College Football

Ten conferences represented in STATS FCS Top 25

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:24 p.m. ET

(STATS) - There's a wide-open feel with the STATS FCS Top 25, and perhaps that will follow into the postseason.

A season-high 10 conferences were represented in the national media poll Sunday, led by No. 1 James Madison as well as the Missouri Valley Football Conference with six teams - two more than any other conference.

JMU (11-0), the defending national champion and on a Division I-high 23-game winning streak, claimed all 153 first-place votes after it beat Elon 31-3 to nab a second straight outright CAA Football title. The Dukes then secured the top seed in the 24-team playoffs, also announced Sunday.

"They deserve all the credit and the recognition that they're getting right now," second-year coach Mike Houston said.

Three more outright champs followed James Madison in the rankings - Jacksonville State (10-1) from the Ohio Valley, Central Arkansas (10-1) from the Southland and North Dakota State (10-1) from the Missouri Valley. Sam Houston State (10-1) remained at No. 5 and then it was South Dakota State (9-2), MEAC champ North Carolina A&T (11-0), Southern Conference champ Wofford (9-2), Western Illinois (8-3) and Stony Brook (9-2).

Big Sky co-champs Weber State (9-2) and Southern Utah (9-2) were Nos. 11 and 12, respectively. Next were Grambling State (9-1), Samford (8-3), Elon (8-3), South Dakota (7-4), Eastern Washington (7-4), Big South champ Kennesaw State (10-1), McNeese (9-2) and Northern Iowa (7-4).

Rounding out the rankings were No. 21 New Hampshire (7-4), Furman (7-4), Illinois State (6-5), Ivy League champ Yale (9-1) and Northern Arizona (7-4). Yale earned its first ranking since 2007 and Nicholls fell out following a loss.

A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. A first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.

The final Top 25 will be released Jan. 8, two days after the playoffs conclude with the championship game in Frisco, Texas.