TOP TEN! FAMU football tabbed as one of the nation's best in latest FCS rankings
Florida A&M is a top-10 football team in the nation.
On Monday, the Football Championship Coaches Poll ranked the Rattlers No. 9 — four spots higher than last week.
FAMU's ranking comes on the heels of winning seven consecutive games, most recently beating Alabama A&M 42-28 last Saturday.
The victory clinched FAMU a berth to host Dec. 2's Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship on Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
FAMU is tabbed two spots behind fellow HBCU North Carolina Central, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Those are the only two HBCU football teams featured in the 25-team poll.
If both win their respective conferences, FAMU and NCCU would meet in Dec. 16's HBCU Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, which decides the Black College Football National Champion.
🚨 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗧𝗘𝗡 🚨
The Rattlers have cracked the top ten coming in at nine in the @WeAreAFCA Coaches Poll.#FAMU | #Rattlers | #OurTime pic.twitter.com/VVZcPCaDQH— Florida A&M Football 🏈 (@FAMU_FB) November 6, 2023
Since FAMU head coach Willie Simmons’ 2018 arrival, the Rattlers have been a constant in national rankings.
The Rattlers have appeared in the top 25 in four of five of Simmons’ seasons. The expectation is his first year in 2018 (2020 season COVID-cancelled).
In 2021, the FCS Coaches Poll 22nd-ranked FAMU made the league’s playoffs, faltering in the first round to Southeastern Louisiana. In 2022, the Rattlers finished the year 23rd but didn’t make the FCS’ 24-team postseason bracket.
2019 saw FAMU’s highest ranking in the Simmons era, however. The Rattlers were ranked 12th in Week 12, a season they finished 9-2. A self-imposed postseason ban prevented them from continuing the season.
The ninth-ranked Rattlers (8-1, 7-0 SWAC) host Division II Lincoln Oaklanders (0-11) in a Week 11 non-conference game at Bragg Stadium on Saturday. It will be FAMU’s final regular-season home game.
Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on Rattlers+.
Florida A&M (8-1, 7-0 SWAC) vs. Lincoln (0-11) Senior Day Game Information
When: Saturday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m.
Where: Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium
How to watch: Rattlers+
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Rattlers crack top 10 in latest FCS Coaches Poll