Following a 45-10 victory over No. 21 ranked McNeese State, Sam Houston State moved up to No. 5 in both the Sports Network and NCAA Coaches polls for Division I Football Championship Subdivision play.
The Kats stood No. 6 in last week's rankings.
Sam Houston takes a four-game winning streak and a 5-2 overall record to Beaumont to take on the Lamar Cardinals Saturday at 3 p.m. in a contest to be televised on the Southland Conference TV network.
The Bearkats have now been ranked among the nation's top 25 FCS teams for 20 consecutive weeks, a program record. SHSU has stood among the top 10 teams in the poll 17 of those weeks.
During an 11-0 regular season in 2011, the Bearkats rose all the way to No. 1 going into the NCAA Division I playoffs. Sam Houston reached the national championship finals last year, ending the season at No. 2 with a 14-1 record.
| Sports Network | W-L | Pts | NCAA Coaches Poll | W-L | Pts | |||
| 1 | Eastern Washington | 6-1 | 4014 | 1 | Eastern Washington | 6-1 | 642 | |
| 2 | Georgia Southern | 6-1 | 3787 | 2 | Georgia Southern | 6-1 | 614 | |
| 3 | North Dakota St. | 6-1 | 3746 | 3 | North Dakota St. | 6-1 | 593 | |
| 4 | Montana St. | 6-1 | 3489 | 4 | Montana St. | 6-1 | 552 | |
| 5 | SAM HOUSTON | 5-2 | 3218 | 5 | SAM HOUSTON | 5-2 | 548 | |
| 6 | Old Dominion | 6-1 | 3089 | 6 | Lehigh | 8-0 | 494 | |
| 7 | Wofford | 6-1 | 3060 | 7 | Old Dominion | 6-1 | 493 | |
| 8 | Lehigh | 8-0 | 2839 | 8 | Wofford | 6-1 | 473 | |
| 9 | James Madison | 5-2 | 2779 | 9 | Stony Brook | 7-1 | 439 | |
| 10 | Stony Brook | 7-1 | 2704 | 10 | James Madison | 5-2 | 413 | |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 7-0 | 2437 | 11 | Cal Poly | 7-0 | 398 | |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 6-2 | 2434 | 12 | New Hampshire | 6-2 | 370 | |
| 13 | Northern Arizona | 6-1 | 2083 | 13 | Northern Arizona | 6-1 | 327 | |
| 14 | CENTRAL ARKANSAS | 6-2 | 1654 | 14 | CENTRAL ARKANSAS | 6-2 | 275 | |
| 15 | Indiana St. | 6-2 | 1416 | 15 | Appalachian St. | 5-3 | 240 | |
| 16 | Appalachian St. | 5-3 | 1404 | 16 | Delaware | 5-2 | 228 | |
| 17 | Illinois St. | 6-2 | 1394 | 17 | Illinois St. | 6-2 | 225 | |
| 18 | Eastern Kentucky | 6-2 | 1152 | 18 | Eastern Kentucky | 6-2 | 172 | |
| 19 | Villanova | 6-2 | 1135 | 19 | Indiana St. | 6-2 | 171 | |
| 20 | Delaware | 5-2 | 837 | 20 | Albany | 6-1 | 153 | |
| 21 | Tennessee St. | 7-1 | 786 | 21 | Tennessee St. | 7-1 | 116 | |
| 22 | Youngstown St. | 4-3 | 686 | 22 | Youngstown St. | 4-3 | 115 | |
| 23 | Towson | 3-4 | 515 | 23 | Villanova | 6-2 | 111 | |
| 24 | Albany | 6-1 | 483 | 24 | Harvard | 5-1 | 56 | |
| 25 | Richmond | 5-3 | 456 | 25 | Towson | 3-4 | 53 | |
Dates
