Eastern tops voting in Sports Network poll

For the past few years, Eastern Washington has lived in the shadow of three-time defending Football Championship Subdivision champ North Dakota State.

With a recent habit of making deep runs in the FCS playoffs the past two years, the Eagles may have begun to emerge from the Bison’s shadow.

The Eagles, led by a trio of national awards candidates, have been selected No. 1 by The Sports Network in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision preseason poll of sportswriters, broadcasters and sports information directors announced Aug. 8.

This couples with EWU’s No. 2 preseason selection in the FCS...