Linebacker Zach Johnson and the EWU Eagles are ranked No. 1 in the FCS Coaches Preseason Poll.
Coaches Tab Eagles No. 1
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FCS Coaches Preseason Top 25
Eastern Washington has been selected as the No. 1 team in the FCS Coaches’ Preseason Poll, which was released on Monday.
The defending Division I national champions received 23 of the 28 first-play votes and 687 total points. Appalachian State was second with one first-place vote and 617 total points, followed by Georgia Southern and William & Mary.
Montana State was tabbed sixth, just behind Delaware. Montana was selected 12th. Montana State received 540 total points, while the Grizzlies earned 318.
Eastern Washington, coached by Beau Baldwin, finished the 2010 season with 13-2, winning 11 straight games en route to the program’s first national title. The Eagles beat Delaware 20-19 in the championship game in Frisco, Texas.
Rob Ash’s Montana State club is coming off a 9-3 campaign that saw it win a share of the Big Sky Conference regular-season title and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Montana, coached by Robin Pflugrad, finished 2010 with a 7-4 record, missing out on the playoffs for the first time since 1992.
Eastern Washington was selected first in The Sports Network/Fathead.com preseason poll, which was released last week. Montana State was sixth, and Montana was 12th. Sacramento State also cracked The Sports Network poll, checking in at 24.
Sacramento State earned 66 votes in the Coaches Poll, which put the Hornets 30th. Northern Arizona (3) and Weber State (3) also received votes.
Future Big Sky members Cal Poly (71), Southern Utah (67) and UC Davis (22) also received votes. Those schools, along with North Dakota, join the Big Sky on July 1, 2012. Cal Poly and UC Davis will be football-only members.
Eastern Washington begins defense of its national title on Saturday, Sept. 3, when it travels to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies. Montana State opens on Thursday, Sept. 1 against Utah. Montana opens the same day at Tennessee.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.