MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin football team received eight votes in the sixth annual preseason AnyGivenSaturday.com (AGS) Poll of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) released Sunday. The AGS Poll has been the first released national poll each year since its inception in 2004.

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Reigning National Champion Richmond landed the top spot garnering 59 first place votes in the preseason poll.

Following the Spiders in the top ten were (in order): Appalachian State, Montana, Villanova, Northern Iowa, James Madison, Southern Illinois, New Hampshire, Weber State, and Elon. The full results are listed below.

Five other teams received first place votes including Appalachian State (20), Villanova (11), Montana (5), Northern Iowa (2), and James Madison (1).

A total of 18 squads, including UT Martin, received more than the five votes required to receive mention outside of the top 25.

The Colonial Athletic Association, FCS’s largest league lead the way with eight teams in the Top 25; the Southern Conference had five, the Big Sky Conference had four, the Missouri Valley Football and Southland Conferences had three each, and the Great West Football and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conferences were each represented with one squad.

The pollsters also named Delaware as the biggest rising team from 2008 and Cal Poly as the biggest falling team.

In comparison to other polls, the AGS Poll had as many or more of its preseason top 25 on its final regular season poll than either of the other two polls (coaches and media) had on theirs since their inception five years ago.

The AGS Poll also had as many or more of its preseason top 25 on its final regular season poll make the playoffs than either of the other two polls the past five years.

AGS is the world’s largest online community devoted to all of the FCS. The AGS Poll was created in 2004 to give distinguished members of the AGS community a place to voice their opinion, vote for the top 25 FCS programs in the nation, and provide the media and coaches of FCS a valuable resource to gauge general sentiment. In order to ensure that the poll is accurate and fair, a committee of AGS veteran members has established guidelines for voter eligibility and accountability.

The AGS Poll will be announced weekly throughout the season on Mondays and a final poll will be announced shortly after the National Championship game.

2009 Any Given Saturday Poll Preseason Top 25
(First place votes in parenthesis), Points

1. Richmond (59) 2338
2. Appalachian State (20) 2292
3. Montana (5) 2154
4. Villanova (11) 2152
5. Northern Iowa (2) 2011
6. James Madison (1) 1746
7. Southern Illinois 1703
8. New Hampshire 1695
9. Weber State 1692
10. Elon 1398
11. Wofford 1326
12. Cal Poly 1159
13. William & Mary 1105
14. Central Arkansas 1034
15. Maine 841
16. McNeese State 687
17. South Carolina State 617
18. Massachusetts 602
19. Eastern Washington 538
20. Delaware 409
21. South Dakota State 397
22. Furman 386
23. Texas State 323
24. Georgia Southern 311
25. Montana State 306

Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Jacksonville State (54), Liberty (48), Colgate (46), Harvard (43), Albany (36), Eastern Kentucky (36), Holy Cross (30), Samford (26), North Dakota State (24), Northern Arizona (24), Grambling State (14), Youngstown State (11), Florida A&M (10), UT Martin (8), Prairie View A&M (7), Western Illinois (7), Pennsylvania (5), UC Davis (5).

UTM Media Relations
http://www.utmsports.com/fullstory.cfm?id=3831&sport=Football