NDSU Unanimous No. 1 in Final FCS Polls

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State was the unanimous No. 1 team in the final STATS FCS Top 25 and FCS Coaches Poll announced Monday, Jan. 11, after NDSU's 37-10 national championship victory over Jacksonville State.

North Dakota State, the No. 3 seed for the FCS playoffs, entered the postseason ranked No. 2 by the media and No. 3 by the coaches.  NDSU won nine straight games to finish 13-2 overall and became the first team in modern college football history to win five straight national championships at any level.

The Bison garnered all 150 first-place votes in the media poll and all 25 votes in the coaches poll.  Jacksonville State was second in both polls, Sam Houston State and Richmond were each third in one poll and fourth in the other, and Illinois State rounded out the top five in both polls.

Five teams from the Missouri Valley Football Conference made the final polls.  Northern Iowa was sixth in the coaches poll and eighth in the media poll, South Dakota State 15th in the media poll and 16th in the coaches poll, and Western Illinois was 22nd in both polls.

STATS FCS Top 25
	Team (First-Place Votes)	W-L	Pts	Prev
1	North Dakota State (150)	13-2	3750	2
2	Jacksonville State	13-2	3599	1
3	Sam Houston State	11-4	3315	6
4	Richmond	10-4	3267	12
5	Illinois State	10-3	3081	4
6	Charleston Southern	10-3	2698	9
7	McNeese State	10-1	2683	3
8	Northern Iowa	9-5	2679	15
9	Chattanooga	9-4	2620	7
10	Portland State	9-3	2339	5
11	James Madison	9-3	1909	8
12	William & Mary	9-4	1839	13
13	The Citadel	9-4	1782	18
14	Montana	8-5	1773	16
15	South Dakota State	8-4	1675	10
16	Coastal Carolina	9-3	1667	10
17	Colgate	9-5	1320	NR
18	Southern Utah	8-4	1178	17
19	Fordham	9-3	1067	14
20	Harvard	9-1	857	19
21	North Carolina A&T	10-2	679	22
22	Western Illinois	7-6	580	NR
23	Dartmouth	9-1	536	20
24	Grambling State	9-3	285	21
25	Eastern Illinois	7-5	278	24

Others receiving votes: Eastern Washington 220, Bethune-Cookman 182, Alcorn State 143, New Hampshire 131, Duquesne 117, Northern Arizona 113, Dayton 108, North Dakota 91, Central Arkansas 40, Penn 35, Eastern Kentucky 33, UT Martin 31, North Carolina Central 15, Youngstown State 14, Western Carolina 8, Towson 7, Montana State 2, Villanova 2, Liberty 2.

FCS Coaches Poll
	Team (First-Place Votes)	W-L	Pts	Prev
1	North Dakota State (25)	13-2	625	3
2	Jacksonville State	13-2	597	1
3	Richmond	10-4	560	11
4	Sam Houston State	11-4	538	10
5	Illinois State	10-3	513	4
6	Northern Iowa	9-5	491	14
7	Charleston Southern	10-3	460	7
8	Chattanooga	9-4	410	8
9	McNeese State	10-1	395	2
10	Portland State	9-3	368	5
11	James Madison	9-3	319	6
12	William & Mary	9-4	317	13
13	Colgate	9-5	297	NR
14	Montana	8-5	285	17
15	The Citadel	9-4	276	18
16	South Dakota State	8-4	257	12
17	Coastal Carolina	9-3	251	9
18	Southern Utah	8-4	204	16
19	Fordham	9-3	171	15
20	Harvard	9-1	117	19
21	North Carolina A&T	10-2	107	20
22	Western Illinois	7-6	102	NR
23	Eastern Illinois	7-5	67	23
24	Dartmouth	9-1	64	22
25	Bethune-Cookman	9-2	47	21

Others receiving votes: New Hampshire 40, Alcorn State 34, Duquesne 34, Northern Arizona 33, Eastern Washington 33, Dayton 27, Grambling State 21, North Dakota 16, Towson 10, Central Arkansas 9, Villanova 9, Youngstown State 6, Prairie View A&M 5, Liberty 2.

