It’s always important to have one of the top two seeds in the FCS playoffs because those teams are guaranteed home games through the semifinal round as long as they are alive.
The top teams that continued to line up on Monday behind top-ranked South Dakota State in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll, presented by FedEx Ground, reflected the red-hot competition for the higher seeds.
SDSU (9-0) was a unanimous No. 1 in the national media poll for the sixth straight week. The Jackrabbits just defeated Missouri Valley rival North Dakota State 33-16 for their fifth Top 25 win this season and 23rd consecutive victory over two seasons – the sixth-longest streak in FCS history.
There’s not much elbow room in the voting right after SDSU between No. 2 Furman, the Southern Conference champion and first team to qualify for the 24-team playoffs, and No. 3 Montana and No. 4 Idaho, which are part of a three-way share of first place in the Big Sky Conference with No. 5 Montana State.
Two weeks remain in the regular season before the playoff field is unveiled on Nov. 19.
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 10 Takeaways)
Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll (Nov. 6)
Presented by FedEx Ground
1. South Dakota State (9-0, 6-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 10: 33-16 win over then-No. 11 North Dakota State; Week 11: at Youngstown State
2. Furman (8-1, 6-0 SoCon), 1,298
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 10: 17-14 win at Chattanooga; Week 11: VMI
3. Montana (8-1, 5-1 Big Sky), 1,279
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 10: 34-7 win over then-No. 7 Sacramento State; Week 11: at Portland State
4. Idaho (7-2, 5-1 Big Sky), 1,265
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 10: 27-13 win at Northern Colorado; Week 11: at Weber State
5. Montana State (7-2, 5-1 Big Sky), 1,190
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 10: 45-21 win over Northern Arizona; Week 11: Eastern Washington
6. South Dakota (7-2, 5-1 MVFC), 1,110
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 10: 14-7 win at then-No. 10 Southern Illinois; Week 11: North Dakota
7. North Carolina Central (8-1, 3-0 MEAC), 907
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 10: 38-24 win over Norfolk State; Week 11: at Howard
8. Delaware (7-2, 5-1 CAA), 870
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 10: 33-27 loss to Elon; Week 11: at Campbell
9. Sacramento State (6-3, 3-3 Big Sky), 857
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 10: 34-7 loss at then-No. 4 Montana; Week 11: Cal Poly
10. North Dakota (6-3, 4-2 MVFC), 812
Previous Ranking: 13; Week 10: 45-31 win at Murray State; Week 11: at South Dakota
11. Southern Illinois (6-3, 3-3 MVFC), 730
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 10: 14-7 loss to then-No. 9 South Dakota; Week 11: at North Dakota State
12. North Dakota State (6-3, 3-3 MVFC), 655
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 10: 33-16 loss at then-No. 1 South Dakota State; Week 11: Southern Illinois
13.(tie) Florida A&M (8-1, 7-0 SWAC), 654
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 10: 42-28 win at Alabama A&M; Week 11: Lincoln (Calif.)
13.(tie) Villanova (7-2, 5-1 CAA), 654
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 10: 45-33 win at New Hampshire; Week 11: Towson
15. Northern Iowa (6-3, 5-1 MVFC), 615
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 10: 50-6 win over Western Illinois; Week 11: at Missouri State
16. UIW (7-2, 4-1 Southland), 566
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 10: 45-32 loss to Nicholls; Week 11: No game
17. Western Carolina (6-3, 4-2 SoCon), 517
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 10: 28-25 win at Wofford; Week 11: ETSU
18. UAlbany (7-3, 5-1 CAA), 504
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 10: 24-8 win over then-No. 24 William & Mary; Week 11: at Stony Brook
19. Chattanooga (7-3, 6-2 Southern), 490
Previous Ranking: 14; Week 10: 17-14 loss to then-No. 2 Furman; Week 11: No game
20. Austin Peay (7-2, 4-0 UAC), 477
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 10: 33-30 OT win at Eastern Kentucky; Week 11: Utah Tech
21. UT Martin (7-2, 4-1 Big South-OVC), 348
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 10: 44-41 OT win at Tennessee Tech; Week 11: Southeast Missouri
22. Youngstown State (6-3, 4-2 MVFC), 342
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 10: 19-7 win at Indiana State; Week 11: South Dakota State
23. Mercer (7-3, 5-2 SoCon), 183
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 10: 38-16 win at The Citadel; Week 11: Samford
24. Harvard (7-1, 4-1 Ivy), 112
Previous Ranking: NR; Week 10: 38-24 win at Columbia; Week 11: Penn
25. Lafayette (7-2, 3-1 Patriot), 90
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 10: 37-34 OT loss to Colgate; Week 11: Fordham
Dropped Out: William & Mary (24)
Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Central Arkansas (6-3, 3-1 UAC) 75; Tarleton (7-3, 3-2 UAC) 47; Holy Cross (6-3, 4-1 Patriot) 43; Elon (5-4, 5-1 CAA) 41; Richmond (6-3, 5-1 CAA) 23; Nicholls (4-4, 5-0 Southland, including forfeit win) 15; William & Mary (5-4, 3-3 CAA) 13; Tennessee State (6-3, 2-2 Big South-OVC) 9
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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.