September 4, 2000


FURMAN MAINTAINS NO. 9 RANKING
IN SPORTS NETWORK NCAA I-AA POLL

GREENVILLE -- The Furman Paladins, who opened the season with a 16-3 win over Elon on Saturday, maintained their No. 9 ranking in the Sports Network NCAA I-AA Top 25 Pre-Season Poll, which was released today.

In addition to Furman, two other Southern Conference teams earned rankings, with defending national champion Georgia Southern retaining its No. 1 billing despite losing to Georgia 29-7 on Saturday. Appalachian State, a 20-16 winner of Wake Forest last Thursday, moved up to fourth in the poll.

Furman returns to action this Saturday when it squares off against Newberry at 7:00 p.m. at Paladin Stadium.

The Sports Network Top-25 I-AA Football Poll
(As of Monday, September, 4th)

Team	(First Place Votes)	Record	Points	Prv. Rank
1)		Georgia Southern (32)	0-1	1,726	1
2)		Troy State (21)			1-0	1,707	3
3)		Massachusetts (9)		1-0	1,666	3
4)		Appalachian State (12)	1-0	1,605	7	
5)		Illinois State (3)			1-0	1,537	5
6)		Hofstra (1)				1-0	1,416	11
7)		Youngstown State		1-0	1,393	7
8)		Florida A&M				1-0	1,348	8
9)		FURMAN				1-0	1,289	9
10)	Montana					0-1	1,171	2
11)	Northern Iowa			1-0	1,135	10
12)	Portland State			1-0	1,009	12
13)	Delaware				1-0	870		16
14)	James Madison			1-0	679		18
15)	Tennessee State			1-0	659		19
16)	Eastern Kentucky			1-0	597		20
17)	North Carolina A&T		1-0	595		15
18)	Villanova				0-1	465		14
19)	Stephen F. Austin		1-0	465		17
20)	Northwestern State		1-0	359		NR
21)	Jackson State			1-0	358		21
22)	Southern				0-1	272		13
23)	Northern Arizona			0-0	247		22
24)	Sam Houston State		1-0	164		NR
25)	Western Illinois			0-1	163		23