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Northern Illinois Cracks The Coaches Poll Top 25 At No. 23

A year removed from crashing the BCS, NIU is climbing up the rankings much quicker this season.

Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

The updated college football rankings for Week 6 came out earlier today, and for the first time this season the Mid-American conference has a team in the Top 25 of a major poll. The Northern Illinois Huskies (4-0), fresh off a 55-24 drubbing of the Purdue Boilermakers, have cracked The USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25 at No. 23.

The Huskies were 30th in The Coaches Poll a week ago, with just 21 votes, but jumped after starting the season 4-0, including beating two B1G Ten teams on the road. The Coaches Poll is one of the rankings used in determining the BCS Standings. In 2012 NIU peaked at No. 15 in the BCS Standings, earning a spot in The Orange Bowl. In 2012, the Huskies didn't crack the Top 25 in any major poll until Week 13, with Ohio becoming the first MAC team to be ranked in the Top 25 at No. 25 in the Week 8 AP Poll.

The other major poll released today, The AP Poll, which doesn't count towards the BCS Standings, has the Huskies just outside the Top 25 at No. 26 with 104 votes.

With games against Kent St., Akron, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and UMass over the next five weeks, NIU should continue to climb in the rankings as it's unlikely any of those teams can beat the dominate Huskies.

The complete USA Today Coaches Poll can be seen here:

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS RANK
1 Alabama (59) 4-0 1546 1
2 Oregon (2) 4-0 1479 2
3 Ohio St. 5-0 1397 3
4 Clemson (1) 4-0 1352 4
5 Stanford 4-0 1325 5
6 Georgia 3-1 1148 10
7 Louisville 4-0 1147 7
8 Florida St. 4-0 1129 8
9 Texas A&M 4-1 1072 9
10 Oklahoma 4-0 964 12
11 LSU 4-1 931 6
12 South Carolina 3-1 860 13
13 UCLA 3-0 812 14
14 Miami 4-0 727 15
15 Northwestern 4-0 620 16
16 Baylor 3-0 573 18
17 Michigan 4-0 546 17
18 Washington 4-0 545 20
19 Florida 3-1 515 19
20 Oklahoma St. 3-1 330 11
21 Fresno St. 4-0 270 23
22 Texas Tech 4-0 231 25
23 Northern Illinois 4-0 131 NR
24 Arizona St. 3-1 118 NR
25 Nebraska 3-1 71 NR

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