STATS Poll Ranks Kats #12, Coaches Poll #14
9/21/2015 3:18:00 PM | Football
After a 49-46 loss in Sam Houston's opening Southland Conference game versus Lamar Saturday night, the Bearkats dropped to No. 12 in the STATS FCS Media Poll and No. 14 in the NCAA Coaches Poll Monday.
Jacksonville State remains No. 1 in the STATS rankings while Coastal Carolina continues to hold the top spot in the Coaches poll.
Two other Southland Conference teams earned top 25 ranking and Lamar received votes in both polls. McNeese State (2-0) is No. 17 in the Coaches Poll and No. 25 in the STATS rankings. Southeastern Louisiana stands No. 19 in the Coaches Poll and No. 23 in the STATS lineup.
Sam Houston returns to action on Saturday with the Bearkats' second home game of the year as Houston Baptist visits for a 6 p.m. contest at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
Saturday's loss to Lamar marked only the sixth Southland Conference defeat for Sam Houston in their last 32 league games. Down 21 points at halftime, the Kats fought back to cut the margin to 42-39 with 4:59 left and 49-46 with 58 seconds to play.
Sam Houston ranks second nationally in total yards per game (598.5), fifth in scoring (45.5), seventh in passing offense (343.0) and 12th in rushing offense (255.5).
Bearkat Family Weekend is set for the HBU game with another big crowd expected at Bowers. A near-capacity crowd of 10,116 attended last Saturday's “Orange Out” game.
Saturday's game will be televised nationally by Fox College Sports Central. Tickets are available online at www.gobearkats.com or at the Sam Houston athletic ticket office on the west side of Bowers Stadium. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
| STATS FCS Poll | W-L | NCAA Coaches Poll | W-L | Pts | ||||
| 1 | Jacksonville St. (93) | 2-1 | 3834 | 1 | Coastal Carolina (18) | 3-0 | 631 | |
| 2 | Coastal Carolina (36) | 3-0 | 3676 | 2 | North Dakota St. (4) | 2-1 | 617 | |
| 3 | North Dakota St. (17) | 2-1 | 3555 | 3 | Jacksonville St. (3) | 2-1 | 591 | |
| 4 | Ilinois St. (2) | 2-1 | 3353 | 4 | Villanova | 2-1 | 579 | |
| 5 | Villanova (4) | 2-1 | 3346 | 5 | Illinois St. | 2-1 | 531 | |
| 6 | South Dakota St. | 2-0 | 3049 | 6 | Northern Iowa | 2-1 | 483 | |
| 7 | Northern Iowa | 2-1 | 3029 | 7 | South Dakota St. (1) | 2-0 | 481 | |
| 8 | Chattanooga | 2-1 | 2585 | 8 | James Madison | 3-0 | 477 | |
| 9 | James Madison | 3-0 | 2522 | 9 | Chattanooga | 2-1 | 438 | |
| 10 | Liberty | 2-1 | 2460 | 10 | Liberty | 2-1 | 410 | |
| 11 | Eastern Washington | 1-2 | 2358 | 11 | Eastern Washington | 1-2 | 349 | |
| 12 | SAM HOUSTON | 0-2 | 1905 | 12 | Youngstown St. | 2-1 | 328 | |
| 13 | Youngstown St. | 2-1 | 1861 | 13 | Montana St. | 1-1 | 296 | |
| 14 | Montana | 1-2 | 1675 | 14 | SAM HOUSTON | 0-2 | 277 | |
| 15 | Montana St. | 1-1 | 1612 | 15 | Fordham | 2-1 | 239 | |
| 16 | Fordham | 2-1 | 1601 | 16 | Portland St. | 2-0 | 220 | |
| 17 | Portland St. | 2-0 | 1446 | 17 | McNEESE ST. | 2-0 | 219 | |
| 18 | Eastern Kentucky | 1-1 | 1013 | 18 | Richmond | 2-1 | 164 | |
| 19 | Richmond | 2-1 | 993 | 19 | SOUTHEASTERN LA | 2-1 | 147 | |
| 20 | Cal Poly | 1-2 | 758 | 20 | Richmond | 2-1 | 147 | |
| 21 | New Hampshire | 1-2 | 753 | 21 | Eastern Kentucky | 1-1 | 126 | |
| 22 | Indiana St. | 2-1 | 723 | 22 | Cal Poly | 1-2 | 114 | |
| 23 | SOUTHEASTERN LA | 2-1 | 702 | 23 | Indiana St. | 2-1 | 112 | |
| 24 | Harvard | 1-0 | 549 | 24 | William & Mary | 1-1 | 47 | |
| 25 | McNEESE ST. | 2-0 | 502 | 25 | Harvard | 1-0 | 45 | |
