Although the national playoffs won’t begin until Thanksgiving weekend, the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 is stuffed already – with outstanding teams, that is.
Defending FCS champ Sam Houston continued to hold the No. 1 spot in the national media rankings on Monday after numerous FCS teams made a strong case for a high ranking during the first full week of action.
Six FCS teams posted wins over FBS opponents – the most in one week since 2013: No. 2 South Dakota State (Colorado State), No. 4 Montana (Washington in the sixth all-time FCS win over a nationally ranked FBS opponent), No. 7 Eastern Washington (UNLV), No. 14 UC Davis (Tulsa), No. 15 ETSU (Vanderbilt) and No. 24 Holy Cross (UConn), which returned to the rankings for the first time since Sept. 18, 2017.
Nine different conferences were represented in the rankings, led by the Missouri Valley with six.
A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. 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.
STATS PERFORM FCS TOP 25 (SEPT. 6)
1. Sam Houston (1-0, 0-0 AQ7), 1,212 points (32 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 1 Result: 42-16 win at Northern Arizona
2. South Dakota State (1-0, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 1,185 (11)
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 1 Result: 42-23 win at Colorado State
3. James Madison (1-0, 0-0 CAA), 1,150 (2)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 1 Result: 68-10 win over Morehead State
4. Montana (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky), 1,087 (5)
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 1 Result: 13-7 win at Washington
5. North Dakota State (1-0, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 1,050
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 1 Result: 28-6 win over Albany
6. Delaware (1-0, 1-0 CAA), 965
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 1 Result: 34-24 win at Maine
7. Eastern Washington (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky), 880
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 1 Result: 35-33 2-OT win at UNLV
8. Southern Illinois (1-0, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 873
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 1 Result: 47-21 win at Southeast Missouri
9. North Dakota (1-0, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 858
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 1 Result: 35-14 win at Idaho State
10. Weber State (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky), 764
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 1 Result: 40-17 loss at Utah
11. Montana State (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky), 598
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 1 Result: 19-16 loss at Wyoming
12. Villanova (1-0, 0-0 CAA), 585
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 1 Result: 47-3 win at Lehigh
13. Southeastern Louisiana (1-0, 0-0 Southland), 584
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 1 Result: 49-28 win at North Alabama
14. UC Davis (1-0, 0-0 Big Sky), 576
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 1 Result: 19-17 win at Tulsa
15. ETSU (1-0, 0-0 Southern), 442
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 1 Result: 23-3 win at Vanderbilt
16. Jacksonville State (0-1, 0-0 AQ7), 427
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 1 Result: 31-0 loss to UAB
17. Austin Peay (1-0, 0-0 Ohio Valley), 417
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 1 Result: 30-20 win at Chattanooga
18. VMI (1-0, 0-0 Southern), 415
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 1 Result: 45-24 win over Davidson
19. Central Arkansas (0-1, 0-0 AQ7), 407
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 1 Result: 40-21 loss at Arkansas State
20. Monmouth (0-1, 0-0 Big South), 290
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 1 Result: 50-15 loss at Middle Tennessee
21. Northern Iowa (0-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 287
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 1 Result: 16-10 loss at Iowa State
22. Kennesaw State (1-0, 0-0 Big South), 208
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 1 Result: 35-25 win over Reinhardt
23. Missouri State (0-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley), 187
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 1 Result: 23-16 loss at Oklahoma State
24. Holy Cross (1-0, 0-0 Patriot), 160
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 1 Result: 38-28 win at UConn
25. Richmond (1-0, 0-0 CAA), 135
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 1 Result: 38-14 win over Howard
Dropped Out: Chattanooga (18), Nicholls (22) and North Carolina A&T (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Murray State 125, Chattanooga 72, Nicholls 61, Sacramento State 40, Samford 40, New Hampshire 36, Alabama A&M 34, Furman 20, Sacred Heart 17, Jackson State 14, Illinois State 10, Rhode Island 8, Stephen F. Austin 8, North Carolina Central 7