Talk » I dont like not playing.

(STATS) -- Theyve filled an entire hand with national championship rings.Yet the North Dakota State Bison never allow themselves to become satisfied.Not when theres a whole other hand to start filling this season.Unsurprisingly, North Dakota State will enter the 2016 season as FCS prohibitive favorite yet again. Having won an NCAA-record five straight national titles, the Bison earned 152 of the 158 first-place votes Monday in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25.Yes, its still a Bison world until proven otherwise.To me, its business as usual, said third-year coach Chris Klieman, whose team whipped Jacksonville State 37-10 in the national title game to finish 13-2 last season.Stay humble, stay hungry. Weve got a long ways to go. What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today. 2015 was dynamite; its a new season, a new team and our goal is the same as its always going to be and has been for a long time -- be in the position to compete for the Missouri Valley Conference championship.The Missouri Valley is regarded as the strongest conference in the FCS and North Dakota State has won at least a share of its last five titles. This years team returns 14 starters and resolved any potential starting quarterback questions when Easton Stick went 8-0 last season while replacing an injured Carson Wentz.Stick will have plenty of help, as NDSU will roll out its power run game, led by senior tailback King Frazier, complementing a defense that has been the best in the nation while the Bison have built their dynasty. Linebacker Nick DeLuca and defensive end Greg Menard lead this years unit.The Bison are followed in the Top 5 by Sam Houston State, which earned two first-place votes; Jacksonville State, which earned the other four; Richmond; and Northern Iowa. Over the past two postseasons, NDSU has knocked out all of them.Last year, Southland Conference power Sam Houston (11-4) reached the national semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons before falling to Jacksonville State. Quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe will be at the controls of coach K.C. Keelers Bearkats offense, which was top-ranked in the FCS last season.Speaking of explosive offenses, Jacksonville State (13-2) returns All-America quarterback Eli Jenkins and top wide receiver Josh Barge. Plus, the two-time defending Ohio Valley Conference champions are motivated following their disappointing finish against North Dakota State.We did not give them our best shot, so we want to get back to that game and play well, coach John Grass said. You can live with it if you played well, but we didnt. We have a hunger to get back there, but you have to take it week-by-week as each week is its own season.Richmond (10-4) returns its quarterback, Kyle Lauletta, as well. But the Spiders, who earned a three-way share of the CAA Football title, are particularly well-rounded. They return eight starters on each side of the ball.Northern Iowa (9-4) will butt heads with NDSU in the Missouri Valley, and the physical Panthers pose the biggest threat with two returning 1,000-yard rushers: quarterback Aaron Bailey and running back Tyvis Smith.The rest of the Top 10 is No. 6 Chattanooga (9-4), which has won three straight Southern Conference titles; Charleston Southern (10-3), the defending Big South champ which opens the FCS season Aug. 27 against North Dakota State in the FCS Kickoff; South Dakota State (8-4) from the Missouri Valley; William & Mary (9-4), a defending CAA co-champ; and Illinois State (10-2), a defending Missouri Valley co-champ.Defending Southland champ McNeese State (10-1) was No. 11, followed by James Madison (9-3), another CAA champ last season; Montana (8-5); Eastern Washington (6-5); The Citadel (9-4), which shared the Southern Conference title; Coastal Carolina (9-3), which is playing an independent schedule in its final season on the FCS level; Portland State (9-3); Northern Arizona (7-4); North Dakota (7-4); and Western Illinois (7-6).Rounding out the Top 25 were No. 21 Colgate (9-4), the defending Patriot League champ; New Hampshire (7-5); Villanova (6-5); Towson (7-4); and North Carolina A&T (10-2), which won a share of the MEAC title.The first teams outside the rankings were Youngstown State and Fordham.The power conferences ruled the preseason Top 25 with the CAA collecting six selections, and the Big Sky and Missouri Valley gaining five apiece. Nine conferences had at least one representative.A national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries select the STATS FCS Top 25. In the voting, a first-place vote is worth 25 points, a second-place vote 24 points, all the way down to one point for a 25th-place vote.The Top 25 is released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, except for Sunday morning, Nov. 20, prior to the selection of the 24-team FCS playoff field. A final Top 25 will follow the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 7 in Frisco, Texas. Jace Sternberger Super Bowl Jersey . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Geronimo Allison Super Bowl Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. http://www.officialgreenbaypackerspro.com/Reggie-white-packers-jersey/ . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Jason Spriggs Super Bowl Jersey . