Appalachian State reaches uncharted territory in latest AP college football ranking

Appalachian State football can add a new mark to its long list of achievements over the past couple decades.

The Mountaineers (5-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) have made the AP Top 25 poll for the first time in program history at the premier level of Division I college football.

The team received 79 votes to claim the 25th spot in the ranking released Sunday.

“To be recognized in the FBS level football and for our program to be a team that just went through transition four years ago and now to be ranked is pretty remarkable,” App State coach Scott Satterfield said, according the Associated Press. “We have a lot of pride, a lot of tradition in our program.”

Some of the program’s greatest feats came prior to its 2014 shift to the FBS.

The Mountaineers won three straight FCS national titles from 2005-07. The 2007 team’s historic upset win at No. 5 Michigan sparked the “Appalachian State rule” – an AP policy change “to make all NCAA Division I teams (FCS and FBS) eligible to receive votes in its Top 25 poll,” App State athletics reported.

App State finished tied for 34th in the final poll of the 2007 season, according to program reports. The team lost two games that season, to Wofford and Georgia Southern.

So far this year, the Mountaineers’ only loss came in overtime in the season opener at No. 9 Penn State.

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 8:56 PM.