Southern Illinois's 34-15 victory at South Daokta State on Saturday not only won the Salukis the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the league's automatic bid to the playoffs, it also vaulted SIU to the No. 1 spot in The Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll.
 
Southern Illinois (8-1) is ranked on top for the first time since Oct. 10, 2005. The Salukis, who were No. 3 last week, were ranked No. 1 for two weeks in the 2005 season after spending 11 weeks at No. 1 during the 2004 campaign. In some of the closest balloting seen in some time in the poll, Southern Illinois edged No. 2 Montana by just 24 points, 3,196 to 3,172, despite the
fact that the Grizzlies (9-0) received more first-place votes.
 
Three Teams in Top 25
 Three Missouri Valley Football Conference teams are ranked in the Top 25 this week, including Southern Illinois (2/1), UNI (11/11) and South Dakota State (12/12) [Coaches poll is listed first, followed by The Sports Network rankings.]  Illinois State and Missouri State are among those schools receiving votes this week.

Consecutive Ranks in Top 25
 Including the Nov. 9 poll, Southern Illinois has been ranked in 89-straight regular-season polls. It's the second-longest-such streak in league history. UNI, meanwhile, has the third-longest streak (65), and it is also current.  The league record for consecutive poll appearances is 96 (UNI, 1990-97).

Top-10 Teams
 Valley Football has had at least two teams in the Top 10 in 43 of the last 47 regular-season polls.  Southern Illinois is the onyl league school in the Top 10, although UNI and South Dakota State are 11 and 12.

We're No. 1
 After a convincing win at South Dakota State last week, SIU jumped two spots from No. 3 to No. 1 in the polls.  Six Valley Football teams have been No. 1, and the league has had a No. 1-ranked  team in seven of the past eight years (2002-03-04-05-07-08-09).  All but one league school (South Dakota State) has been No. 3 or better at one time in their history, with Indiana State, Southern Illinois and Youngstown State also achieving No. 1 rankings prior to membership.

Valley Football's No. 1-ranked Teams
North Dakota State - 2 weeks (2 weeks in 2008)
UNI -- 11 weeks (5 weeks in 1992, 6 weeks in 2007)
Southern Illinois - 14 weeks (2004, 2005, 2009)
Western Illinois - 1 week (Sept. 8, 2003)
Western Kentucky - 4 weeks (end-2002, and in '05)
Youngstown State - 8 weeks (in 1997 and in 1998)

Sports Network's FCS College Football Poll
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank
1. Southern Illinois Salukis (37)  8-1 3,196 3
2. Montana Grizzlies (64)  9-0 3,172 2
3. Villanova Wildcats (32)  8-1 3,161 4
4. Richmond Spiders  8-1 2,882 1
5. William & Mary Tribe  8-1 2,714 5
6. Elon Phoenix  8-1 2,664 6
7. Appalachian State Mountaineers  7-2 2,583 7
8. New Hampshire Wildcats (1)  8-1 2,416 8
9. South Carolina State Bulldogs (1)  8-1 2,232 10
10. McNeese State Cowboys  7-2 2,027 12
11. Northern Iowa Panthers  6-3 1,970 11
12. South Dakota State Jackrabbits  7-2 1,721 9
13. Holy Cross Crusaders  8-1 1,579 13
14. Eastern Illinois Panthers  7-2 1,466 14
15. Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks  7-2 1,348 15
16. Liberty Flames  7-2 1,246 16
17. Jacksonville State Gamecocks  6-3 1,129 17
18. Eastern Washington Eagles  6-3 869 21
19. Weber State Wildcats  5-4 790 19
20. Lafayette Leopards  8-1 778 25
21. Prairie View A&M Panthers  6-1 741 22
22. Florida A&M Rattlers  7-2 636 24
23. Delaware Blue Hens  6-3 605 23
24. Colgate Raiders  8-2 392 18
25. Texas State Bobcats  6-3 207 NR

Others receiving votes: Southeastern Louisiana 168, Massachusetts 127, Penn 116, Harvard 114, Montana State 109, Northern Arizona 106, Central Arkansas 86, Eastern Kentucky 84, Butler 77, Cal Poly 42, James Madison 36, Drake 28, Tennessee Tech 27, Illinois State 19, Central Connecticut State 14, UC Davis 14, Sam Houston State 13, Grambling 11, Old Dominion 11, Jacksonville 9, Maine 9, Missouri State 8, Tennessee-Martin 5, Texas Southern 5, Brown 3, Morgan State 3, Alabama A&M 2, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1, Dayton 1, Hofstra 1, Southern 1, Stony Brook 1.

FCS Coaches Poll
Team (No. 1 Votes)  2009 Record  Points  Previous Ranking
1. Montana (16)  9-0  684  2
2. Southern Illinois (6) 8-1 665 3
3. Villanova (6) 8-1 663 4
T4. Richmond 8-1 591 1
T4. William & Mary 8-1 591 5
6. Elon 8-1 561 6
7. New Hampshire 8-1 532 7
8. Appalachian State 7-2 513 8
9. South Carolina State 8-1 473 10
10. McNeese State 7-2 436 11 
11. Northern Iowa 6-3 409 12
12. South Dakota State 7-2 343 9
13. Eastern Illinois 7-2 336 13
14. Holy Cross 8-1 334 14
15. Jacksonville State 6-3 293 15
16. Liberty 7-2 258 17
17. Stephen F. Austin 7-2 249 18
18. Eastern Washington 6-3 223 16
19. Prairie View A&M 6-1 182 22
20. Lafayette 8-1 168 24
21. Florida A&M 7-2 148 23
22. Weber State 5-4 113 21
23. Delaware 6-3 90 25
24. Colgate 8-2 66 20
25. Texas State 6-3 46 NR

Others receiving votes (points in parentheses): Butler (39), Southeastern Louisiana (21), Central Arkansas (15), Montana State (13), Harvard (10), Northern Arizona (7), Drake (6), Eastern Kentucky (6), Massachusetts (5), Cal Poly (4), Pennsylvania (3), Chattanooga (2), Alabama A&M (1), UC Davis (1).