Eastern Washington Claims Final No. 1 Spot with National Championship

The Eastern Washington University Eagles finished the 2010 football season as the No. 1 team in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll following a 20-19 come-from-behind win in the National Championship game. The Eagles were a unanimous choice for the top spot, receiving 25 first-place votes and 625 points overall in the poll announced Tuesday (Jan. 11)

Eastern was also selected Monday as the top team in The Sports Network poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors. The Eagles even received a vote in the Associated Press poll for schools at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level on Tuesday.

The Eagles finished the final regular season poll in the top spot by both the coaches and TSN, but earned a No. 5 national seed in the FCS playoffs.  Eastern Washington, however, did maintain home field advantage until the championship matchup with Delaware in Frisco, Texas. 

Trailing 19-0 late in the third quarter, the Eagles scored 20-unanswered points behind the strong play of quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns.  Mitchell capped off the game with 11-yard strike to wide receiver Brandon Kaufman with 2:47 to play to give the Eagles its first lead of the game. 

Eastern Washington ended the season on an 11-game winning streak, and won a school-record 13 games on the year.  It was the trip to the NCAA championship game for the Eagles, while the Blue Hens, who finished the year 12-3, made their fourth appearance, winning the title in 2003. 

Delaware finished the season as the No. 2 team in the coaches poll, followed by Colonial Athletic Association rival Villanova at No. 3.  Appalachian State and Wofford, both from the Southern Conference, round out the top five, respectively.

Georgia Southern, which finished the regular ranked No. 22, came in at No. 6 after a run to the national semifinals.  New Hampshire finished the year at No. 7, while William & Mary ended at No. 8.  North Dakota State jumped from No. 21 to No. 9 in the polls, and Stephen F. Austin completes the top 10. 

For the first time all season, there are no new teams in the Top 25.

There are 13 conferences that are represented in the final poll.   Leading the way is the CAA with four ranked teams, all of which are in the Top 10.  The Big Sky, Missouri Valley and Southern Conferences all have three ranked teams, while the Pioneer League and the Mid-Eastern Athletic and Ohio Valley Conferences have two representatives each.  The Ivy and Patriot League, and the Big South, Great West, Southland and the Southwest Athletic Conferences each have one team in this week’s poll.

FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.

2010 FCS Coaches Final Poll (January 11, 2010)

Team (No. 1 Votes)                            Record               Points                      Last Week
  1.     Eastern Washington (25)            13-2                      625                              1
   2.     Delaware                                  12-3                      600                              5
   3.     Villanova                                    9-5                      553                          T11
   4.     Appalachian State                     10-3                      528                              3
   5.     Wofford                                   10-3                      489                              6
   6.     Georgia Southern                      10-5                      465                            22
   7.     New Hampshire                           8-5                      438                            10
   8.     William & Mary                            8-4                      414                              4
   9.     North Dakota State                     9-5                      404                            21
  10.     Stephen F. Austin                       9-3                      382                              2
  11.     Montana State                            9-3                      535                              7
  12.     Jacksonville State                       9-3                      349                              9
  13.     Southeast Missouri State            9-3                      346                              8
  14.     Lehigh                                      10-3                      281                            18
  15.     Bethune-Cookman                     10-2                      249                          T13
  16.     Penn                                          9-1                      220                          T13
  17.     South Carolina State                   9-3                      203                          T11
  18.     Northern Iowa                             7-5                      194                            16
  19.     Liberty                                        8-3                      193                            15
  20.     Western Illinois                           8-5                      172                            24
  21.     Montana                                     7-4                      146                            17
  22.     Jacksonville                              10-1                      123                            19
  23.     Cal-Poly                                     7-4                        92                            20
  24.     Grambling State                          9-2                        66                            23
  25.     Dayton                                     10-1                        56                            25 

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Robert Morris (42), Coastal Carolina (35), Richmond (19), Southern Utah (18), Texas Southern (15), Florida A&M (14), Massachusetts (13), Central Arkansas (12), Northern Arizona (4), Sacramento State (4), McNeese State (3), James Madison (2), Illinois State (1), UC Davis (1), Weber State (1)