Given its recent offenses, UIW is rarely considered a team that goes slowly, but surely, but the Cardinals are doing just that while rising in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, presented by FedEx Ground.
The Cardinals climbed two more spots to a season-high No. 5 in the national media poll on Monday. It comes after a 28-11 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, the defending Southland Conference co-champion’s fifth in a row since a season-opening FBS loss at UTEP.
It’s been a different kind of season for the Cardinals (5-1, 2-0) under first-year coach Clint Killough. Last year’s FCS semifinalist squad averaged 51.5 points per game, which was second-highest in an FCS season. While the scoring is down to 34.5 points per game, their Steven Parker-led defense is surrendering just 24.7 points on average, by-far the lowest in the program’s Division I history (since 2013).
The top half of the rankings will swirl around UIW and other teams this week. On Saturday, three games will involve teams in the top 12: No. 1 South Dakota State at No. 12 Southern Illinois in the MVFC; No. 2 Montana State at No. 3 Sacramento State in the Big Sky; and No. 4 Furman at No. 8 Western Carolina in the Southern Conference.
While North Dakota State extended its streak of Top 25 appearances to 181, its run inside the Top 10 ended at 173. The Bison dropped from No. 6 to No. 14 following a 49-24 loss at rival North Dakota.
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 7 Takeaways)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Oct. 16)
Presented by FedEx Ground
1. South Dakota State (6-0, 3-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 7: 41-6 win over Northern Iowa; Week 8: at Southern Illinois
2. Montana State (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky), 1,342
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 7: 59-19 win over Cal Poly; Week 8: at Sacramento State
3. Sacramento State (5-1, 2-1 Big Sky), 1,203
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 7: 21-13 win at Northern Colorado; Week 8: Montana State
4. Furman (5-1, 3-0 SoCon), 1,195
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 7: 27-21 win at Samford; Week 8: at Western Carolina
5. UIW (5-1, 2-0 Southland), 1,023
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 7: 28-11 win over Texas A&M-Commerce; Week 8: at McNeese
6. South Dakota (5-1, 3-0 MVFC), 1,002
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 7: 34-31 win over then-No. 23 Youngstown State; Week 8: at Indiana State
7. Delaware (5-1, 3-0 CAA), 985
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 7: 21-6 win over North Carolina A&T; Week 8: at Hampton
8. Western Carolina (5-1, 3-0 SoCon), 981
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 7: No game; Week 8: Furman
9. Montana (6-1, 3-1 Big Sky), 978
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 7: 23-21 win at then-No. 3 Idaho; Week 8: No game
10. Idaho (5-2, 3-1 Big Sky), 946
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 7: 23-21 loss to then-No. 16 Montana; Week 8: No game
11. North Dakota (4-2, 2-1 MVFC), 930
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 7: 49-24 win over then-No. 6 North Dakota State; Week 8: at Northern Iowa
12. Southern Illinois (5-1, 2-1 MVFC), 725
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 7: 27-6 win at Murray State; Week 8: South Dakota State
13. William & Mary (4-2, 2-1 CAA), 687
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 7: No game; Week 8: Towson
14. North Dakota State (4-2, 1-2 MVFC), 673
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 7: 49-24 loss at then-No. 15 North Dakota; Week 8: Western Illinois
15. Holy Cross (4-2, 2-0 Patriot), 653
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 7: No game; Week 8: Lafayette
16. North Carolina Central (5-1, 0-0 MEAC), 607
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 7: No game; Week 8: at Morgan State
17. UT Martin (5-1, 2-0 Big South-OVC), 504
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 7: No game; Week 8: Charleston Southern
18. Harvard (5-0, 2-0 Ivy), 446
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 7: 48-7 win over Howard; Week 8: at Princeton
19. Florida A&M (5-1, 4-0 SWAC), 403
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 7: No game; Week 8: at Texas Southern
20. Central Arkansas (5-2, 2-0 UAC), 373
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 7: 24-21 win over Stephen F. Austin; Week 8: No game
21. Chattanooga (5-2, 4-1 Southern), 268
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 7: 22-10 win at Mercer; Week 8: ETSU
22. Villanova (5-2, 3-1 CAA), 229
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 7: 21-0 win over Elon; Week 8: No game
23. UC Davis (4-3, 2-2 Big Sky), 136
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 7: 17-16 win at then-No. 22 Weber State; Week 8: No game
24. Austin Peay (4-2, 1-0 UAC), 125
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 7: 41-14 win over Gardner-Webb; Week 8: at Southern Utah
25. Youngstown State (3-3, 1-2 MVFC), 108
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 7: 34-31 loss at then-No. 10 South Dakota; Week 8: Illinois State
Dropped Out: Eastern Washington (21), Weber State (22), UAlbany (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire (3-3, 1-2 CAA) 68; Fordham (5-2, 1-1 Patriot) 44; UAlbany (4-3, 2-1 CAA) 39; Lafayette (5-1, 1-0 Patriot) 32; Northern Iowa (3-3, 2-1 MVFC) 23; Weber State (3-4, 1-3 Big Sky) 23; Eastern Kentucky (3-3, 2-0 UAC) 13; Eastern Washington (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) 13; Illinois State (4-2, 2-1 MVFC) 11; Tennessee State (4-2, 1-1 Big South-OVC) 6; Lamar (4-3, 3-0 Southland) 2
—
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.