Philadelphia, PA -- (Sports Network) - Appalachian State finished the season back where it started as the No. 1 ranked team in the Sports Network FCS Top-25 poll.

Coming off Friday night's 49-21 victory over Delaware in the national championship game, the Mountaineers received all 119 first-place votes to finish No. 1 for the third consecutive year. Appalachian State is the first FCS team to win three straight national crowns and is also the first to finish on top of the Sports Network poll three years in a row.

ASU (13-2) was the preseason No. 1 team in the poll and held the top spot for four weeks before losing 42-31 on Sept. 22 at Wofford. The Mountaineers were the unanimous No. 1 team for three weeks, following their 34-32 victory at Michigan in their season opener on Sept. 2.

Appalachian State fell as low as No. 10 after a Oct. 20 38-35 loss to Georgia Southern, but rebounded to climb back to No. 5 in the final regular season poll.

Delaware (11-4) used its surprising run to the national championship game to rise from No. 13 in the final regular season poll to No. 2. The Blue Hens were No. 19 in the preseason poll.

Southern Illinois, which lost 20-17 to Delaware in the semifinals, moved up one spot in the final poll to No. 3. The Salukis (12-2) had been No. 12 in the preseason.

Northern Iowa, which was ranked on top for the final five weeks of the regular season, slipped to No. 4. The Panthers (11-1), who were upset 39-27 to Delaware in the quarterfinals, were ranked ninth in the preseason.

Richmond, which was unranked when the season began, capped off a surprising season with a run to the semifinals. The Spiders (11-3) rose from No. 6 to No. 5 in the final poll.

Wofford (9-4) rose five spots from No. 11 to No. 6 after knocking off previously unbeaten and No. 3 seeded Montana in the playoffs to advance to the quarterfinals.

Massachusetts (10-3) remained seventh with its quarterfinal appearance.

Eastern Washington's upset of previous unbeaten and No. 2 seeded McNeese in the playoffs helped the Eagles (9-4) jump from 14th to eighth.

North Dakota State (10-1), which was ineligible for the playoffs, fell one spot to ninth.

Montana completed the top 10. The Grizzlies (11-1) were ranked second in the preseason poll and finished No. 2 in the final regular season rankings. McNeese State (11-1) tumbled from No. 3 to No. 11.

James Madison, Eastern Kentucky, New Hampshire, Delaware State, Youngstown State, Georgia Southern, Eastern Illinois, South Dakota State and Fordham finished off the top 20.

Harvard was ranked No. 21, just ahead of Ivy League foe Yale. Elon, Cal Poly and Grambling were the final three teams in the poll.