It’s been hard to get a good read on CAA Football, now the largest conference in FCS history with 15 members.
There are a number of candidates for the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, presented by FedEx Ground. Three teams were nationally ranked on Monday: No. 8 Delaware (4-1), No. 11 William & Mary (4-2) and No. 24 UAlbany (4-2).
In addition, Villanova (4-2), Rhode Island (4-2), New Hampshire (2-3) and Elon (3-3, but 3-0 in conference) received votes toward the national media poll, and all of it reflected the considerable shifting of CAA teams in recent weeks with the conference schedule well underway.
This week, the key matchups include UAlbany at New Hampshire and Elon at Villanova.
South Dakota State (5-0), the defending FCS champion and a winner of 19 straight games, remained a unanimous No. 1, joined by No. 19 Harvard (4-0) as the FCS’ only unbeaten teams.
A national media panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll. 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 Poll (Oct. 9)
Presented by FedEx Ground
1. South Dakota State (5-0, 2-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 6: 40-21 win at Illinois State; Week 7: Northern Iowa
2. Montana State (4-1, 2-0 Big Sky), 1,333
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 6: No game; Week 7: Cal Poly
3. Idaho (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky), 1,296
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 6: 42-14 win at Cal Poly; Week 7: Montana
4. Sacramento State (4-1, 1-1 Big Sky), 1,181
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 6: No game; Week 7: at Northern Colorado
5. Furman (4-1, 2-0 SoCon), 1,138
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 6: 28-14 win over The Citadel; Week 7: at Samford
6. North Dakota State (4-1, 1-1 MVFC), 1,110
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 6: 38-10 win at Missouri State; Week 7: at North Dakota
7. UIW (4-1, 1-0 Southland), 1,010
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 6: 33-26 win over Southeastern Louisiana; Week 7: Texas A&M-Commerce
8. Delaware (4-1, 2-0 CAA), 947
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 6: 43-17 win over Duquesne; Week 7: North Carolina A&T
9. Western Carolina (5-1, 3-0 SoCon), 906
Previous Ranking: 11;Week 6: 52-50 win at then-No. 24 Chattanooga; Week 7: No game
10. South Dakota (4-1, 2-0 MVFC), 771
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 6: 38-7 win over Murray State; Week 7: Youngstown State
11. William & Mary (4-2, 2-1 CAA), 759
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 6: 27-13 loss at Virginia; Week 7: No game
12. Holy Cross (4-2, 2-0 Patriot), 744
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 6: 55-27 win at Bucknell; Week 7: No game
13. Southern Illinois (4-1, 1-1 MVFC), 721
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 6: 31-3 loss at Youngstown State; Week 7: at Murray State
14. North Carolina Central (5-1, 0-0 MEAC), 681
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 6: 34-23 win at then-No. 25 Elon; Week 7: No game
15. North Dakota (3-2, 1-1 MVFC), 567
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 6: 49-10 win over Western Illinois; Week 7: North Dakota State
16. Montana (5-1, 2-1 Big Sky), 564
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 6: 31-23 win at then-No. 20 UC Davis; Week 7: at Idaho
17. UT Martin (5-1, 2-0 Big South-OVC), 492
Previous Ranking: 18;Week 6: 28-27 OT win at Eastern Illinois; Week 7: No game
18. Florida A&M (5-1, 4-0 SWAC), 410
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 6: 26-19 win at Southern; Week 7: No game
19. Harvard (4-0, 2-0 Ivy), 367
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 6: 43-21 win over Cornell; Week 7: Howard
20. Central Arkansas (4-2, 2-0 UAC), 318
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 6: 38-33 win over Southeast Missouri; Week 7: Stephen F. Austin
21. Eastern Washington (2-3, 1-1 Big Sky), 205
Previous Ranking: 22;Week 6: No game; Week 7: at Idaho State
22. Weber State (3-3, 1-2 Big Sky), 201
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 6: 27-10 loss to Northern Arizona; Week 7: UC Davis
23. Youngstown State (3-2, 1-1 MVFC), 197
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 6: 31-3 win over then-No. 6 Southern Illinois; Week 7: at South Dakota
24. UAlbany (4-2, 2-0 CAA), 182
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 6: 24-17 win at Towson; Week 7: at New Hampshire
25. Chattanooga (4-2, 3-1 Southern), 107
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 6: 52-50 loss to then-No. 11 Western Carolina; Week 7: at Mercer
Dropped Out: UC Davis (20), Elon (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Northern Iowa (3-2, 2-0 MVFC) 95; Villanova (4-2, 2-1 CAA) 94; UC Davis (3-3, 1-2 Big Sky) 75; Rhode Island (4-2, 2-1 CAA) 73; Austin Peay (3-2, 1-0 UAC) 56; Mercer (4-2, 2-1 SoCon) 52; New Hampshire (2-3, 0-2 CAA) 49; Eastern Illinois (4-2, 0-1 Big South-OVC) 32; Elon (3-3, 3-0 CAA) 19; Samford (3-3, 2-2 SoCon) 18; Fordham (4-2, 1-1 Patriot) 16; Tarleton (4-2, 1-1 UAC) 5; Lafayette (5-1, 1-0 Patriot) 4; Northern Arizona (2-4, 2-1 Big Sky) 3
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Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Voters – Stats Perform: Craig Haley, Gary Reasons. Big Sky Conference: Doug Kelly, Tyson Rodgers, Larry Weir. Big South-OVC Football Association: Mike Bradd, Brian Cleary, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Matt Harmon, Scott Klatzkin, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: Rick Bender, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Patricia Porter-Mayfield. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Randy Brochu. Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Jack Cronin. Southern Conference: Scott Keeler, Andrew Miller, Ralan Wardlaw. Southland Conference: Matthew Bonnette, James Dixon, James Hill. Southwestern Athletic Conference: Ronnie Johnson, Joshua Padilla. United Athletic Conference: Steve East, Tony Jones, Brian Morgan, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Zack Carlton, Riley Corcoran, Joe DeLeone, Steven J. Gaither, Sam Herder, Emory Hunt, Kyle Kensing, Brandon Lawrence, Zach McKinnell, Brian McLaughlin, Jon Passman, Omar Rashon Borja, Ryan Roberts, Kent Schmidt, Phil Sokol, Reggie Thomas, Ralph Ventre, Jamie Williams.