Falcons Ranked Fifth in Initial CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll

Bowling Green State University is ranked fifth in the country among mid-major women's basketball programs, according to the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25's preseason poll. The poll was released on Wednesday evening (Oct. 27).

Gonzaga held down the number-one spot in the poll, garnering 12 of the 31 first-place votes. Green Bay, James Madison, Arkansas-Little Rock and BGSU rounded out the top five. The Falcons will face UALR this season in a neutral-site game in Seattle, Wash.

Several other 2010-11 Falcon opponents can be found in the poll. Toledo, the only Mid-American Conference program other than BGSU in the top 25, is 16th, while Creighton is ranked 20th, Western Kentucky is 21st and Butler 22nd. Eastern Michigan, Oakland and Kent State all were among the teams receiving votes.

Over a decade after creating the Mid-Major Top 25 for NCAA Division I men's basketball, CollegeInsider.com has joined forces with the Atlantic Sun Conference to establish the women's Mid-Major Top 25. CollegeInsider.com established the men's Mid-Major Top 25 in 1999 for the purpose of recognizing smaller schools throughout the regular season. Now entering its twelfth season of existence, the men's poll has become a measuring stick for programs outside of the proverbial power conferences.

The women's Mid-Major Top 25 will be comprised of teams from the America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt and West Coast Conferences, as well as independents.

The Atlantic Sun Conference will help to administer the voting process for the women's Mid-Major Top 25, which will be released every Tuesday throughout the 2010-11 season. The first in-season poll is scheduled to be released on Nov. 16.

The Falcons return 10 letterwinners, including three starters, from last season's team. BGSU had an overall record of 27-7 and a MAC ledger of 14-2 in 2009-10, winning the conference's regular-season and tournament titles.

BGSU plays a home exhibition game vs. Findlay on Wednesday night (Nov. 3), before heading to Evansville to begin the regular season on Friday, Nov. 12. The regular-season home opener is Monday, Nov. 15, vs. Creighton, and will be the first half of a doubleheader with the BGSU men's basketball team.

The complete CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top-25 preseason poll follows...

	UPDATED: Oct. 27, 2010

		Record	Points	Previous
1.	Gonzaga (12)	0-0	709	-
2.	Green Bay (11)	0-0	693	-
3.	James Madison (7)	0-0	656	-
4.	Arkansas-Little Rock (1)	0-0	606	-
5.	Bowling Green	0-0	599	-
6.	Princeton	0-0	517	-
7.	Marist	0-0	461	-
8.	Liberty	0-0	457	-
9.	Middle Tennessee	0-0	440	-
10.	Hartford	0-0	395	-
11.	Old Dominion	0-0	369	-
12.	Lehigh	0-0	310	-
13.	Illinois State	0-0	297	-
14.	Florida Gulf Coast	0-0	284	-
15.	South Dakota State	0-0	276	-
16.	Toledo	0-0	241	-
17.	Chattanooga	0-0	233	-
18.	Vermont	0-0	228	-
19.	Oral Roberts	0-0	211	-
20.	Creighton	0-0	208	-
21.	Western Kentucky	0-0	173	-
22.	Butler	0-0	165	-
23.	Gardner-Webb	0-0	149	-
24.	Delaware	0-0	147	-
25.	St. Mary's	0-0	143	-

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Missouri State 141, Boston University 139, Lamar 96, Montana 93, Eastern Illinois 73, East Tennessee State 73, Virginia Commonwealth 61, UC Davis 40, Appalachian State 37, Samford 33, Hampton 30, North Carolina A&T 25, Pepperdine 25, Central Arkansas 22, Iona 21, Eastern Michigan 20, Northern Iowa 20, Eastern Washington 18, Robert Morris 18, UC Riverside 17, American 14, Columbia 11, Southern University 11, Sacred Heart 10, South Carolina Upstate 9, Harvard 8, Oakland 7, High Point 6, Loyola Marymount 6, Kent State 5, Louisiana Tech 5, Portland State 5, Long Island University 2, UMBC 2, Stephen F. Austin 2, Cal Poly 1, Cleveland State 1, Hofstra 1.

VOTING PANEL: Joan M. Bonvicini (Seattle), Brian Boyer (Arkansas State), Tony Bozzella (Iona), Kristin Caruso (Longwood), Beth Couture (Butler), Ed Davis (Delaware State), Denise Dillon (Longwood), Brooks Donald Williams (McNeese State), Jim Flanery (Creighton), Beckie Francis (Oakland), Stephanie Gaitley (Monmouth), Bill Gibbons (Holy Cross), Carey Green (Liberty), Aaron Johnston (South Dakota State), Lori Jones (Southeastern Louisiana), Tasha McDowell (Western Michigan), Lynn Milligan (Rider), Faith Mimnaugh (Cal Poly), Jennifer Mountain (Santa Clara), Cathy Nixon (Utah Valley), Autumn Rademacher (Detroit), Brady Sallee (Eastern Illinois), Michele Savage (Davidson), Sandy Simpson (UC Davis), Karl Smesko (Florida Gulf Coast), Dayna Smith (Cornell), Phil Stern (UMBC), Colby Tilley (Kennesaw State), Sue Troyan (Lehigh), Altherias Warmley (Alabama A&M), Jamie White (Northern Colorado))

* Florida Gulf Coast head coach Karl Smesko is the chairman of the Top 25 voting panel for the 2010-11 season.

NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.

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