The Appalachian State University football team is ranked sixth by Lindy’s Football Championship Sub-Division Top 25 preseason poll.  The Mountaineers, who were 8-4 last season and lost to Maine in the opening round of the FCS playoffs, are one of three Southern Conference teams ranked in the Top 10. Georgia Southern was ranked seventh and Wofford was ranked tenth.
Sam Houston State, which lost to North Dakota State in the FCS National Championship game in January, is the top-ranked team in the poll. North Dakota State is No.2 followed by Montana State ranked third, Towson State, and Montana to round out the top five.
Montana travels to Kidd Brewer Stadium to play ASU on Saturday, September 8; the Mountaineers open the season at East Carolina on Saturday, September 1. Old Dominion, which moves up to the Football Bowl Series next season and will join Conference-USA, was ranked eighth. And the Monarch, despite their move up next season, are eligible, at least with league athletic directors who voted on the issue, to compete for the Colonial Athletic Assocition title this season. University presidents will finalize the issue at their annual CAA meetings next Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Lindys FCS Top 25 Pre-Season Poll

1. SAM HOUSTON STATE
2. NORTH DAKOTA STATE
3. MONTANA STATE
4. TOWSON
5. MONTANA
6. APPALACHIAN STATE
7. GEOGIA SOUTHERN
8. OLD DOMINION
9. EASTERN KENTUCKY
10. WOFFORD
11. NORTHERN IOWA
12. LEHIGH
13. JAMES MADISON
14. BETHUNE COOKMAN
15. ILLINOIS STATE
16. STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
17. NEW HAMPSHIRE
18. MURRAY STATE
19. HARVARD
20. YOUNGSTOWN STATE
21. DELAWARE
22. EASTERN WASHINGTON
23. GRAMBLING STATE
24. STONY BROOK
25. JACKSONVILLE STATE