Sept. 7, 2008

GREENVILLE, N.C. -Following an impressive 24-3 win over then No. 8 West Virginia Saturday afternoon at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, East Carolina finds itself nationally-ranked for the first time since 1999 after being tabbed No. 14 by the Associated Press and No. 20 by the USA Today Coaches Poll Sunday afternoon.

The Pirates, who are 2-0 for the first time since 1999, have won three consecutive games against nationally-ranked opponents dating back to the 2007 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl (No. 22 Boise State, 41-38) and have picked up back-to-back wins over defending BCS conference champions in Virginia Tech (No. 17/ACC) and the Mountaineers (No. 8/Big East).

The No. 14 ranking marks the highest position in the AP polls since the Pirates closed out the 1991 season ranked No. 9. ECU also made appearances in the AP polls in 1976 (No. 20/Oct. 19), 1983 (No. 19/Dec. 5 and No. 20/Final Poll), 1991 (ranked for nine weeks /No. 9 Final Poll) and 1999 (ranked 11 weeks/No. 20 on Dec. 5).

ECU becomes the first Conference USA team to be ranked since UTEP was No. 24 on Nov. 14, 2005. The Pirates will open league play this weekend against Tulane on Sept. 13 in New Orleans (Superdome) with a 3 p.m. (EDT) kickoff scheduled.