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. Mason Crosby Super Bowl Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After five weeks of watching quarterback Blaine Gabbert struggle, San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly is making a change.Kelly on Tuesday named Colin Kaepernick his starting quarterback for Sundays game against Buffalo, a decision that comes following weeks of speculation.?Just to announce, were going to make a move at quarterback and were going to start Colin this week and give him an opportunity to run with the ones, Kelly said. I believe youve got to do it at the beginning of the week just because of how reps are distributed.I think Ive always been confident, Kaepernick said. Its something that Im ready to step on that field, Im ready to play. Its been about a year since live game action. So, Im itching to get out there.After meeting with the coaching staff and discussing possible solutions for the Niners 31st-ranked offense (in yards per game), Kelly said the group came to the conclusion that one of the only moves it could make to potentially jump-start the offense was to make a change at quarterback.We were very analytical and sat down as a staff and watched the tape, went over everything, Kelly said. We had a couple days to kind of digest where we are and I think offensively we need to be better and we just need to make a move. And its really not, its not Blaines fault. I think its just as a group offensively we need to be better in a lot of ways so were going to see what we can do and make a move here. Its really one of the only maneuvers we can make based on our depth.According to Kelly, because Kaepernick and Gabbert have similar traits, the offense wont need to change much other than the way the reps are split in practice. Previously, it had been Gabbert taking about 75 percent of the work with the first team while Kaepernick handled the other 25 percent. Now, those roles will be reversed.Kelly informed Kaepernick and Gabbert of the decision and said both were professional in handling the news. According to Kelly, Kaepernick offered a simple two-word response of Lets go upon being told of the decision.Sundays game will mark Kaepernicks first start since Nov. 1 of last year, a 27-6 loss to the Rams. Kaepernick played briefly the following week before shutting it down for the season because of a shoulder injury.That shoulder injury turned into a harbinger of things to come as Kaepernick underwent a series of surgeries to his thumb and knee in addition to the shoulder. The recovery from those ailments left Kaepernick unable to lift weights and, combined with his decision to become vegan, Kaepernick lost considerable weight, though he declined to say exactly how much.When Kaepernick returned to the fold in the preseason, he made it through the first couple of weeks of training camp before right-shoulder fatigue forced him to miss the first three preseason games. He played in the final preseason contest against San Diego and handed the ball off three times in the Niners season-opening win against the Rams.Throughout the preseason and the early part of this season, Kelly often deflected questions about changing quarterbacks, citing Kaepernicks physical condition as preventing him from playing his best football.At his peak in 2012 and 2013, Kaepernick weighed about 225 pounds, the type of condition Kelly says allowed him to play well. Last week, Kelly said he wasnt sure of Kaepernicks exact weight now but said hes hovering around 215 pounds.We hhave gone over this ad nauseam, Kelly said.dddddddddddd. Hes not the same guy he was in 2013, just look at him physically. Thats the point I tried to make when people brought that up. Hes worked extremely hard on his rehab. We were talking about a guy that missed the offseason because of the injuries and thats the only point I ever tried to make about it.Kelly made it clear he wasnt so much putting a weight requirement on Kaepernick -- who remained the backup to Gabbert the first five weeks -- as he was hoping to see Kaepernick get back to the peak physical condition that allowed for so much success earlier in his career.Kelly said Tuesday that Kaepernick has gotten stronger since he initially picked Gabbert as the starter in August.When I made the decision on our starting quarterback it was over five weeks ago, were talking six weeks of rehab, Kelly said. He also missed two weeks of preseason camp, so based upon the time that we had him in preseason camp, he wasnt ready from a physical or mental standpoint in terms of where we were to start the season and thats when we made the decision. Were in Week 6 now of the National Football League. We were talking about that decision after the San Diego Charger game so that was over six weeks ago.Gabbert started each of the first five games, and after a solid outing against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, struggled to produce. In four consecutive 49ers losses, Gabbert has struggled mightily.For the season, Gabbert ranks 30th in the NFL in passer rating (69.6) among qualified players, is tied for fifth most in interceptions (six), 26th in completion percentage (58 percent) and 31st in yards per attempt (5.93).Its a tough deal, but a change is made like that, its what the coaches felt best for this team, Gabbert said. It sucks. I dont like it. I dont like not playing. Ill be very forward about that. But, at the same time Im still going to come in to work the same way Ive always come in to work the three years that Ive been here.While the Niners pondered the change, some wondered if Kaepernicks contract was preventing Kelly from making the change. Under his current deal, Kaepernick would be guaranteed his $14.5 million base salary next year if he were unable to pass a physical on April 1, 2017.Although there have been reports of Kaepernick potentially agreeing to an adjusted contract to clear the way for him to start, Kelly said his decision had nothing to do with that.I dont deal with contracts, Kelly said. Its got nothing to do with his contract. Its a football decision. I dont even know where his contract status is. Thats a good question for him but Ive never discussed his contract nor will I discuss his contract.Kelly also brushed aside any concern that Kaepernicks protest of racial oppression and inequality in the United States by kneeling during the national anthem will become more of a distraction now that hes starting.No and I think weve answered that question ad nauseam as much as the weight question that weve answered is that it has not been an issue and I think because of how Colin has handled it, Kelly said. He handled it very straightforward with our players when it first came about way back when in August, and it hasnt been an issue since then, so I dont see it changing from that standpoint. ' ' '