Two Ohio Valley Conference football teams are ranked and four others are receiving votes in the Preseason FCS Coaches Top 25 poll.
Eastern Kentucky, who finished last season ranked 19th in the poll, came in at 19th in the poll this preseason. The Colonels received one of the 26 first-place votes in the poll. EKU was 8-3 a season ago and picked second in the OVC preseason poll this season.
Eastern Illinois, who finished last season 25th in the poll, was tabbed 23rd in this year’s preseason poll. The Panthers, the defending OVC Champions and preseason OVC favorites, return a pair of Walter Payton Award candidates in senior wide receiver Erik Lora and senior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Tennessee State received 52 total points and was unofficially ranked 28th. The Tigers led a group of four OVC teams in the “others receiving votes” section. The other OVC teams who received votes included Jacksonville State (11 points), Tennessee Tech (5) and UT Martin (4).
The Sports Network Top 25 media poll is scheduled to be released next Tuesday (August 13).
The first OVC football teams are in action on Thursday, Aug. 29. JSU kicks off their season on the road against Alabama State on Saturday, August 31st at 5 p.m.
The top 25 teams in the preseason Coaches Football Championship Subdivision poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2012 records and ranking:
1. North Dakota State (23) 14-1 645 1
2. Montana State (1) 11-2 591 5
3. Eastern Washington 11-3 549 4
4. Sam Houston State (1) 11-4 534 2
5. Wofford 9-4 450 7
6. Central Arkansas 9-3 428 10
7. South Dakota State 9-4 410 17
8. New Hampshire 8-4 386 13
9. Villanova 8-4 381 16
10. Illinois State 9-4 379 9
11. Cal Poly 9-3 348 11
12. Towson 7-4 347 15
13. Stony Brook 10-3 326 12
14. Richmond 8-3 274 18
15. James Madison 7-4 235 21
16. Northern Iowa 5-6 218 NR
17. Lehigh 10-1 198 14
18. Northern Arizona 8-3 196 20
19. Eastern Kentucky (1) 8-3 188 19
20. Bethune-Cookman 9-3 159 23
21. Coastal Carolina 8-5 140 24
22. Montana 5-6 135 NR
23. Eastern Illinois 7-5 120 25
24. Youngstown State 7-4 107 NR
25. Chattanooga 6-5 104 NR
Others receiving votes: Wagner 87, Colgate 67, Tennessee State 52, Harvard 48, Delaware 47, The Citadel 39, Liberty 39, Arkansas Pine-Bluff 35, Indiana State 27, Stephen F. Austin 19, McNeese State 16, Penn 13, Alcorn State 12, Jacksonville State 11, Samford 10, Norfolk State 7, Alabama State 7, UC Davis 7, Southern Illinois 6, Maine 5, Albany 5, Tennessee Tech 5, UT Martin 4, Gardner Webb 4, Sacramento State 3, Hampton 3, San Diego 2, Jackson State 1, Missouri State 1, Brown 1