Top-ranked North Dakota State will host No. 2 South Dakota State in the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Saturday.
A week later, the next four ranked teams in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 will be paired off in the Big Sky schedule.
Yet not far behind those power conferences is CAA Football, which as the largest in the Division I subdivision has been staging a weekly battle royale. This week, it sits alone with the most teams in the national media poll at six, its highest total since Sept. 27, 2021: No. 11 William & Mary (5-1), No. 13 Delaware (5-1), No. 14 Elon (5-1), No. 17 Villanova (3-2), No. 21 Richmond (3-2) and co-No. 25 Rhode Island (3-2).
William & Mary is coming off the CAA’s biggest win this past week, topping Delaware 27-21, but the Tribe also have a three-point conference loss to Elon. New Hampshire is the first team outside the rankings, but sits atop the 13-team standings with a 4-0 conference record.
Fordham, at No. 22, joined the rankings for the first time since the 2017 preseason poll, while No. 24 Austin Peay and co-No. 25 Rhode Island returned from earlier this season.
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.
(For more on the FCS college football weekend, here are our Week 6 Takeaways)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 (Oct. 10)
1. North Dakota State (5-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley), 1,333 points (41 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 6 Result: 31-26 win at Indiana State
2. South Dakota State (5-1, 3-0 Missouri Valley), 1,285 (7)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 6 Result: 28-3 win over South Dakota
3. Montana (5-0, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,247 (6)
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 6 Result: No game
4. Montana State (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky), 1,166
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 6 Result: 37-6 win over Idaho State
5. Sacramento State (5-0, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,153
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 6 Result: 55-7 win over Northern Colorado
6. Weber State (5-0, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,069
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 6 Result: 45-21 win over then-No. 24 Eastern Washington
7. Holy Cross (6-0, 2-0 Patriot), 935
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 6 Result: 57-0 win over Bucknell
8.(tie) Jackson State (5-0, 3-0 SWAC), 915
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 6 Result: 26-12 win at Alabama State
8.(tie) UIW (5-1, 2-1 Southland), 915
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 6 Result: 56-17 win over Lamar
10. Chattanooga (4-1, 2-0 Southern), 812
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 6 Result: No game
11. William & Mary (5-1, 2-1 CAA), 758
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 6 Result: 27-21 win over then-No. 6 Delaware
12. Mercer (5-1, 3-0 Southern), 734
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 6 Result: 49-6 win over Western Carolina
13. Delaware (5-1, 3-1 CAA), 716
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 6 Result: 27-21 loss at then-No. 16 William & Mary
14. Elon (5-1, 3-0 CAA), 627
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 6 Result: 27-10 win over Towson
15. Samford (5-1, 3-0 Southern), 613
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 6 Result: 28-14 win over Wofford
16. Southern Illinois (4-2, 3-0 Missouri Valley), 557
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 6 Result: 38-21 win at then-No. 20 Missouri State
17. Villanova (3-2, 1-1 CAA), 440
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 6 Result: No game
18. Southeast Missouri (5-1, 2-0 Ohio Valley), 414
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 6 Result: 34-20 win over Tennessee Tech
19. UT Martin (4-2, 3-0 Ohio Valley), 413
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 6 Result: 45-16 win at Murray State
20. North Dakota (4-2, 3-1 Missouri Valley), 363
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 6 Result: 35-30 win at Youngstown State
21. Richmond (3-2, 1-1 CAA), 205
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 6 Result: No game
22. Fordham (5-1, 2-0 Patriot), 178
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 6 Result: 40-28 win at Lehigh
23. Eastern Kentucky (3-2, 3-1 ASUN-WAC), 171
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 6 Result: No game
24. Austin Peay (4-2, 4-1 ASUN-WAC), 75
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 6 Result: No game
25.(tie) Rhode Island (3-2, 1-1 CAA), 67
Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 6 Result: No game
25.(tie) Southeastern Louisiana (3-3, 1-1 Southland), 67
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 6 Result: 31-28 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce
Dropped Out: Missouri State (20), Eastern Washington (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire (4-2, 4-0 CAA) 66, Idaho (3-2, 2-0 Big Sky) 48, Furman (4-2, 2-1 Southern) 41, Missouri State (2-4, 0-3 Missouri Valley) 39, Stephen F. Austin (3-3, 2-0 ASUN-WAC) 31, Monmouth (4-2, 2-1 CAA) 28, Illinois State (3-2, 1-1 Missouri Valley) 15, Campbell (3-2, 1-0 Big South) 13, Eastern Washington (1-4, 0-2 Big Sky) 11, Princeton (4-0, 1-0 Ivy) 8, North Carolina Central (4-1, 0-0 MEAC) 5, Penn (4-0, 1-0 Ivy) 4, Abilene Christian (4-2, 3-1 ASUN-WAC) 3
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Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons. ASUN: John Bednarowski, Brian Morgan. Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. Big South Conference: Brian Cleary, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Matt Harmon, Scott Klatzkin, 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: Sarah Boissonneault, Randy Brochu. Ohio Valley Conference: Mike Bradd, Kyle Schwartz. Patriot League: Eric Malanowski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin. Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Phil Perry. Southland Conference: Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon, Josh Manck. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Andrew Roberts, Jacob Shames. Western Athletic Conference: Eric Danner, Dennis Driscoll. National Representatives: Josh Buchanan, Zack Carlton, Riley Corcoran, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Brian McLaughlin, Jon Passman, Kent Schmidt, Lawrence Smith, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.