University of Richmond Athletics
Football Ranked No. 1
Sept. 22, 2008
RICHMOND - The Richmond Spiders are the No. 1 team in FCS football, replacing Appalachian State in the Sport Network poll top spot after the Spiders' convincing 44-17 win over Maine Saturday at UR Stadium. Richmond is No. 1 for the first time since the 1985 season.
Richmond (3-1, 2-0) is ranked first, receiving 49 of the 102 first-place votes in this week's poll to edge out CAA Football South Division rival James Madison (37 first-place votes) in second. App. State slipped to third, followed by Montana and Northern Iowa to round out the top-five.
"You have mixed feelings because it's still early and the goal is to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the season," said head coach Mike London. "Obviously it's a tremendous earmark for us. It's great for the program, but we have loftier goals and that's to be sitting in this position in December."
This marks the first time in conference history (CAA Football, Atlantic 10 and Yankee) that league teams have occupied the top two spots in the same week. In fact, the last time two teams from the same conference were ranked first and second in the Sports Network I-AA poll was Sept. 23, 1991 - Nevada and Idaho, both of the Big Sky.
"We think the conference is the best conference in the FCS," said London. "And today, with what came out, it's a tribute to the league and the coaches that are in the league."
The No. 1 ranking marks the first for the Spiders since spending five-consecutive weeks perched atop the polls in 1985. That year, a season-opening win at Virginia Tech spurred a 7-0 start and eventually vaulted Richmond to No. 1. But the Spiders dropped three of their last four games and missed the playoffs.
Richmond owns a 4-1 record all-time as a first-ranked team.
Richmond also jumped to No. 2 in the FCS Coaches poll, just points behind James Madison. Each team received 11 of the 28 first-place votes, but the Dukes edged the Spiders by seven total points.
In all, six CAA Football teams are ranked among the top-20 in both polls, including Richmond (1/2), James Madison (2/1), New Hampshire (7/8), Delaware (17/12), Massachusetts (18/10) and Villanova (19/19).
The Spiders have their second Top-25 match-up of the season Saturday with a game at No. 19 Villanova. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. and the game is broadcast on CN8.