By Jason Bryant, NWCA
After a 3-0 weekend at the Hokie Duals in Blacksburg, Va., Rider University debuted at No. 25 in the first USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll of the regular season.
The Broncs, led by coach Gary Taylor, defeated Kent State 18-14, Old Dominion 20-12 and Chattanooga 19-17 to start the year. The Broncs won’t have to wait long to put their ranking on the line as they host No. 1 Penn State on Nov. 16. Penn State captured nine of 10 possible first-place votes to remain the nation’s top-ranked team. The Nittany Lions competed this past weekend at the Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y., and won six individual championships.
Second-ranked Minnesota won eight titles at the Bison Open in Fargo, N.D., while fifth-ranked Oklahoma won the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Invitational in Brockport, N.Y.
Fourth-ranked Oklahoma State and fifth-ranked Iowa were idle.
The rest of the Top 10 remained unchanged from the Preseason Top 25, as Cornell, Illinois, Virginia Tech, Edinboro and Ohio State rounded out the Top 10. Edinboro and Ohio State come in tied for ninth this week as both teams earned 308 points.
Virginia Tech is off to a 4-0 start after weekend wins over Hofstra, Kent State, Chattanooga and VMI.
Lehigh fell out of the Top 25 after its 18-17 criteria loss to visiting Bucknell over the weekend. Virginia fell two spots to No. 16 after losing to then-No. 20 Wisconsin. The Badgers were upended by North Carolina and Old Dominion at the Hokie Duals and slid three spots to No. 23 this week.
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Rank,Team (First),Points,Record,Previous
1,Penn State (9),399,0-0,1
2,Minnesota (1),391,0-0,2
3,Oklahoma State,380,0-0,3
4,Iowa,370,0-0,4
5,Oklahoma,360,2-0,5
6,Cornell,346,0-0,6
7,Illinois,341,0-0,7
8,Virginia Tech,325,4-0,8
9 (tie),Edinboro,308,0-0,9
Click Here: Cheap France Rugby Jersey 9 (tie),Ohio State,308,0-0,10
11,Missouri,292,1-0,13
12,Oregon State,291,0-0,11
13,Nebraska,290,0-0,12
14,Pittsburgh ,274,0-0,15
15,Bloomsburg,252,0-0,17
16,Virginia,239,5-1,14
17,Iowa State,236,2-0,16
18,Northern Iowa,226,0-0,18
19,Northwestern,219,4-0,21
20,Michigan,197,0-0,19
21,Purdue,192,0-0,23
22,Maryland,165,3-0,25
23,Wisconsin,138,3-2,20
24,Central Michigan,119,0-0,24
25,Rider,88,3-0,NR
[/eztable]
Dropped Out: Lehigh
Others Receiving Votes: Ohio 75, Old Dominion 67, Wyoming 22, Lock Haven 19, Stanford 19, Boise State 18, Navy 18, Lehigh 16