By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State football has moved up in both FCS Top-25 polls this week, landing at No. 18 in the STATS FCS Top-25 and jumping back into the FCS Coaches Poll at No. 21.
This is the 18th-straight week that the Sycamores have been ranked in a Top-25 poll, a school record that extends back to ISU's historic 2014 season. This week is a three-spot improvement in the STATS poll after being ranked No. 21 last week, and a six-spot improvement in the Coaches poll after falling out last week. Jacksonville State (5-1) and Coastal Carolina (6-0) remain as the No. 1 teams in the STATS and Coaches polls, respectively.
Seven MVFC schools are ranked for the first time this season. This is also the eighth-straight poll that at least six Valley schools placed in the top-25. Ranked are: No. 3/4 Illinois State (5-1), No. 6 South Dakota State (5-1), No. 8 North Dakota State (4-2), No. 16/17 Youngstown State (3-3), No. 18/21 Indiana State (4-2), No. 20/23 Western Illinois (4-2) and No. 22/25 Northern Iowa (2-4). For Western Illinois, this is the first time they have been ranked since the final poll of the 2010 season.
Indiana State is coming off an exciting 39-36 Homecoming win over Southern Illinois that saw a combined 1,115 yards of total offense between the Sycamores and Salukis. Gary Owens' three touchdown receptions tied both the single-season (8) and single-game records, and ISU combined for a season-high 329 rushing yards while stifling the nation's ninth-best rushing attack in SIU to just 127 yards on the ground.
ISU remains at home this week to host the four-time defending national champion Bison of North Dakota State. NDSU is ranked No. 8 in both national polls, but has fallen from the No. 2 slot after South Dakota upset them, 24-21, in the Fargodome last Saturday. USD is the first team to beat NDSU in Fargo since Indiana State did so in 2012.
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