Sam Houston, which owns the longest winning streak in Division I college football, strengthened its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 on Monday.
The defending national champion Bearkats (6-0) gained 44 of the 50 first-place votes in the national media poll, two days after routing Jacksonville State 42-7 for their 17th straight victory.
“Our guys understand we need to finish this thing off one game at a time for us to end up where we want to end up,” coach K.C. Keeler said, “and that’s the No. 1 team in the country.”
The other six first-place votes went to No. 2 North Dakota State. The Bison (7-0) moved up one spot with a 27-20 win over Missouri State and Eastern Washington’s tumble of five spots to No. 7 due to a 35-34 loss to Weber State.
Princeton (6-0), up to No. 19, joins Sam Houston and North Dakota State as the only remaining unbeaten FCS teams. There are four weeks of regular-season games remaining, except in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, whose schedule continues into Thanksgiving weekend.
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 (Oct. 25)
1. Sam Houston (6-0, 4-0 AQ7), 1,244 points (44 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 8 Result: 42-7 win over Jacksonville State
2. North Dakota State (7-0, 4-0 Missouri Valley), 1,201 (6)
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 8 Result: 27-20 win over then-No. 17 Missouri State
3. Southern Illinois (6-1, 4-0 Missouri Valley), 1,136
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 8 Result: Open week
4. Villanova (6-1, 4-0 CAA), 1,101
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 8 Result: 44-0 win over then-No. 18 Rhode Island
5. James Madison (6-1, 4-1 CAA), 1,023
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 8 Result: 22-10 win at then-No. 23 Delaware
6. Montana State (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky), 979
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 8 Result: 27-9 win over Idaho State
7. Eastern Washington (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky), 963
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 8 Result: 35-34 loss to Weber State
8. Southeastern Louisiana (6-1, 4-0 Southland), 909
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 8 Result: 51-14 win at Northwestern State
9. UC Davis (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky), 814
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 8 Result: 24-13 win at Cal Poly
10. South Dakota State (5-2, 2-2 Missouri Valley), 744
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 8 Result: 26-17 loss to then-No. 20 Northern Iowa
11. Montana (5-2, 2-2 Big Sky), 736
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 8 Result: 34-14 win over Idaho
12. Kennesaw State (6-1, 3-0 Big South), 709
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 8 Result: 30-7 win at Campbell
13.(tie) ETSU (7-1, 4-1 Southern), 627
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 8 Result: 17-13 win at Furman
13.(tie) UT Martin (6-1, 3-0 Ohio Valley), 627
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 8 Result: 38-30 win over Southeast Missouri
15. Sacramento State (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky), 525
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 8 Result: 44-0 win overNorthern Arizona
16. Northern Iowa (4-3, 2-2 Missouri Valley), 492
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 8 Result: 26-17 win at then-No. 6 South Dakota State
17. Missouri State (4-3, 3-2 Missouri Valley), 343
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 8 Result: 27-20 loss at then-No. 3 North Dakota State
18. VMI (5-2, 3-1 Southern), 332
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 8 Result: Open week
19. Princeton (6-0, 3-0 Ivy), 310
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 8 Result: 18-16, 5-OT win over Harvard
20. Jackson State (6-1, 4-0 SWAC), 285
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 8 Result: 42-12 win over Bethune-Cookman
21. South Dakota (5-3, 3-2 Missouri Valley), 228
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 8 Result: 20-14 loss to Illinois State
22. UIW (5-2, 3-1 Southland), 223
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 8 Result: 28-20 loss at McNeese
23. Weber State (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky), 166
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 8 Result: 35-34 win at then-No. 2 Eastern Washington
24. Rhode Island (5-2, 3-2 CAA), 125
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 8 Result: 44-0 loss at then-No. 5 Villanova
25. Eastern Kentucky (5-2, 2-0 AQ7), 105
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 8 Result: Open week
Dropped Out: Delaware (23), Dartmouth (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): William & Mary 52, Prairie View A&M 46, Harvard 37, Chattanooga 31, Mercer 31, North Dakota 29, Delaware 24, Stephen F. Austin 10, Jacksonville State 9, Florida A&M 8, Duquesne 7, Dartmouth 6, Columbia 5
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons. ASUN: Patrick McCoy, Mike Parris. Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. Big South Conference: Brian Cleary, Matt Harmon, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Scott Klatzkin, Greg Madia, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: Rick Bender, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Bill Hamilton, Maurice Williams. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Tad Maury, Ralph Ventre. Ohio Valley Conference: Neal Bradley, Kyle Schwartz. Patriot League: Eric Malanowski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin. Southern Conference: David Fox, Jeff Hartsell, Phil Perry. Southland Conference: Zack Carlton, Josh Yonis. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Travis Jarome, Andrew Roberts. Western Athletic Conference: Josh Criswell, Chris Thompson. National Representatives: Josh Buchanan, Riley Corcoran, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Brett Huston, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence,Jon Passman, Lawrence Smith, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Jamie Williams.