PHILADELPHIA ? For the third-straight year, Appalachian State University football will begin the season as the nation's top-ranked NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision team, as Appalachian is ranked No. 1 in The Sports Network's preseason FCS poll, which was released Tuesday.

Appalachian received 97-of-101 first-place votes in TSN's preseason poll, easily out-distancing No. 2 North Dakota State, which garnered one first-place vote, for the top spot. Northern Iowa, Richmond and Massachusetts round out the top five while ASU's Sept. 20 opponent, James Madison, comes in at No. 6 despite receiving three of the four first-place nods that did not go to the Mountaineers.

Four of the Apps' eight Southern Conference foes are also nationally ranked ? No. 13 Wofford, No. 15 Elon, No. 17 Georgia Southern and No. 23 The Citadel.

Coming into the 2008 campaign, Appalachian has played 42-consecutive games as a nationally ranked team. ASU has been ranked in the top 10 for each of its past 37 contests, including No. 1 14 times.

The Mountaineers open the season on Aug. 30 at defending BCS national champion LSU. In last season's opener, the Apps became the first FCS squad to ever defeat a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll when they toppled No. 5 Michigan, 34-32. The 2008 opener versus No. 7 LSU is set for 5 p.m. EDT and will be televised nationally on ESPN.