South Carolina State switching spots.

Delaware maintained it No. 2 position with an easy win over CAA opponent Maine, 26-7. Jacksonville State went on the road and beat Tennessee-Martin, 30-20, while No. 4 William & Mary improved to 5-1 with an easy home win, 26-7, versus Rhode Island.

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 two newcomers to the top 25 this week are Bethune-Cookman (5-0) and Penn (3-1). For the Wildcats, one of just four remaining undefeated FCS teams, its their first time being ranked in more than six years.

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:

As you might expect, the CAA is prominently involved in Week 7’s key games: No. 23 Bethune-Cookman puts its new ranking on the line at No. 10 SC State; No. 16 New Hampshire travels to No. 7 JMU; No. 8 UMass hosts a struggling No. 20 Richmond team.