UMC's Thielman Named NSIC North Division Player of the Week

BURNSVILLE, Minn. – University of Minnesota Crookston women’s basketball player Alexa Thielman (Sr., G, Buffalo, Minn./Health Science) has been named NSIC North Division Player of the Week for her performance against University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University. Thielman is the second UMC women’s basketball player to earn three All-NSIC honors this year along with fellow senior Katrina Nordick (F, Perham, Minn./Applied Studies).

Thielman averaged 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists as UMC picked up an important sweep of UMD and St. Cloud State. She was 10-of-18 for 55.6 percent from beyond the arc on the weekend. Thielman would break two record for three-point shooting on the weekend, as she set the school record with seven three-pointers in a game against Minnesota Duluth. Her first three on Saturday, set the school record for most three-pointers in a career, surpassing Amy Kuznia. She has 198 three-pointers in her career. Thielman was 7-of-13 from beyond the arc against UMD.

Thielman tallied a team-high 21 points and six boards as UMC picked up a 74-60 win over Minnesota Duluth. Saturday, she notched 14 points, six boards and four assists in a 70-52 win over St. Cloud State.

Augustana University’s Nicole Kerkhoff was named NSIC South Division Player of the Week.

For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.

Latest National Hockey Polls

GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The University of North Dakota held its ground in both national polls this week, setting the stage for a top-10 matchup with Omaha on Friday and Saturday at Ralph Englestad Arena.

North Dakota received 32 of 50 first-place votes to stay on top of the USCHO.com Division I men’s poll, while ranking second in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll with 13 of 34 first-place votes. Omaha was ranked No. 9 in both polls, a slide of three spots after being swept by Denver last weekend.

The Fighting Hawks enter the week with an 18-2-2 overall record and are tied with St. Cloud State for first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) standings with 27 points. The Mavericks are in fifth place in the NCHC with 13 points.

UND and UNO do battle at 7:37 p.m. Central on Friday and at 7:07 p.m. on Saturday.

USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll

Rk.      School (First place votes)       Record           Pts.         PR

1.         North Dakota (32)                     18-2-2           980            1

2.         Quinnipiac (18)                                19-1-3            967            2

3.         Providence                                       13-3-4            833            3

4.         Boston College                               14-4-2            815            7

5.         St. Cloud State                                17-5-0            775            4

6.         Michigan                                          13-3-3            747            8

7.         Harvard                                              8-3-3            676            5

8.         Cornell                                             11-2-2            661            9

9.         Omaha                                              14-5-1            603            6

10.       Boston University                           11-6-3            562          11

11.       Massachusetts-Lowell                    12-4-4            561          10

12.       Yale                                                    8-4-3            437          12

13.       Notre Dame                                     10-4-7            375          15

14.       Denver                                               9-7-4            326          17

15.       Penn State                                        13-4-3            300          14

16.       Bowling Green                                 13-6-5            223          16

17.       Minnesota Duluth                              8-7-4            159          19

18.       St. Lawrence                                    10-7-2            152          13

19.       Minnesota State                              11-7-4            124          18

20.       Rensselaer                                       11-7-4              71          20

Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 65, Michigan Tech 59, Union 12, Holy Cross 10, Minnesota 7.

USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

Rk.      School (1^st 1 votes)                   Record           Pts.         PR

1.         Quinnipiac (21)                                19-1-3            497            1

2.         North Dakota (13)                     18-2-2           487            2

3.         Providence                                       13-3-4            401            3

4.         Boston College                               14-4-2            376            7

5.         St. Cloud State                                17-5-0            363            5

6.         Michigan                                          13-3-3            358            8

7.         Cornell                                             11-2-2            301            9

8.         Harvard                                              8-3-3            300            4

9.         Omaha                                              14-5-1            245            6

10.       Boston University                           11-6-3            192          11

11.       Massachusetts-Lowell                    12-4-4            191          10

12.       Yale                                                    8-4-3            130          12

13.       Notre Dame                                     10-4-7            100          14

14.       Denver                                               9-7-4              59         NR

15.       Penn State                                        13-4-3              58          15

Others receiving votes: Bowling Green 7, Minnesota Duluth 6, St. Lawrence 6, Rensselaer 2, Michigan Tech 1.