Eastern Washington held its No.1 ranking in the FCS Coaches Poll after surviving a 31-28 thriller against Sacramento State on Saturday. The

Eagles received 22 first-place votes and tallied 642 total points.  The Eagles finished with a sizeable advantage in total yards (454-238), but were forced to hold off a late rally by the Hornets to win their sixth game of the season and hold on to their No.1 ranking. Georgia Southern rose one spot to No.2 after defeating conference-foe Furman, 38-17. The Eagles received one first-place vote.
North Dakota State also rose one spot to No.3 after defeating South Dakota 54-0. The Bison received three first-place votes. Montana State was idle last week and rose one spot to No.4. Sam Houston State (No.5), Lehigh (No.6), Old Dominion (No.7), Wofford (No.8), and Stony Brook (No.9) each also climbed one spot in the poll after going a combined 5-0 on Saturday.  James Madison fell to No.10 after being defeated by unranked Richmond.
Villanova is the only previously unranked team to enter this weeks’ poll, debuting at No.23. Ten conferences are represented in the poll. The Colonial Athletic Association has the most teams in the top-25 with six. The Big Sky and Missouri Valley are represented by four teams each, while the Southern Conference has three teams in this week’s poll. The Ohio Valley and Southland conferences are represented by two teams, and the Big South, Ivy League, Northeast, and Patriot League have one team in the top-25.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference. 

2012 FCS Coaches Week 8 Poll
(October 22, 2012)
        Team          (No. 1 Votes)  Record  Points   Last Week
1. Eastern Washington    (22)         6-1     642        1
2. Georgia Southern      (1)          6-1     614        3
3. North Dakota State    (3)          6-1     593        4
4. Montana State                      6-1     552        5
5. Sam Houston State                  5-2     548        6
6. Lehigh                             8-0     494        7
7. Old Dominion                       6-1     493        8
8. Wofford                            6-1     473        9
9. Stony Brook                        7-1     439       10
10. James Madison                     5-2     413        2
11. Cal Poly                          7-0     398       12
12. New Hampshire                     6-2     370       14
13. Northern Arizona                  6-1     327       15
14. Central Arkansas                  6-2     275       17
15. Appalachian State                 5-3     240       11
16. Delaware                          5-2     228     T-22
17. Illinois State                    6-2     225       13
T-18. Eastern Kentucky                6-2     172       24
T-18. Indiana State                   6-2     172       25
20. Albany                            6-1     153     T-22
T-21. Tennessee State                 7-1     115       18
T-21. Youngstown State                4-3     115       16
23. Villanova                         6-2     111       NR
24. Harvard                           5-1      56       20
25. Towson                            3-4      53       19               

Others Receiving Votes: Bethune-Cookman (26), McNeese State (26), UT Martin (25), Richmond (23), Alabama A&M (19), Southern Illinois (17), Sacramento State (16), Jacksonville State (14), Northern Iowa (4), South Dakota State (3), Princeton (3), Samford (2), The Citadel (1).