Each week, throughout the college football season, alumni, fans, media and the teams themselves look to the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll to see who is rising and moving within the national rankings.
The frequency of teams playing their way into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll matches the consistency of the top three teams.
For the fourth straight week, a trio of teams have joined the national media rankings for the first time this season – it was No. 22 McNeese, No. 23 ETSU and No. 25 Northern Arizona on Monday.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
McNeese (4-2) is enjoying a turnaround under coach Gary Goff after going winless last season. Having nearly upset nationally ranked Tarleton State to open this season, the Cowboys won at then-No. 25 Weber State 28-26 this past Saturday. They earned their first ranking since Feb. 21, 2021 – the early portion of the unique spring season that followed the pandemic-delayed 2020 campaign.
ETSU (3-2) has won two straight road games (Elon and The Citadel, earning Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week) since a narrow loss to No. 2 North Dakota State to claim its first ranking since Sept. 12, 2022. Northern Arizona (3-2) had an even longer absence from the rankings – since Sept. 10, 2018 – but the Lumberjacks impressed with a 34-16 win over then-No. 10 Sacramento State.
While there’s been frequent change in the lower tier of the Top 25, it’s been as easy as 1, 2, 3 up top since the first poll of the regular season, with those spots held by two-time defending FCS champion South Dakota State (3-1), North Dakota State (4-1) and Montana State (5-0), respectively.
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 college football weekend, here is our FCS Football Week 5 Review)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll
1. South Dakota State (3-1, 0–0 MVFC), 1,378 points (38 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Northern Iowa
2. North Dakota State (4-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,337 (10)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 5: 42-10 win at then-No. 18 Illinois State; Week 6: No. 7 North Dakota
3. Montana State (5-0, 1-0 Big Sky), 1,312 (8)
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 5: 37-17 win at Idaho State; Week 6: Northern Colorado
4. South Dakota (3-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,210
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 5: 42-13 win over then-No. 17 Southern Illinois; Week 6: at Murray State
5. Central Arkansas (4-1, 1-0 UAC), 1,097
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 5: 34-14 win over then-No. 19 Lamar; Week 6: at No. 16 Abilene Christian
6. Villanova (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 1,065
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 5: 24-10 win over LIU; Week 6: at Stony Brook
7. North Dakota (4-1, 1-0 MVFC), 1,024
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 5: 72-35 win over Murray State; Week 6: at No. 2 North Dakota State
8. Montana (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky), 980
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 5: 52-49 win at Eastern Washington; Week 6: Weber State
9. UC Davis (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky), 961
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 5: 28-26 win over then-No. 4 Idaho; Week 6: at Portland State
10. Idaho (3-2, 0-1 Big Sky), 930
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 5: 28-26 loss at then-No. 14 UC Davis; Week 6: No. 25 Northern Arizona
11. Mercer (5-0, 3-0 SoCon), 836
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 5: 22-3 win at then-No. 23 Wofford; Week 6: No game
12. William & Mary (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 833
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 5: 49-7 win over Hampton; Week 6: at Towson
13. Southeast Missouri (4-1, 1-0 Big South-OVC), 730
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 5: 19-0 win over Northwestern State; Week 6: at Eastern Illinois
14. Tarleton State (4-1, 1-0 UAC), 642
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 5: 36-33 win over Southeastern Louisiana; Week 6: at Southern Utah
15. UIW (2-2, 0-0 Southland), 609
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 5: No game; Week 6: Prairie View A&M
16. Abilene Christian (3-2, 2-0 UAC), 462
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 5: 55-30 win at Utah Tech; Week 6: No. 5 Central Arkansas
17. Sacramento State (2-3, 0-1 Big Sky), 453
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 5: 34-16 loss at Northern Arizona; Week 6: No game
18. Illinois State (3-2, 0-1 MVFC), 314
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 5: 42-10 loss to then-No. 2 North Dakota State; Week 6: at No. 19 Southern Illinois
19. Southern Illinois (2-3, 0-1 MVFC), 293
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 5: 42-13 loss at then-No. 5 South Dakota; Week 6: No. 18 Illinois State
20. Rhode Island (3-1, 1-0 CAA), 230
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Hampton
21. New Hampshire (3-1, 1-0 CAA), 208
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 5: No game; Week 6: at Harvard
22. McNeese (4-2, 1-0 Southland), 204
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 28-26 win at then-No. 25 Weber State; Week 6: at HCU
23. ETSU (3-2, 1-0 SoCon), 200
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 34-17 win at The Citadel; Week 6: Chattanooga
24. Lamar (3-2, 0-0 Southland), 160
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 5: 34-14 loss at then-No. 7 Central Arkansas; Week 6: No game
25. Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-0 Big Sky), 132
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 5: 34-16 win over then-No. 10 Sacramento State; Week 6: at No. 10 Idaho
Dropped Out: UAlbany (21), Wofford (23), Weber State (25)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Richmond (3-2, 1-0 CAA), 107; Northern Iowa (2-2, 0-0 MVFC), 83; Chattanooga (1-3, 0-1 SoCon), 62; Stony Brook (4-1, 1-0 CAA), 55; Florida A&M (2-2, 0-0 SWAC), 53; Monmouth (3-2, 1-0 CAA), 41; Wofford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon), 40; Lafayette (2-2, 0-0 Patriot), 28; North Carolina Central (3-2, 1-0 MEAC), 28; Weber State (2-3, 1-0 Big Sky), 22; Western Carolina (1-3, 0-0 SoCon), 18; Nicholls (1-3, 0-0 Southland), 17; Duquesne (2-2, 0-0 NEC), 16; Southern Utah (2-3, 1-0 UAC), 10; Brown (2-0, 1-0 Ivy), 3; Dartmouth (2-0, 0-0 Ivy), 2; UT Martin (2-3, 0-1 Big South-OVC), 2
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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, Kyle Schwartz, Mark Simpson. CAA Football: Roger Brown, Matt Harmon, Rob Washburn. Ivy League: JJ Klein, Craig Larson. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Kendrick Lewis, Alysse Scripter. Missouri Valley Football Conference: Dom Izzo, Mike Kern, Randy Reinhardt. Northeast Conference: Sarah Boissonneault, Brian Cleary. Patriot League: Eric Malanoski, Ryan Sakamoto. Pioneer Football League: Cody Bush, Larry Hansgen. 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: Brian Morgan, Benjamin Ray, Jake Withee. National Representatives: Sean Anderson, Stan Becton, Zack Carlton, Gene Clemons, 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.
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