James Madison Football Program Enters AP Poll Top 25 For First Time in History

On Sunday, the week seven AP Poll Top 25 was released and it was a bit of a shake up from the past week. James Madison’s football team was a new entry in the rankings at 25. It is the first time in the program’s history the team has been ranked. There were also some changes at the top.

JMU in at 25

JMU coach, Curt Cignetti may be a bit of a man in demand after the miracles he’s performed with his football team. Hardly a household name or a top NCAA football program, James Madison is now among the best 25 teams in the nation according to AP pollsters, just one year after becoming a FBS team. Cignetti has led the Sun Belt Conference’s JMU Dukes to a 5-0 start with double digit wins in all but one game so far.

They face a trip to 2-4 Georgia Southern before welcoming Marshall to Virginia for a chance to go 7-0 and climb the rankings. However, they then travel to Louisville in what will likely be their biggest test of the season so far. Add into the mix that the Sun Belt Conference has been causing all sorts of mayhem this year, and it wouldn’t be surprising if this Cinderella run for JMU continued a while longer.

Changes at the top

After Alabama scraped home 24-20 against a poor Texas A&M team, they lost their top spot in the rankings. The Crimson Tide dropped to three. Meanwhile, Georgia regained the number one spot. Furthermore, Ohio State are now ranked second in college football’s top 25 AP poll. They were the only three teams receiving first place votes.

Top 25 matchups this Saturday in week 7

#10 Penn State @ #5 Michigan (Noon, FOX)

#15 NC State @ #18 Syracuse (3:30pm, ACC Network)

#3 Albama @ #6 Tennessee (3:30pm, CBS)

#8 Oklahoma State @ #13 TCU (3:30pm, ABC)

#16 Mississippi State @ #22 Kentucky (7:30pm, SEC Network)

#7 USC @ #20 Utah (8pm, FOX)

AP Poll Top 25

The full college football Top 25 AP Poll is as follows: