College football coaches have a tendency to downplay the significance of national rankings, at least until the final polls are in.But when a ranking makes history, not only for the program but the conference as well, that makes all the difference.Troys move into the No. 25 spot in the Associated Press media poll this week is not only a first for the Trojans program but for the Sun Belt Conference as well.And Troy coach Neal Brown wasnt being coy about the ranking.I am proud of it, he said. I think it is significant for our conference, for Troy University, for our athletic department. It proves and validates what we are doing with our program.In just his second year as the head honcho, Brown, who served as offensive coordinator at Kentucky, Texas Tech and Troy before returning to the Trojans in December 2014, has injected new life in the program that fell on somewhat hard times after winning or sharing five consecutive conference championships from 2006 through 2010.Since winning a piece of the title with Florida International in 2010, the Trojans have experienced only one winning record in conference play, that being a 4-3 mark in 2013 that helped them to break even for the season overall at 6-6.The other four years the Trojans finished up with losing records both overall and in league play, including Browns first year in 2015 when they were 4-8 overall and 3-5 in Sun Belt play.But they will put an 8-1 overall record and 5-0 league mark on the line when they host Arkansas State (5-4, 5-0 Sun Belt) at 9:30 p.m. ET at Troys Veterans Memorial Stadium. ESPNU will air the tantalizing matchup of Sun Belt leaders.The Trojans have won seven consecutive games since throwing a scare into then-No. 2 Clemson back on Sept. 10 before losing 30-24.The Red Wolves have a winning streak going as well, having won their last five outings -- all in league play -- since dropping a shocker to Central Arkansas 28-23 on the last Saturday in September.I think it speaks really highly of Blake Anderson and his staff to get them off the mat and put five wins in a row together and to keep improving, Brown said.Troy brings the leagues highest-scoring (38.1 ppg) and most productive offense (474.0 ypg) into the game led by the conferences leading rusher and third-most productive passer. Running back Jordan Chunn, who has earned the nickname MegaChunn for his 6-foot-1, 231-pound frame, has averaged 114.2 yards a game rushing.Quarterback Brandon Silvers has thrown for an average of 255.8 yards a contest while completing 65.6 percent of his passes with 19 touchdowns against only four interceptions. Wide receivers Deondre Douglas and Emanuel Thompson are tied for the league lead in receptions with 5.4 per game.Arkansas State has the No. 3 scoring defense in the conference, giving up 25.0 points per outing but has yielded 411.4 yards a game in total offense. Defensive ends JaVon Roland-Jones and Chris Odom have combined for 15 sacks, with Roland-Jones ranking third in the conference and Odom fourth.Sophomore quarterback Justice Hansen has completed only 58.5 percent of his passes but is coming off his best performance. In last weeks 41-22 win over New Mexico State, he was 20-of-27 passing for 257 yards and two touchdowns and one interception.Running back Warren Wand leads the rushing attack with 607 yards and five touchdowns. He rushed for 99 yards on 13 carries for two touchdowns against New Mexico State.I think they have gotten healthy defensively, Brown said of the Red Wolves. They missed some guys early in the season.Once they settled on the quarterback, you can see the chemistry growing between him and the receivers. The offensive line is playing better, too. A lot of credit to that staff for the way they responded.The game will be the second in a row for the Trojans against a team unbeaten in Sun Belt play. They dealt Appalachian State its first league loss 28-24 last week at Troy.Attachments area Clearance Ray Ban Sunglasses . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. 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EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon coach Dana Altman had a great start to the season Friday -- in more ways than one.After signing a new seven-year contract and three highly ranked high school recruits, Altman found a sold-out crowd of 12,364 eager to witness the beginning of his seventh season with the Ducks.Tyler Dorsey scored 21 points and freshman Payton Pritchard added 15 in his debut as No. 5 Oregon opened with a 91-77 victory over Army.Weve done some good things and been very fortunate with a good group of guys, said Altman, whose $18.45 million deal runs through the 2022-23 season. The crowd was fantastic and so were the students.Oregons previous high during its first five openers at Matthew Knight Arena was 6,262 fans three years ago.After leading by 20 points in the first half, the Ducks allowed the Cadets to close within nine three times before pulling away late on free throws. Oregon finished 28 of 34 at the line.Jordan Bell and Chris Boucher each had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Ducks, who struggled offensively at times with preseason All-America forward Dillon Brooks still sidelined following offseason foot surgery.We did a lot of good things early, Altman said. I was disappointed with our defense, especially in transition, in the second half.Weve got a tremendous amount of work to do, but I told our guys that Army was going to play really hard, and they did.The Ducks matched their arena record with 13 blocked shots, including six by Bell. Oregon reserve Roman Sorkin added four to go with his 12 points, both career highs.Oregon shot 45 percent, including 12 of 23 in the second half, though sixth-year senior Dylan Ennis, coming off a medical redshirt season, went scoreless while missing all eight shots from the field in his first start for the Ducks.Dylans not playing to his strengths and hes got a lot of work to do, Altman said. Hes too casual with the ball. He sat out 30 games and hes trying to make that up iin one or two nights.ddddddddddddennedy Edwards led Army with 17 points and Matthew Wilson added 10. The Cadets shot 39.4 percent and were 9 of 24 on 3-pointers.Oregon finished with a 42-30 edge in rebounds.BIG PICTUREOregon: The Ducks won their 19th consecutive home opener to run their school-record home winning streak to 26 games, fifth-longest in the nation. The crowd was the largest for an Oregon home opener.Army: The Cadets, with five new starters, were picked 10th in the Patriot League after finishing tied for fourth at 9-9 last season and going 18-12 overall.POLL IMPLICATIONSOregons No. 5 preseason ranking, its highest ever, could rise in the next poll after No. 3 Kansas lost in overtime to No. 11 Indiana. The other three teams ranked above the Ducks easily won their openers on Friday.TURNING POINTAfter Army pulled within nine for the last time, Oregon closed out the game by scoring 11 of its last 14 points at the foul line. The Ducks made their first 10 free throws, starting with two four-point plays.HIGHLIGHT REELBell, a 6-foot-9 junior who is already Oregons career leader in blocks, had six more, including part of a three-play sequence that had fans out of their seats in the second half. After taking a lob pass for a dunk, Bell swatted a shot at the other end, then a teammate found him wide open beyond the arc and he let fly, missing his third career 3-point try. He thought it was going in. I did, man, Bell said. I was feeling it. I was really feeling it.UP NEXTArmy returns to West Point to play Mount Saint Mary on Tuesday and Arkansas State next Saturday as Jimmy Allen looks for his first win as head coach.Oregon opens its road schedule Tuesday at Baylor, which lost to the Ducks 74-67 in Eugene last season. Oregon then hosts Valparaiso in another non-conference rematch on Thursday. ' ' '