Lehigh falls to No. 14 in Sports Network poll, and to No. 12 in the FCS Coaches poll

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/ FROM KEITH GROLLER The fall wasn't as great as some feared. Many thought Lehigh's football team, ranked No. 5 and No. 8 in the national polls last week, would tumble into the 20s after the Mountain Hawks' 35-24 loss to Colgate on Saturday. It wasn't that bad, and while absolutely nothing is a lock with the selection committee, it kind of bodes well for Lehigh getting into the NCAA tournament if the Mountain Hawks, and it's a huge IF, beat Lafayette on Saturday. It's a 20-team tournament with 10 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large. It's hard to see the committee keeping out a 10-1 team ranked among the top 15 teams in the country,especially a Lehigh program that has won playoff games each of the last two years. But we'll see. Lehigh certainly can't preoccupy itself with the polls. It has to focus on beating a Lafayette team that would like nothing more than eliminating all Lehigh playoff hopes while also forging a winning season. Here are the two national polls: FCS Coaches Poll - Week 11 - November 12, 2012 Team (No. 1 Votes) Record Points Last Week 1. North Dakota State (24) 9-1 646 1 2. Montana State 9-1 619 2 3. Sam Houston State (2) 8-2 597 3 4. Old Dominion 9-1 578 4 5. Eastern Washington 8-2 537 6 6. Georgia Southern 8-2 521 7 7. New Hampshire 8-2 466 10 8. Appalachian State 8-3 443 12 9. Wofford 8-2 408 14 10. Central Arkansas 8-2 397 13 11. Illinois State 8-2 343 15 12. Lehigh 9-1 327 5 13. Stony Brook 9-2 300 8 14. James Madison 7-3 293 9 15. Northern Arizona 8-2 279 11 16. Towson 6-4 257 17 17. Eastern Kentucky 8-3 246 18 18. Cal Poly 8-2 240 19 19. Indiana State 7-3 176 21 20. Richmond 7-3 152 23 21. Villanova 7-3 128 25 22. Bethune-Cookman 8-2 117 22 23. South Dakota State 7-3 98 20 24. Harvard 7-2 65 16 25. Eastern Illinois 7-3 39 NR Others Receiving Votes: Tennessee State (35), Samford (33), Colgate (33), Albany (18), Sacramento State (8), UT Martin (8), The Citadel (7), Wagner (6), Arkansas Pine Bluff (5), Southern Illinois (4), Jackson State (2), Pennsylvania (2), Southeastern Louisiana (1), Youngstown State (1). The Sports Network FCS Top 25 College Football Poll Team (First-place votes) 2012 Record Points Previous Rank 1. North Dakota State Bison (121) 9-1 3930 1 2. Montana State Bobcats (20) 9-1 3748 2 3. Sam Houston State Bearkats (14) 8-2 3585 3 4. Old Dominion Monarchs (3) 9-1 3496 4 5. Eastern Washington Eagles 8-2 3362 5 6. Georgia Southern Eagles 8-2 3113 7 7. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) 8-2 2897 10 8. Appalachian State Mountaineers 8-3 2659 12 9. Wofford Terriers 8-2 2502 13 10. Central Arkansas Bears 8-2 2341 14 11. Illinois State Redbirds 8-2 2094 15 12. Stony Brook Seawolves 9-2 1917 6 13. James Madison Dukes 7-3 1885 9 14. Lehigh Mountain Hawks 9-1 1843 8 15. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 8-2 1594 11 16. Villanova Wildcats 7-3 1477 21 17. Cal Poly Mustangs 8-2 1354 19 18. Indiana State Sycamores 7-3 1294 18 19. Towson Tigers 6-4 1251 17 20. Richmond Spiders 7-3 1153 20 21. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 7-3 1046 16 22. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 8-3 750 22 23. Tennessee State Tigers 8-2 450 24 24. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 8-2 423 NR 24. Eastern Illinois Panthers 7-3 423 NR Others receiving votes: Colgate 213, Samford 200, Albany 136, Sacramento State 90, UT Martin 75, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 52, Harvard 43, Youngstown State 40, Wagner 29, McNeese State 28, Northern Iowa 22, Lilberty 21, The Citadel 20, Delaware 17, Southern Utah 16, Penn 15, Southern Illinois 13, Chattanooga 7, Coastal Carolina 3, Alabama A&M 3, Alabama State 2, Drake 2, North Carolina A&T 2, San Diego 1, Jacksonville 1....