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Football
Panther Football Team Ranked No. 6 in Preseason AnyGivenSaturday.com Poll
The University of Northern Iowa is ranked No. 6 in the nation according to the 2007 preseason AnyGivenSaturday.com (AGS) Poll of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) released today. The Panthers are coming off a 7-4 season, which saw them tie for second place in the Gateway Football Conference with a league record of 5-2. UNI will open the 2007 season Aug 30 in the UNI-Dome against Minnesota State, Mankato. The AGS pollsters also named UNI and Wofford (tie) as the biggest rising teams from 2006 and Montana State as the biggest falling team. The AGS poll has been the first released national poll each year since its inception in 2004. Reigning national champion Appalachian State landed the top spot garnering 97 first place votes in the AGS poll. Following the Mountaineers in the top ten were (in order): Montana, North Dakota State, Youngstown State, Massachusetts, UNI, New Hampshire, James Madison, Furman and Cal Poly. The full results are listed below.
Only three other teams received first place votes including Montana (16), Massachusetts (1) and UNI (1).
A total of 24 squads received more than the five points required to receive mention outside of the top 25.
The Colonial Athletic Association, FCS's largest league and the Gateway Football Conference lead the way with four teams in the Top 25; the Big Sky Conference, the Great West Football Conference and the Southern Conference had three each; the Ohio Valley Conference and the Southland Conference had two each; and the Big South Conference, Ivy League, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Patriot League were each represented with one squad.
In comparison to other polls, the AGS Poll had as many or more of its preseason top 25 on it's final regular season poll than either of the other two polls (coaches and media) had on their's the past three years. The AGS Poll also had as many or more of its preseason top 25 on its final regular season poll make the playoffs than either of the other two polls the past three 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.
AGS also sponsors the national syndicated CSN WAVES show hosted by Ralph Wallace of College Sporting News that airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. during the season.
Any Given Saturday Poll Preseason Top 25 (First place votes in parenthesis) Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Towson (61), UC Davis (59), Lafayette (40), Princeton (39), Maine (33), Harvard (26), San Diego (26), South Carolina State (22), Georgia Southern (17), Eastern Kentucky (14), Northern Arizona (14), Richmond (12), Central Arkansas (10), Liberty (10), Northwestern State (8), Western Illinois (8), Delaware State (7), Northeastern (7), Albany (6), Colgate (6), Texas State (6), The Citadel (6), Alabama A&M (5), Jacksonville State (5). BIGGEST RISING TEAM FROM 2006: Northern Iowa, Wofford (tie)
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