Last Updated on February 12, 2022 6:45 pm
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State was first in the others receiving votes category, totaling the 26th-most voting points in the nation, in the final AP Top 25 of the 2018 college football season.
The final media poll was released early Tuesday morning, following Clemson's win against Alabama in the national championship game. App State posted the highest AP poll finish in school and Sun Belt Conference history.
In the last Amway Coaches Poll, App State had the 28th-most voting points to also post its highest finish there.
The Mountaineers, who went 11-2 with victories in the Sun Belt Championship Game and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, had 96 voting points in the final AP Top 25. Iowa rounded out the Top 25 with 120 voting points, and App State had the most remaining voting points among a group that also included Stanford (52), Mississippi State (45), Utah (43), UAB (32), Iowa State (26), Auburn (15), Oregon (11), Missouri (10), Troy (6), Georgia Southern (6), Oklahoma State (3), Wisconsin (2) and NC State (2).
On Dec. 15, roughly two months after becoming just the second Sun Belt football team to earn a Top 25 ranking, Appalachian won 45-13 against Middle Tennessee in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. That made App State the only FBS program with no losses in at least four bowl appearances, and it has accomplished that feat in just four postseason-eligible seasons.
The Mountaineers have won three straight Sun Belt titles and posted the nation's fifth-best winning percentage in the last four seasons. They won three consecutive FCS national championships from 2005-07.
By leading its league in both scoring offense and scoring defense by more than five points over the second-place finisher in each category, the Mountaineers joined unbeaten 2013 national champion Florida State and unbeaten 2010 team TCU (No. 2 in the final poll) as the only teams with that distinction in the last 10 FBS seasons.
At 37.3 points per game (tied for No. 16 nationally) and only 15.5 points allowed per game (No. 4 nationally), App State joined Clemson, Alabama and Georgia as the only teams to rank in the top 20 in both categories during the 2018 season. The Mountaineers' stingy defense set a Sun Belt record by allowing only 20 defensive touchdowns, and the eight touchdown passes allowed tied for the national lead.
App State's only loss with Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year Zac Thomas playing quarterback was a 45-38 overtime thriller at Penn State to open the season, and all 11 of the Mountaineers' wins had a double-digit margin. They didn't allow more than 19 points in any of those 11 victories.
That success came as the champion of a Sun Belt East Division that included three 10-win teams: Appalachian State, Troy (10-3) and Georgia Southern (10-3). The fourth-place team, Coastal Carolina, won against Conference USA champion UAB.
Of the 18 league divisions in FBS football, plus the 10-team Big 12, only the SEC East and Sun Belt East had three teams with at least 10 victories.
New head coach Eliah Drinkwitz will lead App State into the 2019 season starting Aug. 31 vs. East Tennessee State, and fans can renew their season tickets today to not miss a moment of the action at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
To renew your season tickets and Yosef Club membership or purchase new seats for the 2019 season, click HERE. Customized renewal packets, as well as club and suite payment forms, will be mailed this month. The deadline to renew season tickets for the coming season is April 30, 2019.
