The Eastern Washington University football team ended the season ranked No. 7 in the final Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and No. 9 in the AFCA Top 25. This marks the 11th time that the Eagles have ended the season ranked in the top-ten in the Stats Perform poll, which has had Eastern Washington in 127 of the last 136 polls, including the last 24.
 
Eastern Washington finished 10-3 overall this season with a 6-2 mark in Big Sky Conference play, earning its 15^th trip to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs where it lost in the second round to Montana. In the Stats Perform poll, EWU was ranked 11^th in the preseason and was ranked as high as No. 2 and as a low as No. 7, never falling out of the top-ten and ending the regular season ranked No. 4.
 
It's a similar story in the AFCA Coaches Top 25, as Eastern found itself ranked as high as No. 2 and as low as No. 8, never dropping out of the top-ten after entering the season ranked No. 11.
 
Overall, this is the 17^th time Eastern has finished the season nationally ranked, including 13 times since 2004. The other seasons were in 1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020-21. Seven times the Eagles have finished in the top four – fourth in 1997, 2012, 2014 and 2016; third in 2013; second in 2018; and first in 2010 after winning the NCAA Division I title.
 
By finishing second following the 2018 season when Eastern finished as the FCS runner-up, the Eagles have had a top four finish six times in the past 12 years (2010-2021). In the 2015 season, Eastern extended its string of nationally-ranked weeks to 57 before the streak was ended with the final poll of the season, then followed with a 46-week streak that ended in the 2019 season -- a span of 103 of 104 polls. Eastern's current streak is 24-straight weeks.
 
The Eagles were unranked in the final eight weeks of the 2019 season, but then were ranked in all 11 in the 2020-21 and 2021 campaigns. Thus, EWU has been ranked in 127 of the last 136 polls entering the 2022 season.
 
In 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016 and again in 2018, Eastern advanced to the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. Besides its 2018 runner-up finish, EWU won the national title in 2010. In 2014, Eastern advanced to the quarterfinals.

EWU in the Stats Perform Rankings in 2021

Final: #7 (#1 North Dakota State, #2 Montana State, #3 James Madison, #4 South Dakota State, #5 Sam Houston State, #6 Montana), Final Regular Season: #4, Nov. 20: #5, Nov. 13: #7, Nov. 6: #5, Nov. 1: #5, Oct. 25: #7, Oct. 18: #2, Oct. 11: #2, Oct. 4: #4, Sept. 27: #6, Sept. 20: #6, Sept. 13: #7, Sept. 6: #7, Preseason: #11

EWU in the AFCA Rankings in 2021

Final: #9. End of Regular Season: #6. Nov: 20: #6. Nov. 13: #8. Nov. 6: #5. Nov. 1: #5. Oct. 25: #7. Oct. 18: #2. Oct. 11: #2. Oct. 4: #4. Sept. 27: #6. Sept. 20: #6. Sept. 13: #6. Sept. 7: #8. Preseason: #14.

EWU's Season-Ending National FCS/I-AA Rankings . . .

1985 – 11th (NCAA Division I-AA Poll)
1992 – 14th (NCAA Division I-AA Poll)
1993 – 20th (The Sports Network)
1997 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (ESPN/USA Today)
2004 – 8th (The Sports Network) & 7th (ESPN/USA Today)
2005 – 13th (The Sports Network) & 13th (ESPN/USA Today)
2007 – 8th (The Sports Network) & 8th (Coaches)
2009 – 13th (The Sports Network) & 13th (Coaches)
2010 – 1st (The Sports Network) & 1st (Coaches)
2012 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (Coaches)
2013 – 3rd (The Sports Network) & 3rd (Coaches)
2014 – 4th (The Sports Network) & 4th (Coaches)
2016 – 4th (STATS) & 4th (Coaches)
2018 – 2nd (STATS) & 2nd (Coaches)
2020/21 – 10th (Stats Perform) & 11th (Coaches)
2021 – 7^th (Stats Perform) & 9^th (Coaches)