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 Big Sky-MVFC Challenge may be over, but the two FCS power conferences surely won’t be leaving the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll any time soon.
On Monday, they combined on 10 of the top 13 spots in the national media rankings. Overall, the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which edged the Big Sky in this year’s regular-season Challenge series, had the most ranked teams with seven.
Of course, South Dakota State, the two-time defending FCS champion, led the MVFC contingent, holding No. 1 for the 25th straight poll since 2022. North Dakota State followed at No. 2, having avoided an upset with a 38-35 win at ETSU Saturday night.
Montana State and Idaho led the Big Sky at No. 3 and 4, respectively, with each of the top four teams receiving first-place votes. CAA power Villanova was ranked No. 5.
There’s a sorting-out process farther down the poll as four unranked teams last week moved into it this week: No. 21 Southeast Missouri, No. 22 Lamar, No. 24 Western Carolina and No. 25 Northern Iowa.
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 3 Review)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll
1. South Dakota State (2-1, 0–0 MVFC), 1,380 points (41 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 3: 24-3 win over Augustana; Week 4: at Southeastern Louisiana
2. North Dakota State (2-1, 0-0 MVFC), 1,311 (5)
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 3: 38-35 win at ETSU; Week 4: Towson
3. Montana State (3-0, 0-0 Big Sky), 1,296 (7)
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 3: No game; Week 4: Mercyhurst
4. Idaho (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky), 1,255 (3)
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 3: 41-13 win over then-No. 17 UAlbany; Week 4: at No. 19 Abilene Christian
5. Villanova (3-0, 1-0 CAA), 1,131
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 3: 14-13 win over Towson; Week 4: at Maryland
6. South Dakota (1-1, 0-0 MVFC), 1,108
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 3: Canceled at Portland State; Week 4: Drake
7. Southern Illinois (2-1, 0-0 MVFC), 986
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 3: 35-28 win at then-No. 12 UIW; Week 4: No. 21 Southeast Missouri
8. Central Arkansas (2-1, 1-0 UAC), 983
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 3: 45-17 win over Austin Peay; Week 4: at Arkansas-Pine Bluff
9. Montana (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky), 961
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 3: 59-2 win over Morehead State; Week 4: No. 24 Western Carolina
10. North Dakota (2-1, 0-0 MVFC), 911
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 3: 52-28 win over Idaho State; Week 4: San Diego
11. Sacramento State (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky), 881
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 3: 34-7 win over then-No. 24 Nicholls; Week 4: at Texas A&M-Commerce
12. William & Mary (2-1, 0-0 CAA), 738
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 3: 28-21 win at Wofford; Week 4: Furman
13. UC Davis (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky), 653
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 3: 24-21 win at Southern Utah; Week 4: Utah Tech
14. Mercer (3-0, 1-0 SoCon), 575
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 3: 10-3 win at then-No. 14 Chattanooga; Week 4: The Citadel
15. UIW (1-2, 0-0 Southland), 565
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 3: 35-28 loss at then-No. 9 Southern Illinois; Week 4: Northern Arizona
16. Tarleton State (2-1, 0-0 UAC), 539
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 3: No game; Week 4: at North Alabama
17. Illinois State (2-1, 0-0 MVFC), 518
Previous Ranking: 18;Week 3: 51-34 win over Western Illinois; Week 4: Eastern Illinois
18. Lafayette (2-1, 0-0 Patriot), 444
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 3: 56-14 win over Marist; Week 4: at Columbia
19. Abilene Christian (2-1, 1-0 UAC), 283
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 3: 24-22 win at Northern Colorado; Week 4: No. 4 Idaho
20. UAlbany (1-2, 0-0 CAA), 255
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 3: 41-13 loss at then-No. 4 Idaho; Week 4: No game
21. Southeast Missouri (2-1, 1-0 Big South-OVC), 218
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 3: No game; Week 4: at No. 7 Southern Illinois
22. Lamar (2-1, 0-0 Southland), 184
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 3: 17-16 win over then-No. 20 Weber State; Week 4: Texas Southern
23. Chattanooga (0-3, 0-1 SoCon), 133
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 3: 10-3 loss to then-No. 23 Mercer; Week 4: No game
24. Western Carolina (1-2, 0-0 SoCon), 125
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 3: 24-17 win at then-No. 22 Elon; Week 4: at No. 9 Montana
25. Northern Iowa (2-1, 0-0 MVFC), 103
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 3: 34-3 loss at Nebraska; Week 4: at Hawaii
Dropped Out: Weber State (20), Youngstown State (21), Elon (22), Nicholls (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Florida A&M (2-1, 0-0 SWAC) 82; Wofford (2-1, 0-0 SoCon) 82; Richmond (1-2, 0-0 CAA) 80; Eastern Illinois (1-2, 0-1 Big South-OVC) 53; Rhode Island (2-1, 1-0 CAA) 52; Weber State (1-2, 1-0 Big Sky) 49; Youngstown State (1-2, 0-0 MVFC) 39; Elon (1-2, 0-0 CAA) 34; Furman (1-2, 0-0 SoCon) 30; Southern Utah (1-2, 0-0 UAC) 22; Northern Arizona (2-1, 0-0 Big Sky) 20; Nicholls (0-3, 0-0 Southland) 17; North Carolina Central (1-2, 0-0 MEAC) 15; Duquesne (1-2, 0-0 NEC) 13; Campbell (1-2, 0-1 CAA) 11; ETSU (1-2, 0-0 SoCon) 11; Harvard (0-0, 0-0 Ivy) 8; Drake (1-0, 0-0 Pioneer) 7; New Hampshire (2-1, 0-0 CAA) 5; McNeese (2-2, 1-0 Southland) 3; Towson (1-2, 0-1 CAA) 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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