JMU RANKED FOURTH IN FINAL 2008 FIELD HOCKEY POLL

HARRISONBURG, Va., Nov. 11, 2008 ? With a share of the second-best record in the nation and the nation's top-ranked defense statistically, James Madison sits fourth in the final STX/National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Coaches Poll of the 2008 season.

JMU is currently 18-2 heading into the NCAA Championship after wrapping up its third consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship with a 1-0 win over Old Dominion on Sunday. The overall record matches Maryland for second in the nation and ranks as the best in JMU's program history. The #4 ranking is also the best final season ranking for the Dukes since finishing third in 1995 when they won their first CAA title and reached the final four of the NCAA Championship.

The Dukes await Tuesday night's NCAA Selection Show to find out their destination and opponent for the NCAA first round. The show airs at 8 p.m. online at NCAA.com. Four schools will host in the first and second rounds of the 16-team tournament. The ratings percentage index (RPI), one of the primary tools used by the NCAA for selections and seeding, dropped JMU to sixth this week after a fourth-place showing last week.

Five conference champions have already earned automatic bids, including #1 Maryland (Atlantic Coast), #3 Syracuse (Big East), JMU (CAA), #6 Iowa (Big 10), and #20 Albany (America East). Three more spots will be wrapped up this afternoon in play-in games, which include Lock Haven (19-3) at #18 American (12-7), Stanford (9-10) at #9 Princeton (15-2), and #19 Kent State (17-4) at #17 Massachusetts (16-4).

Maryland (18-2) held onto the top spot with its ACC title and received 37 of 40 first-place votes. The rest of the top five included ACC runner-up Wake Forest (19-3), Big East Champ Syracuse (20-1), JMU, and Big East runner-up Connecticut (17-3).

Seven total JMU opponents appear in the top 20 again this week, including WFU, #7 North Carolina (14-5), #12 Virginia (13-8), #13 Louisville (14-6), #16 Drexel (16-4), #18 American (12-7), and #19 Kent State (17-4). Receiving votes outside of the top 20, JMU also faced Old Dominion (10-13), Ohio (10-12), Hofstra (10-9), and Villanova (12-7) this year.