Unbeaten Princeton Rolls into FCS Top 25 Rankings | The Analyst
Tigers’ Tale: Unbeaten Princeton Rolls into FCS Top 25 Rankings
FCS

Tigers’ Tale: Unbeaten Princeton Rolls into FCS Top 25 Rankings

Craig Haley / Author

All the Princeton Tigers do is win.

In September and October, that is.

The Ivy League’s first-place team entered the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at No. 25 on Monday, two days after beating Cornell 34-9 on Homecoming Day to improve to 7-0 this season.

Princeton has a 34-3 record since 2018 and none of the losses has occurred prior to the month of November. The Tigers will seek a finishing touch over their final three games and try to claim the Ivy title for the fifth time under coach Bob Surace since 2013.

Second-ranked Sacramento State, No. 6 Holy Cross and No. 9 Jackson State – all 8-0 – are the FCS’ only other unbeaten teams. South Dakota State (8-1), whose only loss is to Iowa, received 53 of the 54 first-place votes in holding No. 1 for the third straight week.

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 9 Takeaways)

Stats Perform FCS Top 25 (Oct. 31)

1. South Dakota State (8-1, 6-0 MVFC), 1,349 points (53 of 54 first-place votes)

Previous Ranking: 1; Week 9 Result: 49-7 win over Indiana State

2. Sacramento State (8-0, 5-0 Big Sky), 1,281 (1)

Previous Ranking: 2; Week 9 Result: 31-28 win over then-No. 14 Idaho

3. Montana State (7-1, 5-0 Big Sky), 1,236

Previous Ranking: 3; Week 9 Result: No game

4. North Dakota State (6-2, 4-1 MVFC), 1,196

Previous Ranking: 4; Week 9 Result: 24-7 win over Illinois State

5. Weber State (7-1, 4-1 Big Sky), 1,103

Previous Ranking: 5(tie); Week 9 Result: 24-21 win over then-No. 11 Montana

6. Holy Cross (8-0, 4-0 Patriot), 1,052

Previous Ranking: 5(tie); Week 9 Result: 53-52 OT win over then-No. 22 Fordham

7. UIW (8-1, 3-1 Southland), 1,012

Previous Ranking: 8; Week 9 Result: 35-7 win at Texas A&M-Commerce

8. William & Mary (7-1, 4-1 CAA), 949   

Previous Ranking: 10;Week 9 Result: 31-30 win over then-No. 18 Rhode Island

9. Jackson State (8-0, 5-0 SWAC), 940

Previous Ranking: 9; Week 9 Result: 35-0 win over Southern

10. Samford (7-1, 5-0 Southern), 855

Previous Ranking: 13; Week 9 Result: 38-3 win over The Citadel

11. Chattanooga (6-2, 4-1 Southern), 674

Previous Ranking: 7; Week 9 Result: 24-20 loss at then-No. 24 Furman

12. Mercer (7-2, 5-1 Southern), 665

Previous Ranking: 16; Week 9 Result: 55-14 win at VMI

13. Furman (7-2, 5-1 Southern), 631

Previous Ranking: 24; Week 9 Result: 24-20 win over then-No. 7 Chattanooga

14. Richmond (6-2, 4-1 CAA), 590

Previous Ranking: 17; Week 9 Result: 31-21 win at Maine

15. Idaho (5-3, 4-1 Big Sky), 559

Previous Ranking: 14; Week 9 Result: 31-28 loss at then-No. 2 Sacramento State

16. Montana (5-3, 2-3 Big Sky), 537

Previous Ranking: 11; Week 9 Result: 24-21 loss at then-No. 5(tie) Weber State

17. New Hampshire (6-2, 5-0 CAA), 471

Previous Ranking: 19; Week 9 Result: No game

18. Delaware (6-2, 3-2 CAA), 457

Previous Ranking: 12; Week 9 Result: 27-7 loss at Elon

19. Elon (6-3, 4-2 CAA), 322

Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 9 Result: 27-7 win over then-No. 12 Delaware

20. UT Martin (5-3, 3-0 Ohio Valley), 308

Previous Ranking: 21; Week 9 Result: 52-28 win at Houston Christian

21. North Dakota (5-3, 3-2 MVFC), 268

Previous Ranking: 23; Week 9 Result: 34-31 win over Abilene Christian

22. Southeast Missouri (6-2, 2-0 Ohio Valley), 248    

Previous Ranking: 15; Week 9 Result: 28-23 loss to Eastern Kentucky

23. Rhode Island (5-3, 3-2 CAA), 223

Previous Ranking: 18; Week 9 Result: 31-30 loss at then-No. 10 William & Mary

24. Fordham (6-2, 2-1 Patriot), 181

Previous Ranking: 22; Week 9 Result: 53-52 OT loss at then-No. 5(tie) Holy Cross

25. Princeton (7-0, 4-0 Ivy), 154

Previous Ranking: Not Ranked; Week 9 Result: 35-9 win over Cornell

Dropped Out: Southern Illinois (20), Austin Peay (25)

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Eastern Kentucky (5-3, 5-2 ASUN-WAC) 87; Southeastern Louisiana (5-3, 2-1 Southland) 86; Villanova (5-3, 3-2 CAA) 34; Southern Illinois (5-4, 4-2 MVFC) 28; Northern Iowa (5-4, 4-2 MVFC) 15; UC Davis (4-4, 3-2 Big Sky) 13; Austin Peay (5-3, 5-2 ASUN-WAC) 6; Saint Francis (6-2, 5-0 NEC) 6

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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.