Top-ranked South Dakota State sits alone as the only unbeaten team in FCS college football, but eight 6-1 teams only have a loss against an FBS opponent, and each was ranked on Monday in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, presented by FedEx Ground.
They’re all at least tied for first place in their conference standings: No. 3 Furman, No. 4 South Dakota, No. 5 Delaware, No. 8 UIW, No. 13 North Carolina Central, No. 14 UT Martin, No. 16 Florida A&M and No. 21 Lafayette.
Lafayette moved into the national media poll for the first time since the 2009 season-ending rankings following a 38-35 victory at Holy Cross, which ended the Crusaders’ 18-game Patriot League winning streak. The Leopards were named the FedEx Ground FCS National Team of the Week.
South Dakota State (7-0) earned its third Top 25 win by defeating Southern Illinois 17-10. The defending national champion Jackrabbits, whose 21-game winning streak is tied for the eighth-longest in FCS history, next plays rival South Dakota in a first-place showdown in the MVFC.
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 are our Week 8 Takeaways)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Oct. 23)
Presented by FedEx Ground
1. South Dakota State (7-0, 4-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 8: 17-10 win at then-No. 12 Southern Illinois; Week 9: at South Dakota
2. Montana State (6-1, 4-0 Big Sky), 1,342
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 8: 42-30 win at then-No. 3 Sacramento State; Week 9: at Idaho
3. Furman (6-1, 4-0 SoCon), 1,266
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 8: 29-17 win at then-No. 8 Western Carolina; Week 9: ETSU
4. South Dakota (6-1, 4-0 MVFC), 1,133
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 8: 17-3 win at Indiana State; Week 9: South Dakota State
5. Delaware (6-1, 4-0 CAA), 1,079
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 8: 47-3 win at Hampton; Week 9: at Towson
6. Sacramento State (5-2, 2-2 Big Sky), 1,074
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 8: 42-30 loss to then-No. 2 Montana State; Week 9: Idaho State
7. Montana (6-1, 3-1 Big Sky), 1,056
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 8: No game; Week 9: Northern Colorado
8. UIW (6-1, 3-0 Southland), 1,038
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 8: 35-24 win at McNeese; Week 9: at Lamar
9. Idaho (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky), 1,005
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 8: No game; Week 9: Montana State
10. Western Carolina (5-2, 3-1 SoCon), 829
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 8: 29-17 loss to then-No. 4 Furman; Week 9: Mercer
11. Southern Illinois (5-2, 2-2 MVFC), 768
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 8: 17-10 loss to then-No. 1 South Dakota State; Week 9: at Western Illinois
12. North Dakota State (5-2, 2-2 MVFC), 750
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 8: 52-7 win over Western Illinois; Week 9: Murray State
13. North Carolina Central (6-1, 1-0 MEAC), 703
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 8: 16-10 win at Morgan State; Week 9: South Carolina State
14. UT Martin (6-1, 3-0 Big South-OVC), 677
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 8: 17-0 win over Charleston Southern; Week 9: at Gardner-Webb
15. North Dakota (4-3, 2-2 MVFC), 596
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 8: 27-0 loss at Northern Iowa; Week 9: Indiana State
16. Florida A&M (6-1, 5-0 SWAC), 497
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 8: 31-21 win at Texas Southern; Week 9: Prairie View A&M
17. Chattanooga (6-2, 5-1 Southern), 462
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 8: 34-3 win over ETSU; Week 9: at VMI
18. Central Arkansas (5-2, 2-0 UAC), 461
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 8: No game; Week 9: Tarleton
19. Villanova (5-2, 3-1 CAA), 319
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 8: No game; Week 9: Stony Brook
20. Austin Peay (5-2, 2-0 UAC), 227
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 8: 48-45 2-OT win at Southern Utah; Week 9: North Alabama
21. Lafayette (6-1, 2-0 Patriot), 218
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 8: 38-35 win at then-No. 15 Holy Cross; Week 9: at Georgetown
22. William & Mary (4-3, 2-2 CAA), 213
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 8: 34-24 loss to Towson; Week 9: Monmouth
23. Northern Iowa (4-3, 3-1 MVFC), 196
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 8: 27-0 win over then-No. 11 North Dakota; Week 9: at Illinois State
24. Youngstown State (4-3, 2-2 MVFC), 181
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 8: 41-38 win over Illinois State; Week 9: Missouri State
25. UC Davis (4-3, 2-2 Big Sky), 164
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 8: No game; Week 9: at Northern Arizona
Dropped Out: Holy Cross (15), Harvard (18)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Holy Cross (4-3, 2-1 Patriot) 146; Harvard (5-1, 2-1 Ivy) 113; UAlbany (5-3, 3-1 CAA) 112; New Hampshire (4-3, 2-2 CAA) 74; Fordham (5-2, 1-1 Patriot) 51; Tennessee State (5-2, 1-1 Big South-OVC) 18; Eastern Washington (3-4, 2-2 Big Sky) 7; Penn (5-1, 2-1 Ivy) 7; Weber State (3-5, 1-4 Big Sky) 6; Lamar (4-3, 3-0 Southland) 4
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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.