Ryan ChartrandThe first major preseason poll for the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) hit the Internet on Monday with Cal Poly in the top 10.
The Mustangs are ranked 10th in the AnyGivenSaturday.com Poll, annually the first preseason poll since its inception in 2004. The Sports Network runs the most widely recognized FCS media poll during the regular season, although the AGS Poll factors into I-AA.org’s Gridiron Power Index, which simulates the NCAA’s secret Ratings Percentage Index formula used to determine which teams are worthy of the 16-team postseason. The AGS Poll is voted upon weekly during the season by a 115-person committee of FCS afficionados.
Coming off a 7-4 season, Cal Poly did not receive any first-place votes. Two other Great West Football Conference schools are in the top 25 – No. 3 North Dakota State and No. 22 South Dakota State – although neither garnered first-place votes. UC Davis was just short of being ranked, gathering 59 votes for what amounts to a 27th-place finish in the poll.
Two-time defending FCS champion Appalachian State is first with 97 first-place votes, followed by No. 2 Montana (16), No. 3 North Dakota State, No. 4 Youngstown State, No. 5 Massachusetts (1), No. 6 Northern Iowa (1), No. 7 New Hampshire, No. 8 James Madison, No. 9 Furman and No. 10 Cal Poly.
The Mustangs open the season Sept. 1 at Texas State.