FCS Coaches' Poll: SEMO Moves Up 7 Spots After "War for the Wheel" Win

September 23, 2024 by AFCA.com

Southeast Missouri State and Southern Illinois are only 48 miles apart, so it wasn’t too far of a drive for the Redhawks to face their rival. The No. 7 Salukis had a 21-16 lead late in the third quarter, but Paxton DeLaurent threw two touchdown passes and Payton Brown ran another score in during the final stages of the game allowing Southeast Missouri State to run away with the War for the Wheel Trophy, 38-21. The wins moves SEMO up to No. 14 in this week’s AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl. Southern Illinois drops 10 places to No. 17.

The Salukis don’t have long to lick their wounds as they travel to No. 5 South Dakota in one of four top 25 matchups in the final weekend of September. The other matchups feature No. 2 North Dakota State traveling to No. 15 Illinois State and No. 4 Idaho facing their third straight ranked opponent in No. 11 UC Davis. The final matchup has newly ranked and No. 25 Lamar traveling to No. 7 Central Arkansas. This is the first time Lamar has been ranked in the FCS Coaches Poll since the AFCA took over in 2018.

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Rank School (1st votes) W-L Points LW Last Game Next Game
1 South Dakota St. (22) 3-1 644 1 D. SE Louisiana, 41-0 10/5 (19) Northern Iowa
2 North Dakota St. (1) 3-1 612 2 D. Towson, 41-24 9/28 at (15) Illinois St.
3 Montana St. (2) 4-0 598 3 D. Mercyhurst, 52-13 9/28 at Idaho St.
4 Idaho (1) 3-1 578 4 D. (23) ACU, 27-24 9/28 at (11) UC Davis
5 South Dakota 2-1 515 6 D. Drake, 42-3 9/28 (17) Southern Illinois
6 Villanova 3-1 475 5 L. Maryland, 38-20 9/28 LIU
7 Central Arkansas 3-1 467 8 D. APBU, 56-17 9/28 (25) Lamar
8 North Dakota 3-1 457 9 D. San Diego, 41-24 9/28 Murray St.
9 Montana 3-1 453 10 D. Western Carolina, 46-35 9/28 at Eastern Washington
10 Sacramento St. 2-2 408 11 D. Texas A&M-Commerce, 34-0 9/28 at Northern Arizona
11 UC Davis 3-1 366 12 D. Utah Tech, 32-14 9/28 (4) Idaho
12 William & Mary 3-1 355 13 D. Furman, 34-24 9/28 Hampton
13 Mercer 4-0 286 16 D. The Citadel, 38-21 9/28 at Wofford
14 SEMO 3-1 277 21 D. (7) Southern Illinois, 38-21 9/28 Northwestern St.
15 Illinois St. 3-1 276 15 D. Eastern Illinois, 31-7 9/28 (2) North Dakota St.
16 Tarleton St. 3-1 263 17 D. North Alabama, 28-14 9/28 SE Louisiana
17 Southern Illinois 2-2 248 7 L. (21) SEMO, 38-21 9/28 at (5) South Dakota
18 UIW 2-2 194 18 D. Northern Arizona, 38-14 10/5 Prairie View A&M
19 Northern Iowa 2-2 105 19 L. Hawaii, 36-7 10/5 (1) South Dakota St.
20 New Hampshire 3-1 98 NR D. Bryant, 38-17 10/4 at Harvard
21 Florida A&M 2-2 85 20 L. Troy, 34-12 9/28 Alabama A&M
22 ACU 2-2 78 23 L. (4) Idaho, 27-24 9/28 at Utah Tech
23t. UAlbany 1-2 73 22 Idle 9/28 Maine
23t. Richmond 2-2 73 NR D. Delaware St., 38-24 9/28 at Elon
25 Lamar 3-1 68 NR D. Texas Southern, 20-17 9/28 at (7) Central Arkansas

Dropped Out: Lafayette (14), Chattanooga (24), Youngstown St. (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Rhode Island, 54; Lafayette, 49; Chattanooga, 46; Weber St., 28; McNeese, 23; Eastern Illinois, 20; Missouri St., 20; Harvard, 19; Lehigh, 19; Stony Brook, 16; Wofford, 14; Monmouth (N.J.), 10; Youngstown St., 10; Duquesne, 9; North Carolina Central, 9; Stephen F. Austin, 9; Nicholls, 7; Butler, 6; East Tennessee St., 6; Indiana St., 5; Northern Arizona, 4; Southern, 4; Dartmouth, 3; Yale, 3; Central Connecticut St., 2; Jackson St., 1; Murray St., 1; Western Carolina, 1.