Win boosts Redhawks in polls

Southeast Missouri State's upset at Southern Illinois has brought the Redhawks some national attention.

The Redhawks unofficially are ranked 32nd and 41st in the two major Division I-AA polls that were released Monday.

Southeast received the seventh-most votes among the teams outside the top 25 in The Sports Network Poll.

The Redhawks nabbed the 16th-most votes among the squads outside the top 25 in the Coaches Poll.

That recognition was the result of Saturday's 24-21 win at SIU, which at the time was ranked fifth.

Southeast had not beaten a team ranked among the top five nationally since the program moved up to Division I-AA in 1991.

Fifth-year Southeast coach Tony Samuel was both pleased and cautious about the exposure the Redhawks are receiving.

"Rankings are great, but we've only played three games," Samuel said.

But Samuel wasn't about to downplay the significance of a victory that he called without a doubt the biggest since he's been at Southeast and one that brought him plenty of congratulatory messages.

"It was a great win," Samuel said. "My phone's been ringing off the hook."

The Ohio Valley Conference has only one team ranked among the top 25 with Jacksonville State at No. 4 in both polls.

Southeast received the most votes of any other OVC squad.

SIU dropped to 13th in both polls after losing to the Redhawks.

Southeast, 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the OVC, resumes conference play at 6 p.m. Saturday in its home opener against Tennessee Tech (1-2), which will be playing its league opener.

"It'll be nice to get our first home game," Samuel said. "A lot of teams have already had one or two home games by now."

Samuel said he normally might be concerned about a letdown following such a big win but not so much this week because the Redhawks are jumping back into OVC play.

Tech defeated the Redhawks 28-16 last year in Cookeville, Tenn.

"Coming back into conference play is big for us," Samuel said. "If you look at the film from last year, we didn't play real well and they handled us pretty good, so we have plenty of motivation."

A win Saturday will give Southeast only its second 2-0 OVC start, the other coming in 2002. Southeast is 1-0 in league play for the first time under Samuel and the first time since 2004.

The Golden Eagles have won the past four meetings with Southeast, including victories in their last two trips to Houck Stadium.