The start of the college football season is less than a week away, and Appalachian State is already receiving plenty of national recognition.
From home attendance to happy fans and a powerful football team, the Mountaineers have made a strong impression entering just their fourth FBS season and third year as a bowl-eligible program.
Alabama sat atop the AP Top 25 poll that was released Monday, and App State totaled four voting points to rank 39th in the 128-team FBS. Two points came from a 24th-place vote by Dave Reardon of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, while one point apiece resulted from 25th-place votes by former Winston-Salem Journal columnist Scott Hamilton and Eric Hansen of The South Bend Tribune.