After ending the 2018 season No. 2 in rankings, Eastern is behind national champion North Dakota State, James Madison and South Dakota State
The Eastern Washington University football team will begin the 2019 season as the No. 4 team in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, according to the STATS FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) Preseason Top-25 poll released on Monday.
North Dakota State, which has won seven of eight NCAA Division I titles since EWU won in 2010, was a unanimous No. 1 pick. James Madison was ranked second and South Dakota State third, a year after JMU bowed out of the FCS playoffs in the second round and SDSU advanced to the semifinals where it lost to NDSU.
Eastern fell to the Bison 38-24 in the title game.
While NDSU had 3,971 points and received 142 first-place votes, only 41 votes separated second through fourth. Eastern received three first-place votes, while JMU had 14 and SDSU one.
Eastern is the preseason favorite to win the Big Sky Conference title in 2019. Since winning the league and NCAA Division I titles in 2010, Eastern has won Big Sky championships in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018, giving the Eagles a total of 10 league titles to go along with 13 all-time berths in the FCS playoffs. Despite losing 25 seniors from last year’s squad that finished 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the league, Eastern has another veteran squad with 22 seniors and 48 total letter winners back.
Players reported for preseason practices beginning Aug. 1, with the first practice together taking place on Aug. 4. Eastern will practice four weeks leading up to the team’s opener at Washington on Aug. 31, and the home opener the next week on Sept. 7 versus Lindenwood. The Eagles play 12 games in 2019, including seven on the road and five at home at Roos Field, where EWU won all eight of its games in 2018.
Jacksonville State and Montana are the only teams EWU will play in 2019 who were ranked in the preseason poll. Jacksonville State from the Ohio Valley Conference is No. 6, and EWU plays against the Gamecocks in Jacksonville, Ala., on Sept. 14.
Montana is ranked 25th, and Eastern takes on the Griz in Missoula on Oct. 26.
Other ranked teams from the Big Sky include No. 5 UC Davis, No. 8 Weber State and No. 14 Montana State. The Eagles shared the league title a year ago with the Aggies and Wildcats. Other notable ranked teams include Maine (No. 7) and Nicholls (No. 12), a pair of teams EWU beat in the 2018 playoffs, along with UC Davis.
Preseason STATS FCS Top 25 stats
Two-time defending national champion North Dakota State was selected as a decisive No. 1 in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25.
The Bison, who finished 15-0 last season and have a Division I-leading 21-game winning streak, gained 142 of the 160 first-place votes and 3,971 of a possible 4,000 points in the national media poll. James Madison edged South Dakota State for the No. 2 spot, while national runner-up Eastern Washington and UC Davis rounded out the top five.
North Dakota State has a new coach, Matt Entz, and returns only seven of its 22 starters, but no program has the winning formula quite the Bison, who’ve been the preseason No. 1 in five straight seasons and have won a record seven FCS titles in the last eight years.
Ten conferences placed teams in the preseason rankings, led by the Big Sky, CAA and Missouri Valley conferences with five each.
The Top 25 will be released every Monday during the regular season, except for Sunday, Nov. 24, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 11 in Frisco, Texas.
Reader Comments(0)