PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – For the first time in its 10-year membership in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, Elon has landed in The Sports Network preseason top-25 poll announced Tuesday. The Phoenix debuted at No. 15, up eight spots from No. 23 in the final TSN poll of 2007.
Appalachian State was a near unanimous pick as the No. 1 selection. The Mountaineers, the three-time defending Southern Conference and national champs, received 97 of 101 first-place votes and 2,546 points. It is the third consecutive year that ASU has opened the season ranked No. 1 by The Sports Network.
Altogether, five 2008 Elon opponents – No. 1 Appalachian State, No. 4 Richmond, No. 13 Wofford, No. 17 Georgia Southern and No. 23 The Citadel – earned top-25 positions in the poll while foes Furman and Liberty also received votes for top-25 consideration.
The regular season top-25 poll will be released every Monday afternoon during the football year, except the final weekend when it will be released on Sunday morning to allow it to be used officially by the NCAA Division I Football Committee when it selects the 16-team playoff field. TSN will release a final top-25 poll following the national championship game, which will be held Dec. 19 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Elon ended up 17th in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision according to College Sporting News’ 2007 Gridiron Power Index. The 7-4 Phoenix finished 2007 ranked 23rd nationally in both the FCS Coaches' poll and The Sports Network's poll.
Picked No. 2 in the SoCon preseason polls by both the league’s coaches and media, Elon has been ranked among the country’s top FCS teams in the preseason polls announced by USA Today Sports Weekly (No. 8), The Sporting News (No. 12), Any Given Saturday (No. 15), The Sports Network (No. 15), SME Network Broadcasters (No. 15), Lindy’s (No. 17) and Phil Steele (No. 17).
The 2008 campaign begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30 when Richmond visits Rhodes Stadium. The Spiders finished the 2007 season ranked No. 4 in the FCS Coaches’ poll and No. 5 in The Sports Network’s poll after fashioning an 11-3 record on their way to claiming a Colonial Athletic Association championship and a semifinal appearance in the FCS playoffs.
Individuals wishing to purchase tickets and inquire about a parking pass are encouraged to do so at www.elonphoenix.com or by calling (336) 278-6750. Season tickets for priority bleacher back seats are being sold for $100 each, faculty/staff priority bleacher back seats are $50, reserved bleacher seats are $70 and faculty/staff reserved bleacher seats are $35. Individual tickets for reserved bleacher and grass seats are $15.
The Sports Network 2008 FCS Preseason Poll
Team (First-place votes) (Record/Points/Previous rank)
1. Appalachian State (97) (13-2/2,546/1)
2. North Dakota State (1) (10-1/2,275/9)
3. Northern Iowa (12-1/2,204/4)
4. Richmond (11-3/2,162/5)
5. Massachusetts (10-3/2,148/7)
6. James Madison (3) (8-4/2,078/12)
7. Eastern Washington (9-4/1,951/8)
8. Montana (11-1/1,848/10)
9. Delaware (11-4/1,747/2)
10. McNeese State (11-1/1,687/11)
11. Southern Illinois (12-2/1,286/3)
12. Youngstown State (7-4/1,228/16)
13. Wofford (9-4/1,158/6)
14. Cal Poly (7-4/1,081/24)
15. Elon (7-4/1,028/23)
16. New Hampshire (7-5/760/14)
17. Georgia Southern (7-4/656/17)
18. Eastern Illinois (8-4/622/18)
19. South Dakota State (7-4/547/19)
20. Eastern Kentucky (9-3/487/13)
21. Villanova (7-4/396/NR)
22. Central Arkansas (6-5/374/NR)
23. The Citadel (7-4/317/NR)
24. Harvard (8-2/316/21)
25. Western Illinois (6-5/299/NR)
Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona 249, Fordham 212, Delaware State 198, Jacksonville State 195, Yale 170, Sam Houston State 166, Montana State 146, Furman 120, Liberty 115, Jackson State 79, South Carolina State 76, Holy Cross 74, Hofstra 61, Colgate 56, Grambling 55, Norfolk State 48, Coastal Carolina 44, Hampton 41, Southern 32, Northwestern State 30, Tennessee-Martin 30, UC Davis 22, Weber State 17, Lafayette 16, Alabama A&M 10, Texas Southern 9, Brown 9, Nicholls State 9, Dayton 6, Tennessee State 5, San Diego 4, Albany 4, Maine 1, Prairie View 1. –ELON–
