College Football Rankings, Week 6: Appalachian State New No. 1, Delaware Jumps To No. 2

During Appalachian State’s bye week, they enjoyed some time off, rested sore muscles and took time to watch extra game film. Oh, and they also become the No. 1 team in the country. Following Villanova’s 31-24 loss at William & Mary -- dropping their record to 3-2 overall -- the voters awarded Appalachian State and their perfect 4-0 mark, giving them the No. 1 spot in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 Poll.

The Mountaineers earned 101 of a possible 143 first-place votes.

Villanova fell to No. 6, while William & Mary moved up to No. 4.

Jumping up three spots was Delaware, moving to No. 2 on the strength of their 13-10 win at James Madison on Saturday. The Dukes, suffering their first loss of 2010, fell from No. 3 to No. 7. It was the Blue Hens’ first win at JMU since 2001, and just the Dukes’ eighth home loss since 2003 (38-8 record in that time).

Jacksonville State (5-0) edged Murray State and is now No. 3, and Stephen F. Austin (3-1) is the new No. 5.

Amidst all the top-ten shake-up (it should be noted: there are no new top-ten teams this week, and no one dropped out, either), the Colonial Athletic Association maintained its overall superiority with a total of seven of the top-25 teams, including five of the top-eight: Delaware, W&M, Villanova, JMU and UMass. Additionally, the CAA boasts six of the top-11 (No. 11 Richmond).

Full rankings of The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll for Week 6 (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 (101)
2. Delaware Blue Hens (29)
3. Jacksonville State Gamecocks (12)
4. William & Mary Tribe
5. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (1)
6. Villanova Wildcats
7. James Madison Dukes
8. Massachusetts Minutemen
9. South Carolina State Bulldogs
10. Montana State Bobcats
11. Richmond Spiders
12. Montana Grizzlies
13. Eastern Washington Eagles
14. Cal Poly Mustangs
15. Northern Iowa Panthers
16. Georgia Southern Eagles
17. Texas State Bobcats
18. North Dakota State Bison
19. Elon Phoenix
20. Western Illinois Leathernecks
21. Wofford Terriers
22. New Hampshire Wildcats
23. Southern Illinois Salukis
24. Liberty Flames
25. Southeast Missouri State Redhawks

Week 6 games to watch in the FCS: No. 11 Richmond at No. 22 Hampshire, Maine at No. 2 Delaware, No. 19 Elon at No. 1 Appalachian State and No. 15 Northern Iowa at No. 23 Southern Illinois.