Southern Illinois has become the fifth No. 1 team in Gateway history, and third different team in the past three years, as the Salukis are the top-ranked team in the Sports Network Top-25 poll, announced Monday. It marks the first time SIU is ranked #1 in the nation since winning the National Championship in 1983. That season, Southern spent six weeks at the top spot. Jerry Kill’s club, which was ranked No. 2 in the preseason, ascended to the top spot after it defeated Southeast Missouri, 42-3, and former No. 1 Delaware lost, 24-21, to unranked New Hampshire. The Salukis earned 56 first-place votes and 2,050 total points in this week’s balloting. SIU joins former Gateway No. 1 teams (UNI, Western Illinois, Western

Kentucky, and Youngstown State) as league teams to represent the conference at the top. Western Kentucky (2002) and Western Illinois (2003) have held the top spots during the past two seasons. UNI fell from No. 6 to ninth in the poll after a 23-0 loss at Iowa State. In at No. 11 is Western Kentucky, which moved up two rungs after a good showing in a loss at Kansas State. And the Gateway's fourth top-25 team this week is Western Illinois, at No. 16. Twenty-four of the poll’s 25 teams will be in action this weekend, with five games between ranked opponents highlighting the schedule. No. 4 Colgate visits No. 14 Massachusetts, No. 8 Villanova is at No. 22 Lehigh, No. 13 Northern Arizona plays at No. 15 Stephen F. Austin, No. 23 Northern Colorado is at No. 17 Maine, and No. 20 Eastern Kentucky takes on No. 24 Appalachian State in this week’s marquee matchups. Top-ranked Southern Illinois plays at I-A Northern Illinois, while Northeastern and New Hampshire also take on I-A competition.